Time for an update.

Oaklands grain train 9321/9322. Stabled at Yarrawonga overnight before proceeding to Oaklands to load. 31/05/07

GM36 and GM42 back to back at South Dynon 01/06/07

Mornington Railway pictures of K163 03/06/07

Cheers, Hope you all enjoy.

Got some snaps last night at South Dynon Locomotive Depot of GM36 and 4520 coupled together outside RTS and also T400 outside the Shops at South Dynon.

Cheers

Some pics from Long Island, 9553 steel with XR551 leading BL30 on a double consist due to the Slab derailing last thursday night. Playing Catchup.

Also, i recently purchased a DVD Video Camera. Bare with me for a while till I get use to it and figure out how to use it properly. At the moment i have it set on 16:9, this doesnt really for for YouTube. I might try it at 4:3. Anyway here are some movies, would like to know your feedback.

9462 Through Beaconsfield

Cheers, Hope you all enjoy.

The grade at what I assume is the up side of Somerville level crossing looks a bit fierce.Using a tripod for the vids is a nice touch (and probably helps the file compression), or is that some fancy image stabiliser in action?

The stiction in the average tripod pan/tilt head is a nuisance for vid work. Those ordinary friction clamped heads are really intended for still work and funny angles.There may be alternate fluid damped heads available that are better suited to video work, but they would cost.The heavier the tripod the better, but that makes them unpleasant to haul around. Just a brick suspended in piece of elastic cargo net under the tripod can make a difference. Hell, a 2 litre bottle of soft drink on a plastic rope can do the trick, and you can drink the contents later.

On one smeggy old tripod of the friction clamped pan/tilt head variety I had, I greased the clamping surfaces to reduce the stiction and only used it for moving targets.

In my opinion, more of the sky is okay if the sky is dramatic in some way, otherwise overgrown track and such tends to set the scene better.At least stills are easy to crop.Also, more of the sky is a risk if you leave the camera on auto exposure and pan up and around. Perhaps you could experiment with locking the exposure or see what options the camera has. If the vid camera can do the equivalent of spot metering, that can help when you keep the subject right in the metering hotspot.How big the metering spot is makes plenty of difference as well. If a really small spot moves over bright yellow paintwork to dark blue paintwork, it may change the exposure back and forth as the subject moves in the frame.

Locking or manual exposure can also be beneficial when the camera will be subject to glare from the train headlight at some stage, such as when you are filming from the outside of a curve. Both the spot and averaging metering might get a blast of headlight and shrivel the exposure for a while, depending on how fast the metering system reacts.How the CCD reacts to overexposing the headlight is worth testing.

Thanks very much for your tips and ideas. I'll put them into practice over the coming weeks and see what we come up with.

Thanks once again

Yeah, it takes a while to get the hang of the quirks of new hardware. Digital re-recordable media makes it so much cheaper and faster to experiment.

I'll add that if you have the option of manual (hand) control of the optical zoom, that help to control the smoothness and rate of zoom when compared with the average built in power operated zoom.

Update of pictures. Only two events for this update. They include YouTube and Fotopic updates.

Geelong 150th Anniversary Celebrations. R761, R707, D3 658 and T356 - 24/06/07 Videos:

Geelong Line 150th Anniversary

Darling - Glen Waverley Steam Shuttles - 01/07/07 Videos:

Darling - Glen Waverley Shuttles

Hope you enjoyCheers

Pictures Update 13/07/07

D3 658 with the SRV's School Holiday Flyer to Bacchus Marsh.

Cheers I hope you all Enjoy

Pity the weather went all dodgy in the afternoon. Good photos though

Thanks James. Yeah the weather in the arvo was a bit of a pain. Started raining just as the D3 was heading up to Parwan Loop. Other than that, it was a very good day.

Video of D3 658's train to Bacchus Marsh is up now.There arent too many video clips on there, Was raining and the wind a bit of a problem. Havent got the right equipment yet. I tried another approach, didnt zoom in at all, just let the camera do its business and waited for the train to get there. Still learning all about the video camera.

Video link is

D3 658 School Holiday Flyer

hope you all enjoy

I also find it interesting to watch the way the cameras are used wile watching TV, they have there technique down pact so it's best to learn form the best. And all you have to do is watch TV.

Update: K153 Fireman Training. Snapped a few photos of 153 in and around Melbourne today. Action at Sunshine, South Dynon, West Tower and Tottenham.

More Pics found here http://www.lowndesj515.fotopic.net/c1341047.html

Hope you all enjoy

Some great shots there. My fav is the side on in Dynon shot.

great pics mate, well done

Interesting that they used the turntable... on past crew training runs they have just sent it round the balloon loop.

Yep, that's the shot.

Got a few shots last night on my way home of XR553 and T400 on the table at South Dynon and also 42107 stabled over at Nth Dynon in the car dock.

Enjoy