This is my very 1st time posting any type of video I hope it works.
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Scot,
The video works like a champ! It reminds me of watching Amtrak trains on the old RF&P between Fredericksburg and Richmond when we lived in Virginia in the 80s and 90s. One can just feel the energy as those trains roll by.
Actually, the video doesn't show up for me...
Well, your posting technic works fine. Now you need to get a tripod in order to hold the camera steady, plus not cutting off the top of the locomotive as it approaches and passes. Keep trying and improving and you'll get there.
I was thinking the same thing. This was taken on a digital camera a Nikon D3200 And I was just playing around with it. one thing I do know is I need a tripod so I ordered one 3 days ago. Because The one I had 25 years ago bit the dust this year. So Thanks for watching Hot Water & everyone else.
Thanks!
The video is fine. I certainly wouldn't critique it. Mine are always shaky.
Nice, Scot! Always cool to see a passenger train zoom by.
A couple of obscure details I'd like to pass along since you say you're new at this...
Keep in mind the amount of sky in your shot. Especially if it's a fairly bright day and your subject is below the horizon. Most cameras will attempt to adjust exposure to accommodate the brightest light source in the viewfinder. So if you have too much sky in the shot, the thing you're actually trying to capture will be mostly hidden in shadows since the camera thinks you're trying to shoot the sky and not the dark thing roaring past you at 60MPH 
.
When you get a tripod and go looking for rail activity to videotape, before the train shows up, test your shot by watching the viewfinder as you swing (pan) the camera from where you know the train will appear to where it will recede into the distance after it passes. This will tell you if your camera will wind up aimed too high or too low if you attempt to pan with the passing locomotives or last car, and give you a chance to adjust your tripod so the resulting video stays centered on the train from beginning to end.
These two tips will get you ahead of a whole bunch of people already posting train videos to YouTube 
.
---PCJ
Originally Posted by RailRide:
When you get a tripod and go looking for rail activity to videotape, before the train shows up, test your shot by watching the viewfinder as you swing (pan) the camera from where you know the train will appear to where it will recede into the distance after it passes. This will tell you if your camera will wind up aimed too high or too low if you attempt to pan with the passing locomotives or last car, and give you a chance to adjust your tripod so the resulting video stays centered on the train from beginning to end.
---PCJ
And it will help if you are early enough that a train or two passes by before THE train come by. You can see if the panning will work or better, video that train and play it back to see if its what you like. Move or adjust location for another train and try again assuming it was not THE train you are after. And finally, if you are satisfied, leave well enough alone, in that you move the tripod or readjust so the THE train video you waited all day for ain't worth the digital space it occupies (ask me how I know this last tip 
)
Thanks for posting now keep them coming!
There is some good advice posted in this thread, and this one can apply to
still photos as well. RailRide said:
"Keep in mind the amount of sky in your shot. Especially if it's a fairly bright day and your subject is below the horizon. Most cameras will attempt to adjust exposure to accommodate the brightest light source in the viewfinder. So if you have too much sky in the shot, the thing you're actually trying to capture will be mostly hidden in shadows since the camera thinks you're trying to shoot the sky and not the dark thing roaring past you at 60MPH"
Ed
