The Taieri Gorge in photos

Or the start of the great photo review catchup. I've been working on that, finding a few that I'd always meant to come back to, finding some that I wonder why I didn't edit then, a few marked to edit that have a similar one edited and what should have unmarked for edit, and a few where I've fixed the edit.

These are different. They're from the train trip up the Taieri Gorge to Middlemarch and back. My thinking was to shoot the wide lens on the way out and the long lens on the way back. I still think that's a good plan, but there was a problem that I'm embarrassed to mention.

The night before I'd used the wide lens for star shots. That means manual focus to infinity. I left it that way for the first bunch of railway shots. It was only when I took a break and was paging back through the photos and wondering why they were so soft that I figured it out. I was pretty pissed at myself.

At least I figured it out before the scenery got really good. On the way out the observation car was at the back of the train, and I had it to myself for the entire trip. That's nice, and I didn't realize how nice till the next trip.

On the way back the observation car was right behind the locomotive, so it was a lot louder, and a lot more exhaust fume-y. More importantly, it was a lot more difficult to shoot, even with the long lens. There were a couple other photographers, but sharing the space wasn't a problem. Several pairs of eyes looking for a photo is better than one.

Shooting from a train is difficult; trying to keep the camera steady as the train moves. In hindsight I should have bumped the ISO and shutter speed a bit. There is no time to compose. No re-dos. When in doubt, click. By the end of the day I was so tired I didn't want to face editing, and we were off to Larnach Castle which was a wow and generated a ton of photos. Then the next thing, and I never got back to it.

The trip was fun, and the scenery was pretty. If you like train rides, and have a day, I'd say do it. You can't see this by driving. Would I do it again? Probably not. Maybe if I was with a bunch of people and the light was really good. I'd take a lot fewer photos.

So scroll on down and enjoy. There are some comments along the way, and a surprise near the end.

This is one of the iconic shots I wanted, the curving train beside a river.

So many bridges!

Linda savaging her pie. It was really hot.

Do you see Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli running along?

I'm sure there's a story here, but no idea what it is.

Bridges are obvious. This is the brick wall of a tunnel. I was thinking sort of an abstract.

Your surprise, Linda showing off her (then) new hair style.