Waverley - 2019

Thank you

 

The quest for the perfect shot is never ending because it doesn’t exist but we still try for it. I suppose any hobby can be called an obsession but much better than sitting at home complaining about boredom, a state of mind I cannot relate to. When anyone asks me what pleasure I get in travelling, perhaps hundreds of miles, to take photographs of steam, the answer is always the same. If you have to ask that question you wouldn’t understand the answer.
There’s a lot more to it than pointing a camera and pressing the button, sitting by the lineside at, say Blea Moor, listening to the call of the curlew and the bleating sheep while straining the ears for the sound of the three cylinder beat of a Jubilee working hard is all part of the pleasure.
It has changed a lot over the years and not always for the better. Back in steam days it was much more free and easy, the waiting time would probably be spent drinking tea and chatting to the signalman and ‘safe’ trespassing was tolerated. For an insight into those days I can recommend the four volume work by the surviving members of MNA, Never Again, an expensive buy but well worth it.
Are we all bonkers? Yes of course we are!

 

Well said John the younger ones will read that and think that we are bonkers and then a few years down the line reality will hit them too

 

I already register myself as bonkers, considering the lengths I've sometimes went through....

Does that mean I no longer count as young? I knew the grey hairs were a bad omen

 

You're going well Jonny.The likes of you,Karl,Ben C.Jon B have brought a refreshing new dimension to the game.with your enthusiastic approach and fantastic results.

 

Interesting thought however; who has inspired the upcoming generation which is bringing that "refreshing new dimension to the game" and how far is it the product of modern gadgetry such as telescopic poles and drones ?

[MODS - is this worth a thread on its own ? Fell free to move if needed]

 

Quite so Henry !

But they also remind me that things like parking at Glenfinnan, climbing to the tourist viewpoint and then running to get a shot coming off the viaduct (that was bonkers) are some years behind me

 

I think the 'parking at Glenfinnan' scenario is behind a lot of us now, unless you turn up a good hour or two before the train....

 

It was.

 

With 28 years of doing this not sure I'm new....

Definitely neither of those for me! For me it was simple, my Dad. (And I started with film and medium format too).

 

Agreed Scott,but there are still a few shots on the extension I haven't cracked yet and that's why I keep returning.As you know I am definitely bonkers

 

You are compared to me agewise lol

 

That, I would never dispute Henry