The Watercress Line makes pretty regular appearances on this blog at the moment. Since it is close to home, if I am not doing something else, there is something on and the weather isn’t crummy, I might sneak across to get a few photos. One weekend morning, the Steam Gala was on. We had some plans later in the morning, but I figured the light would be best early and so headed across to Bishops Stoke to get some shots.
They had a variety of steam locos taking part (with the occasional diesel providing some support). Some were larger late generation locos, there were some tank engines and there was one that, to my untrained eye, looked like it was a lot older given the open area of the cab and the high chimney (is that the right term?). I used the same set up that I had tried previously with a longer lens handheld and a wide-angle lens set on the ground controlled by a Pocket Wizard. I also had the Insta360 mounted high on a fence to get some video.
The set up worked better this time. I had gone with a wider lens for the ground camera and also held the Pocket Wizard in a better way to allow a smoother transition from one shot to the other without any frantic fumbling! Overall, pretty happy with the way things worked out. I suspect I might head back for some of their other events this year if I am free (and the weather plays ball).
