It was not so long ago that quickly getting from one place to another meant hoping on a big train. Today of course we have airplanes and bullet trains, but those things of beauty still hold their own.
Photographer and engineer Matthew Malkiewicz shares his passion for those beasts by traveling all over the United States and documenting their RAW POWER.
Matthew, a self-taught photographer, and a full-time engineer got his passion for trains when he was small. In an interview with Bored Panda, Matthew shared that
I have a photo of myself watching a toy train run around the Christmas tree as a baby, it must have hooked me well… in my teens I received my first camera which I aimed at every train I saw.
And In 2005, he bought his first digital camera and started this series
Traveling has not been kind on gear, so Matthew makes it a point not to change lenses in the field, this is why he carries a set of three cameras:
- Canon 5D-MkIII with 70-200mm/F4.0 zoom lens
- Canon 5D-MkII with 24-70mm/F2.8 zoom lens
- Canon EOS-1DS with 50mm/F1.4 prime lens
That set enables both a large coverage and redundancy.
A question that usually follows is how do Matthew finds those glorious trains, Matthew explains that
For my research, Internet searches is where I start. From the railroad’s website and social media outlets I get equipment rosters, schedules, and special events. I also broaden my search to other points of interest in the surrounding area, forming an outline of my travels. I use mapping websites to get a rough idea of the rail line, roads, terrain, and trackside structures. Using an ephemeris, I can judge sun angles for sunrise and sunset shots. I also do an image search on the Internet to further build the visual aid beforehand. Often I arrive the evening before to a shoot location, I become familiar with the grounds, drive around scouting out final locations and inputting them into the GPS. When possible, I also talk to the train crew, who always have tips.
Here some of the trains you dreamed about as a kid:
[Matthew Malkiewicz via BoredPanda]
