November
A somewhat railway-oriented month, with a total of 25 images
produced: a slight improvement on 2024, and just under half of the target set
for the last two months of the year. The
overall total for the year stands at 700, making 2025 the most productive year
I’ve had since 2017.
Most of the work produced during the month was done with the
A7III, although the A77 did get a short session in Evesham to photograph some
autumn colours. The main session was at
the Dean Forest Railway’s Autumn Gala, which turned out to be a much sunnier
affair than 2024, where I had struggled with anything above “stationary” with
the Sony A77. This time around, I’d deployed
the A7III for increased performance but probably could have managed with the
A77 for the most part; however, the former gave me an edge on the ISO ratings,
and I was still able to get what I wanted in the end.
The A7III was given its Valley Railway Adventure “test”
session later in the month, on the next occasion where there was sunny weather
at the weekend. Although not an overly
productive session, it made up the numbers enough to improve on the November
2024 figure, and I was happy with the output.
I also took a ride on the line for the first time in over two years.
I had initially considered a couple of other activities to
fill in some gaps from earlier in the year but didn’t get the weather
conditions I wanted at the times I’d planned to do them. After the VRA session, I began to feel that
it was not necessary to do these in 2025; I’d hit my production target for the
year and if these could wait until next year, I might as well save them until
then.
December (and early January)
I would like to be able to shoot 25 images during the month
to make the target for the November-December period. However, having hit the overall target for
the year, and then some, I don’t want to be taking photographs purely for the
sake of doing so, as I feel I’m entering “excessive” territory; I’m aiming to
do things that I can only really do at this time of year. I’ve a plan to do at least one “night” shoot
in the run-up to Christmas (weather permitting), and I want to make one more
visit to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway after Christmas, although
this is more for a book signing by an author whose books I collect, rather than
for taking photographs.
There is a possibility of one more National Trust session
this year, but as I am currently expecting the family holiday get-together to
be on the New Year weekend rather than the Christmas one, this may take place
in January rather than December. It may
also mean I cannot do the Severn Valley Railway’s Winter Steam Gala, which is
that weekend, although theoretically at least, I can do the late December
diesel day.
I
am also working on an update for “Railways of the Vale of Evesham”, which
should go live in December.Supported Causes
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