About
Hello! My name is Steve Haynes and I live in South Somerset, UK, with my wife Paula, Tibetan Terriers Livvi and Daisy, and our two Birman cats Mallaig and Ballymoss, close to the point where three counties meet: Somerset, Devon and Dorset.
I am a life-long railway enthusiast, starting, like most young boys, as a keen trainspotter in the late 1970s, but not really taking up railway photography as a serious hobby until the early '80s. But once I got my first SLR camera (a Nikon EM bought second-hand from a school pal) I was hooked, and over the years I have tried my very best to improve my photography and reach a standard that got somewhere close to that seen in books and magazines. Whether my technical ability has really "got there" is for others to judge. But let's just say that thank goodness I am able to be very selective with my choice of images in the collections that I present on this website!
After starting out with the Nikon EM I then progressed to a selection of other Nikons, including the F50, F60 and F301, although latterly my F100 was, and will forever be, my best and most favourite SLR. It was only after a serious mechanical failure in 2015, when the rear door catch broke, that I was persuaded to accept defeat and adopt the digital age! But I am still very reluctant to let my F100 go, so maybe one day I will get it repaired, grab a roll of Provia 100F, and relive the film age again! But for now I use a superb full-frame Nikon D610, plus a selection various Nikon lenses, and I have to say that although I am still coming to grips with some of the controls the basic principles of photography are still very much the same to me. Having the best equipment doesn't make you a good photographer. It still comes down to having an eye for the picture and a basic grasp of the technique!
My own railway photography is purely a recreational pursuit, and I guess it is a bit of vanity trip to want my pictures to be seen by others. I want this site to be more than just a random collection of images, so my plan is to tell a story with each portfolio. I do hope you enjoy them and appreciate the diversity that is on offer to a keen railway photographer today.
Steve Haynes
South Chard
March 2017.
I am a life-long railway enthusiast, starting, like most young boys, as a keen trainspotter in the late 1970s, but not really taking up railway photography as a serious hobby until the early '80s. But once I got my first SLR camera (a Nikon EM bought second-hand from a school pal) I was hooked, and over the years I have tried my very best to improve my photography and reach a standard that got somewhere close to that seen in books and magazines. Whether my technical ability has really "got there" is for others to judge. But let's just say that thank goodness I am able to be very selective with my choice of images in the collections that I present on this website!
After starting out with the Nikon EM I then progressed to a selection of other Nikons, including the F50, F60 and F301, although latterly my F100 was, and will forever be, my best and most favourite SLR. It was only after a serious mechanical failure in 2015, when the rear door catch broke, that I was persuaded to accept defeat and adopt the digital age! But I am still very reluctant to let my F100 go, so maybe one day I will get it repaired, grab a roll of Provia 100F, and relive the film age again! But for now I use a superb full-frame Nikon D610, plus a selection various Nikon lenses, and I have to say that although I am still coming to grips with some of the controls the basic principles of photography are still very much the same to me. Having the best equipment doesn't make you a good photographer. It still comes down to having an eye for the picture and a basic grasp of the technique!
My own railway photography is purely a recreational pursuit, and I guess it is a bit of vanity trip to want my pictures to be seen by others. I want this site to be more than just a random collection of images, so my plan is to tell a story with each portfolio. I do hope you enjoy them and appreciate the diversity that is on offer to a keen railway photographer today.
Steve Haynes
South Chard
March 2017.