Some Tips On Photographing Engines Or Machinery

35 Pueblitos Road, Belen, New Mexico, 87002

Better lighting makes for better photos. There are so many parts
to an engine that often one portion will cast a shadow on others so
that they don’t photograph well. The canopy acts like a sun
roof keeping off the light needed to show the detail of an engine.
To help this problem I try to take my pictures just after sunrise
while the sun is very low in the sky and shining sideways through
the canopy instead of down on it.

To do this I ask the engineer to move his engine into an open
field the afternoon before and position it so that the next morning
sun will hit the side I want.

I like the cylinder side with a little of the front showing. To
get a better angle I put the camera about 30 inches off the ground
and aim up. A tripod is best, or a camera can be held firmly on a
solid object such as a cinder block or wooden crate. Even a very
slight movement of the camera makes a picture fuzzy.

Open fields are better for engines or machinery. Buildings or
other machines in the picture clutter the photo and distract from
the subject.

Look through the issues of Iron Men Album and notice how the
photos you like best were taken and this will give an idea on how
to take your next picture. Now, go out there and take a picture and
send it in.