Railfan Photography Tips?

Hello everyone! I now have everything I need to successfully take good pictures and videos, as I have a pretty good camera and a good full-size tripod. I just wanted to know some general photography tips for trains and such, and all is welcome! Thank you!

A couple of good rules: 1. shoot with the sun behind you if you can. 2. make sure your shutter speed (for stills) is high enough to freeze the action. I live along the Northeast Corridor and if you're not shooting at a speed of at least 1/400th of a second, you're going to get blurry pictures.

Other things that help is making sure there's some open space for the train to "run into" (unless you're shooting roster shots) and try not to have distracting things in the foreground or background (like white walls, piles of garbage).\

Of course the best tip is to be safe around the tracks.

Things like signals and signal bridges add visual interest to the shot, as do bridges crossing roads, water, and so on. Sometimes the shot isn't so much about the train itself so much as the landscape around it, so if you're in area with dramatic scenery, use that to your advantage.