My two cents' worth... Yep, it's a hobby. And since there are not dozens of people out there calling me and offering big, National Geographic-type bucks to shoot trains, I see it as a hobby, like fishing or taking landscape photos.
Occasionally, I do sell my services to publishers, railroads, etc., and I do not come cheap: they are paying for my railroad expertise as well as my photographic skill and my ability to come home "with the shot"...perhaps the most important concern any time you're getting paid to shoot pictures. But, I return trackside, unpaid, on a regular basis and am constantly inspired by some very great photographers who have trod these paths before me...Winston Link, Richard Steinheimer, David Plowden, just to name a few. All did their great train work for love of the medium and love of trains. The bucks came (deservedly) later. Can you imagine what a poorer world it would be had not Winston Link done all his N&W stuff? Remember, the railroad did not pay him, he was not on a magazine's expense account and further, the whole photographic world, until recently, thought he was nuts. Now he's a genius. I had an experience several years ago, all inspired by Winston Link. I shot a video about a logging railroad in British Columbia...Canada's last. I shot it, wrote it and edited it. Paid for everything out of a Visa card. Even "hired" an assistant cameraman to come along and I covered his expenses. Pentrex released it several years ago and I own a percentage of the product...I covered my expenses and made a few bucks. More important to me was the fun I had shooting the project and the satisfaction of knowing I had recorded history. Maybe it will be a big commercial success someday, but for now "Canfor's Englewood Railway" is just another Pentrex title in their big catalog. Didn't get rich in the wallet, but made some great friends while shooting and loved every minute of it. If wealth were measured in friendships and fun experiences had while on railroad trips like this one, then I would be driving Rolls Royces and Range Rovers and flying my own Gulfstream. So, I guess what I have to say is this: do it for fun and keep shooting, with a set of personal standards that make your work rival that of anyone getting "paid" for their photography. But realize that your work has value, now and later. Be very picky about who you allow to use it. --David R. Busse Diamond Bar, Calif. --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
