On the Rail: A Happy Accident and the Spark of a Photography Journey

Every photographer can point to a specific moment where the "bug" bit them—the exact shot that made them realize the camera could see the world in ways the human eye completely misses. For me, that moment happened in May 2020, right when I was first starting out with Bama Price Photography.

That afternoon resulted in a shot I call "On the Rail," and it all came together using my very first camera: the trusty Sony a6000.

An Unexpected Detour in Hoover

It was a beautiful, vibrant spring afternoon, and a friend and I had been out hiking around Hoover, Alabama. On the way back, my friend wanted to show me something nearby, and our path crossed this long stretch of railroad track.

The afternoon sky was incredibly dramatic, packed with bright white, fluffy clouds against a deep Alabama blue. Looking down the tracks, I wanted to play with perspective. I knew I wanted to focus on the distant horizon and the sky, but I needed a way to get the camera low enough to make the tracks feel larger than life.

The Ground-Level Setup

Without a ground-level tripod on hand, I went for the most literal solution possible: I set the camera directly on top of the steel rail. Setting a camera down and pressing the shutter button by hand always introduces a little bit of shake, which can blur an image. To get around this, I used a 2-second timer on the shutter, pressed the button, and stood back to let the camera completely stabilize before it clicked. Because it was a long, straight section of track, I could see for a good distance in both directions, keeping a safe look-out while the camera did its thing.

Because the afternoon sun was so incredibly bright, I manually dialed the exposure bias down by -1.7 steps. Under-exposing the shot slightly was the secret to keeping those brilliant white clouds from blowing out while naturally deepening the rich blues of the sky.

The Surprise Waiting at Home

When you’re shooting out in the field, you’re often so focused on composition, safety, and settings that you miss the finer details on the camera's small LCD screen. It wasn't until I got home, transferred the files, and pulled the image up on my computer screen that my jaw dropped..

"On the Rail" turned out exactly as well as I had hoped—and then some. It remains a favorite reminder of where my journey began and a testament to why it’s always worth looking at the world from a brand-new perspective.

Behind the Shot: Technical Specs

For the camera nerds out there, here is exactly how this shot was dialed in straight from the RAW data:

• Camera: Sony ILCE-6000 (a6000)

• Lens Focal Length: 16mm (Ultra-wide perspective)

• Aperture: f/9 (For sharp focus from foreground to horizon)

• Shutter Speed: 1/250 sec

• ISO: 100 (For maximum clarity and low noise)

• Exposure Bias: -1.7 step

You can get On the Rail for your home or office in my Urban & Americana Collection