Shoot the steam

Fred Kerr captures the beauty of classic railway locomotives and rolling stock

Iam a photographer whose lifelong interest in railways began in Edinburgh during the early 1950s and has continued to this day. My early ventures began in 1961 when a cousin gave me a Kodak Brownie 127 as a Christmas present.

Employment in 1964 led to me buying a first 35mm camera, but my photography really took off during my university years in the early 1970s when unlimited access to darkrooms and working with student newspapers honed my skills.

The combined railway and photography interest continued with an upgrade to 645 mediumformat cameras in the late 1980s. Taking early retirement in 1994, I spent time working for Colin Garratt in the early 2000s, whose inspiration provided opportunities to photograph railway scenes that have proved to be historic as the railway undergoes changes in both its structures and operations.

My digital conversion came in 2001 using Fujifilm before converting to Nikon, going through the D100/D200/D300/ D700 models but now using a D610 with a Nikon 24-120mm F4 as my standard lens. I also have the 35-70mm F2.8, 80–200mm F2.8, 70–300mm F4.5/5.6 and the inimitable Nikon 50mm F1.4.

Over the past 10 years, I have been creating photo albums using free downloadable software and my extensive collection to tell railway histories. These supply a link that are passed to publishers Pen & Sword of Barnsley to produce seven titles to date, with a further two awaiting delivery from the printers and another three being contracted for future publication. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/ Fred-Kerr/a/2929