This is the shot that almost wasn’t! One of the critical things about drone photography is timing and sometimes it doesn’t go as planned! When I pressed the shutter for this photo the Seaboard System unit was places where the nose of the trailing unit is at.
There’s always a delay between the time you shoot the picture unit the drone receives the signal to shoot, and that difference always seems to depend on distance and lay of the land.
I always have my drone set to do a burst of 7 images and normally the one of the shots are right where I want it. In this shot of the Seaboard System Heritage Unit leading CSX M500 north across Gum Lick Trestle at Kelly, Kentucky, on March 28th, 2025, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision; this is the first image on the drone. All the other six, after it the engine was cut off! It’s a bit tighter than I like but it works.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 120.