The only thing I've really tried to shoot at night before has been the moon and an occassional constellation. Spent Saturday morning with NS Boxcar out on the CNO&TP...morning in this case involving two hours sleep and getting in the car at 12:30am. Different and definitely enjoyable but I'm still paying for it......haha
Use of a UV filter......not recommended. Lots of glare and poor results. Things definitely improved once I did away with that. My next biggest challenge was not being able to autofocus. I had a lot of trouble trying to get focused shots in these situations -- just not enough to look at in the viewfinder. My eyes had the same trouble finding contrast that the lens did. Maybe it's just time for contacts !
Lots of neat opportunities that Jacob threw out there, like a long exposure of the crossing gates going up or down. Mine was way over exposed so the best I could do was turn it into B&W. But Jacob nailed his. Definitely worth going and trying again.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ssmith1627/NightPhotography#
Don't laugh too hard at my results. If nothing else, I learned a good bit and had some fun.
Steve
Not bad results for the first time out! I have the same problem sometimes when I'm out shooting at night. I tend to have a problem getting the focus down to the tee. If I frame it up and then focus I might get it right or I might be a little off. One thing I have found that helps is to zoom in and focus on something that is about where the rails are then I'll zoom out and frame the shot.
It looks like you guys are getting a good bit of color starting up there. A few more weeks and it will be peaking I bet.