What is bus spotting?
Bus spotting is a hobby consisting of observing, tracking, and photographing buses through their working service. Many might think that it is all about photography, but that is not true. As mentioned before, it often includes also tracking the whereabouts of specific vehicles through their lifetime. We know also other forms of spotting, most popular is the aircraft spotting or plane spotting. Plane Spotting has the biggest fanbase, but there are many bus spotters too. Except for those there is a train spotting, tram spotting, car spotting and so on …
One who like bus spotting is called a bus spotter, bus fan, bus enthusiast or bus nut. You can encounter different terms in different countries or places.
How to do a bus spotting
Here are several suggestions or rules of a good bus photography
- Respect others – Not everyone wants to be on the internet. This is not only for passengers, but also for the drivers. If you are photographing a bus with passengers or a driver inside, make sure they know about it, and that they are ok with it. In all cases it is suggested to make photo in this way, so the faces are not visible. In case they would be visible anyway, make sure to blur them before uploading them publicly.
- Have a good camera – If you want to take it seriously it is suggested to invest in a good camera. For casual photography new phones are sufficient, but for the more difficult photos (in lower light, in higher speed…) your phone camera would not perform good enough.
- Try, and try – Yes, we wrote that it is important to have a good camera. But still, a good camera does not make good pictures automatically. There are many other factors as distances, angle, light, camera settings … For this there is not a clear manual, only training can create a professional from you.
- Find some good spots – Another crucial aspect is finding a good spot. Not only to get a good distance, angle, or place without people, but also to get a nice surrounding. It is not all about the bus, 50% of success comes from the background, whether it is a nature, photographic road, or pretty building.
- Safety first – Always remember your safety, never step on the road and keep a good distance even on the sidewalks. You never know what can happen around you when you are focused on the photography.
But it is not all about the photography. If you do not like taking photos, or you are not good at it, do not worry. You can still be part of this community and share your knowledge, or stories about the vehicles. How to do that? Well, just observe the buses around you and share what you see, notice which buses takes which lines, which liveries or ads they wear, are there any new buses in your area. Those are all important information which might help other spotters on Spotting Site.
So what are you waiting for ? Register on Spotting Site and become a member of this beautiful community.