Have you wondered this too ? (about night nite photos)

[fuzzybroken]

Thanks for the great comments Chuck!

-Mark
www.fuzzyworld3.com

[ChuckCobleigh]

QUOTE: Originally posted by fuzzybroken

...So, my pictures may not be as spectacular and lit-up as Mr. Link's or others', but heck they're still cool!

Have a great day,
-Mark Hintz
www.fuzzyworld3.com

Mark, both of the examples tell an interesting story, which in either case probably includes "Yikes!" somewhere. The high-voltage lines stretching across the tracks make a strong statement about danger, and the figure at the right edge of the derailed Superliner cars adds that "What a mess to clean up" aspect to the picture.

What Link tried to do was make the lighting "natural" in the sense that unless you were a photographer and understood how difficult it would be to capture those scenes with available light, you would see the scene in the picture as being pretty much what you would see in person.

With more ISO sensitivity today and the ability or opportunity to make longer exposures, you (we) can with less effort get close to what Link workerd hard to get. But, in the end, it is still the story that makes the picture art, IMHO.

[fuzzybroken]

My personal experiences with night photography: I have had two good night photography experiences since I bought my digital camera, one of which I have online at www.fuzzyworld3.com/n041010.html. The other was of a derailed Amtrak train, that I could have easily shot in daylight, but didn't find out about until after sundown... oh well. (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=101572 for this one.) In both cases, I found that I had to keep the camera still while I got my picture(s), not an easy task with no tripod/monopod/etc.! Can't hold it in my hands, even being as steady as I am I'm still too shaky! So, what I figured out is that I could brace the camera on any stationary object, such as a bridge railing or light post to keep the camera still enough for getting a good night picture!

So, my pictures may not be as spectacular and lit-up as Mr. Link's or others', but heck they're still cool!

Have a great day,

[ChuckCobleigh]

You definitely need to get with the company's PR department first, probably, then if they are interested, they will put you in with the appropriate operating departments.

Going back to our Link example, that was approximately the route he took, sending some of his daylight photographs to the N&W brass and working from there. Having something of a track record already as a photographer didn't hurt his effort to get their attention, as that reinforced that the quality of the work he showed them to begin with was not a fluke.

Once you get people at the company working with you, then you can concentrate on what stories you want to tell and maybe what stories they have to tell with the pictures.

[emmar]

Yes, I did wonder if most night shots are staged with the crew aware of what was coming. I know that all of Link's shots were taken with the crews knowledge of the photo shoot beforehand. Anyway wouldn't it be pretty hard to set up enough flash equipment to photograph a train at night without someone noticing and calling the cops on you.(Especially nowadays with all the hightened security) I dont know much about night photography though. My only personal experience with it was snapping a few shots of a switching locomotive in the late evening (and that was not very successful).

[arbfbe]

Mel Patrick did some nice night time work around Denver. Crews were alerted. One of those photos at PRospect Jct. is on the dust jacket of a book titled "Starlight on the Rails" by Jeff Brouws and Ed Delvers from Harry N Abrams, Inc., Publishers. It is now in reprint for $19.98 retail. If you like outstanding night time photography this is a great book to have. Just $20 for a duotone B&W book is quite a bargain. The quality of the photography and reproduction is inspirational. There are also some color photos in this oversize coffee table format book.

[ChuckCobleigh]

Remember that Link's work wasn't just documenting a railroad's dying stem; he was documenting a country's dying heritage. Look at his work again and realize that there was generally a much larger story in his pictures than just the train, which was in a number of instances not even the centerpiece of the art.

For all of the bazillions of people carrying around a camera, there once in a while comes along somebody like Link or Adams who can capture so much more and tell wonderful stories in a single image.

Link would head down to N&W country with a little trailer full of his flash equipment and cases of flash bulbs (screw-in type about the size of a 60-watt incandescant bulb) and come back with America captured in silver. You could, with modern equipment, do similar work, in color, with marginally less effort, given railroad and public cooperation, but I suspect you could never capture the charm of the world as it existed in Link's steam days.

Oh, and remember that Link always worked with at least one assistant to spend the better part of a day setting up the flash reflectors and running the wires.

[Modelcar]

....The end result was sure beautiful night photos of railroading....especially, steam railroading.

[tree68]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar
[brOn the other hand, didn't Link work in conjunction with, {I believe it was mostly N&W}, and for them perhaps at the time for P R work, etc

Link worked with the full (nay, enthusiastic) support of the N&W. I have a book on his work that also explains how he became involved in the project (he wasn't a rail photographer when he started). I believe the bulk of his RR work (he was an industrial photographer, IIRC) was with N&W. He was specifically documenting the end of steam.

[CopCarSS]

I've always been content to use available light photography for night subjects, at least msot of the time. Granted, this doesn't work too well with moving subjects, but that's OK. Once in awhile I'll have to supplement existing lighting with a bit of my own.

This usually entails, headlights, and spotlights on the cruiser (I like the warmer color than the "daylight white" one gets when using a flash, I can't find too many flashbulbs around here). Before I light a train up with the spots, I'll catch up with the crew (if they're on the train) and let them know.

I'm not sure what the guys shooting action at night do, though. As others have saif, O. Winston Link had big time help from the N&W, so I'm sure all the crews knew. Not sure about any others, though.

[Modelcar]

...For sure, O Winston Link had planning and set up of lights that must have taken his crew much time to prepare. Wonder how he arranged his set ups with the various RR's as it seems doing something like that today would be pretty much out of the question. On the other hand, didn't Link work in conjunction with, {I believe it was mostly N&W}, and for them perhaps at the time for P R work, etc....Also believe he constructed much of his special lighting himself....and it was extremely extensive to produce photos like he did. One can appreciate how much "lighting" it would have required to do such shots as most railroad equipment he was shooting was of black or very dark in color...He sure did some beautiful work....In fact lots of it.
And the recent night photo of a train stretched around Horseshoe was kinda in commemoration of a previous shot taken many years ago, a passenger train positioned around the "Curve".....That one must have had enough lights to light up Altoona....I have that picture around here someplace and of course one can find it on the internet.

[tree68]

All of O. Winston Link's shots were staged. And he was using flash bulbs, meaning that to repeat a shot, ALL of the bulbs had to be changed. If you take a look at one of his pictures, you can pick out a lot of the flash locations, and there were a lot.

Shooting a night shot obviously requires more than that pop-up flash on your Instamatic. Even If I had the lighting equipment to set up a decent shot, and could do so without trespassing, I think I'd want to let the RR know so they could warn the crew, never mind stopping or backing up for a second shot. That would be a real shocker, to have that much light without warning.

[adrianspeeder]

I do think they are staged. NS did one over at horseshoe curve a little while ago.

Adrianspeeder

[kenneo]

So far as I know, all of those "flash" pictures are staged in one way or another and the crews definately know what is happening. To get a good picture that way you need to have the railroads cooperation.

[canazar]

I was surfing through RailPictures.net looking at the latest when I saw a bunch of nite shots. You know the kind, its middle of the nite and the train is lit up like strip club sign in 'Vegas. You can tell the photographer must have used a bizillion watts of flash to pull it off. Dramatic pcitrues to say the least but.....

Have ever wondered if the train crew knew it was coming though?

Ever wonder how much swearing must go on afterwards in the cab?

Lets face it, we all know some of the railfanatics and photo guys beleive it there God given right to do what they want... Give the crew a sign? A warning? Nah

Picture this.. Bob and Fred, hummin down the 2 rail 80miles into the leg, and in a comfy grove in the cab. Its darker than a coalminer's lung outside. There watching the country side looking for trouble, talkin about last nite ball game when..

BAAAM!!!!!!!!

Now there eyes are the size dinner plates and Bob burts out "Sweet mother of Holy Moly Fred, I cant see my coffee cup!" But Fred doesnt here him becuase he is convinced that some power trasnformer must have blown up and the and the whole West Coast must be dark. He'd call it in, but he cant find the radio. These poor buggers are blind for the next 5 minutes....

Anyone else, or maybe I am the only one that wonderes that.[:)]

Best Regards