To conclude my trip home from New Jersey (first part is in this post) I had time to swing by the Valley Railroad and shoot their Halloween themed Fright Train again at dusk (my first attempt is here). But this time I decided to try something different for the two shots – not only the angle, but also the technique.
Like the last time I figured on two spots for the shots – Old Deep River Road in Essex, and at the Deep River Landing parking lot. But instead of the same shots I did before, I decided to mix things up a bit.
At Old Deep River Road I decided on a head on shot, using the crossing signal as an anchor to the frame. But to do this right, I needed another light to bring the signal out of the shadows. Since I was shooting handheld, I used my tripod to set up my Canon 420EX shoe mount flash, and connected it to the 2nd receiver I’ve got. After deciding on an angle for me and the flashes, and with a couple test shots in the bag, I waited for the train. Not long after I heard the whistles as they left Essex, #40 came into view, and I popped off my first shot of the evening.
[cpg_imagefixnormal:114791]Not too bad! As the train passed I broke down my gear, and as soon as they cleared the crossing I loaded up and headed up to Deep River Landing.
I got up there a little sooner this time, so I decided to go with only the Lumedyne, but instead of the low angle shot I did last time, I climbed up the rock cut north of the grade crossing. After a few minutes, the train came into view, slowed at the station for that part of the show/ride, and then accelerated towards me. I bagged this shot just as they were coming through the crossing.
[cpg_imagefixnormal:114790]Something a bit different…
With those in the camera, I broke things down (and got some friendly waves from the passengers – I hope they didn’t think I was one of the actors…) and headed out to surprise Jill and the girls at gymnastics practice. They weren’t expecting me until much later on…
And a side note – none of these recent shots were done with HDR, layers, cloning, or any other Photoshop techniques. All were done in-camera with one trip of the shutter.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
