Night Train
by Kent Staubus
Well, I'm back on trains again. We had a great snow/fog and those always draw me out for some shots. I love winter fog! What I didn't love was the especially nasty freezing drizzle that night. At night, I control the most important thing in a photo--the Light. I can make it do what I want, to create the mood I want. Here, I used two Nikon SB-28 flash behind the train, fired by CyberSync triggers. I love sitting out in the dark, hearing the train slowly making its way towards me. The crossing light & bells spring to life, the horn on the train blares, and the roar of the big diesels are simply awesome as they go by! I pop the shutter as the train lumbers by and then recedes back into the darkness. I absolutely love winter nights!
Kent in SD
Shot with Nikon D5100,
Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 lens
Comments
2 commentsIt is indeed mostly about the light and the way it is diffused by the fog; the red, the green, the backlight, which you say is strobes, but it could also be conceived as headlights of cars waiting for the train to pass, and then the beams of the engine pointing through the fog toward the left.
Although it is just fine as it is, I will offer a few ideas in case you are interesting in further experimenting. If you are not interested in playing with it further, just disregard this.
The first thing is over on the left edge; I tend to look at edges and I would try to do something about the second red light over there that is half cut off. Either get rid of it or make it fully round.
I think there is too much negative space over on the right edge, and to my eye, that provides a distraction from the light. I would suggest a 4:5 crop and get rid of most of this extraneous black area. It is true that the train is emerging from the night, but there is too much night over there on the right, no rhyme intended.
If you want to retain a 2:3 crop, I'd suggest losing the black negative space at the bottom.
It has a lot going for it in terms of light and color and the essence of the engine by the absence of light as a silhouette, but I think it could be improved by the above.