Night on the In-ko-pah Railroad

[Ray Dunakin]

Recently I experimented with a few pics of the RR at night. They're not quite perfect but still pretty interesting...












Enjoy!

[finescalerr]

Here's a hint about night shots, Ray: Unless you want only to see the light from, for example, a structure and the train's headlight, you probably also should use some kind of flood lighting. Obviously it must not overpower the other lights. And you can use a gel over the additional lighting, for example to create a bluish tint. The famous railroad photographer O. Winston Link used tons of flash bulbs when he shot his famous series of night shots.

Considering the light sources on your layout, something as benign as a relatively low power desk or table lamp might provide enough ambient light.

If you mess around with those ideas, please post the results.

Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

Thanks. This was kind of spur of the moment, and I just used available light from the full moon, structure lights, train lights, etc, hoping to get a natural effect. I can see how using some additional lighting would be an improvement, and that's something I'll try next time.

[eTraxx]

@Ray .. what Russ said. Makes all the difference.

Here's a shot of my pump-house with just the lights from the building .. It's *ok* .. but it's like it was taken on a moonless, overcast night!


Same shot but with a simple nightlight held up a few feet up and back ..


I think a fill light would make all the difference in your photos