Nevada Northern Railway Winter Steam Shoot - Saturday

After a fun Friday afternoon and evening photographing trains at the Nevada Northern Railway, I was ready to head back Saturday morning for more train photography. I looked out the hotel window bright and early, hoping for a beautiful sunrise, but it was overcast, so I took my time. When I went over to the East Ely Station, I enjoyed a continental breakfast and then watched what was going on out in the yard. First thing as a morning meeting.

Then I wandered along the train tracks, and the good-natured engineer let me snap his photo.

All the photographers walked down the tracks a bit, and the steam engine came towards us, passing the ice house and the bunk house (where you can rent a room for the night).

We had a photo line established by the railroad crossing.

I have to admit, I was more interested in getting photos with people in them. Fortunately the conductor was the eyes for the engineer as the train backed up to do another pass-by.

I was also fascinated by the train wheels. They are slightly hypnotic as they chug along.

The conductor moved to the baggage car.

And I found that making some of the photos black and white made the grey day fade away.

Then it was time to load up for a train trip.

We were in the women's passenger car, with neat looking seats.

I hung out at the back with the conductor. We were actually backing down these tracks, so it was interesting hearing him on the radio with the engineer.

When we got to the tunnel, we all got off and got ready to take some photos.

Someone suggested climbing the hill on the other side of the highway, and I thought that was a great idea. It gave a little different view of the train.

The train almost seemed like a toy train! They moved the train back and forth many times so everyone could try and get the perfect shot.

I came down eventually and we moved the photo line up closer to the now-stationary train.

I took A LOT of photos from various angles.

Since the train wasn't moving, we were allowed on the tracks.

Then the engine produced some extra steam.

Mark Bassett, Executive Director of NNRY, was generous sharing his train knowledge, and a lot of fun to be around.

In a bit it was time to give instructions to the engineer and then we all got on board again for our next photo location.

We stopped at an embankment where we could get some different angles of the train. Again, the skies were really grey, so I liked making the photo black and white to emphasize the train more.

I had two specific kinds of shots I wanted to get during the weekend. One was a panning shot, but it didn't quite work out like I wanted. This ended up being my best attempt.

Since that didn't work out, I didn't mind scrambling up and down to try and get some shots from angles other photographers weren't getting.

I laid down to get this one below.

Then we moved to the Lackawanna crossing and had fun there.

 This was all before a delicious lunch we ate at the station. I had already taken nearly 1,000 photos and was a little overwhelmed. It was good to recharge our batteries (both camera and human!). There was still lots more fun to be had during the weekend.

Nevada Northern Railway Winter Steam Shoot--Friday

 I had the opportunity to attend the Nevada Northern Railway's Winter Steam Photo Shoot Spectacular, a 2.5 day event held twice each February. I was at the second weekend, with about 30 other photographers, ready to take jawbreaking photographs of trains. I have to admit, I like trains, but I'm not a train fanatic. And I do love photography, but I had a feeling I was going to be with a bunch of semi-pro and pro photographers. So I was definitely going to be out of my comfort zone. But that's okay, that's how we grow, so I decided to just go for it and enjoy the weekend. My husband and in-laws were on kid duty, I had a room reserved at a hotel in Ely, and I had packed lots of warm clothes (it is Ely, Nevada, after all, a place not really known for being warm).

We started out with a safety briefing from Mark Bassett, the director of NNRY. Then we headed out into the yard for some photo opportunities. It was a grey and rainy afternoon, so I was glad there were some bright colors out there.


We started with a freight train with two diesel engines, #5 and #105 (I think--this is where my lack of train knowledge trips me up!)


We bundled up and went out into the yard. These train photographers had come from all over, including Chicago, Connecticut, Washington state, several from California, Utah, and more.


The freight train made some passes.

I tried to find a way to get something a little different. It was my first time photographing with so many others, and I was introduced to the concept of a photo line, a line you stay behind so you don't get in anyone else's photo. The photo line changes as everyone gets that shot and then it's time to move on to the next one.

I really enjoyed the artistic challenge of trying to get a unique shot. I was also content to get some standard compositions, as I don't have many train photos. (I do now!)

The line of school buses across the street caught my eye, a splash of color on an otherwise dreary day.

One of the cool things about the NNRY is that when it closed down, they basically shut the doors on an intact operation. So all the parts are there, being restored over time. These buildings in the background are iconic to the railway.

 

Then it was time to head down the tracks. The lines and symmetry made me swoon--well, almost! I was pretty excited, I have to admit.

We were allowed to go into the caboose and watch the freight train. It was a little rainy at this point.

A few of the photographers getting ready.

Then they did a demo with the crane train, lifting an ore cart off the tracks and setting it back down. It was very cool.

 By then I was very cool--I mean cold, so I checked into the hotel and warmed up a bit.

 Then at 5 pm I went back for the much touted night shoot with professional studio lighting. It felt like a bit of a jostling match to get a spot in the lineup of tripods!

The studio lighting was really nice (ignore the green flare, I just saw it and realized I still need to fix that!). Engine 40 was our main subject.


I also had fun trying some of my night sky techniques between the flashes so I could get some special effects, like the light beaming out in front.

  

After a few shots of the engine and people trying various angles, the models came in. These are NRRY employees who did a good job of looking the part.

I really liked the steamy effect.


And then there were more photos...

It was a fun evening of trying out various camera settings and angles. The crowd was thinning out when I left about 7:30 pm and downloaded photos and charged batteries to get ready for the next day.