Yesterday I attended David Hobby and Joe McNally’s Flash Bus Tour. David and Joe put the tour together to get the word out about how effective small flash can be at lighting a scene. The 7 hour lecture and demo was very fast paced and information filled. In fact I’m sure many things went right on by me. I did learn quite a bit and was definitely motivated to go home and try things the two of them taught.
So, how does this apply to railroad photography? For the most part it doesn’t other than I was able to choose a railroad related subject to try out my new found skills. Out of my collection of railroad memorabilia I picked my favorite Northern Pacific lantern to photograph. This lantern was in the collection of family friend Hiram Shultze and was given to me by him when I was in high school. This was Hiram’s lantern when he worked on the NP. The very best part of the lantern is the glass which is stamped NPRR and Safety Always. An historic classic.
This class was about managing the light and that is what I had to do for this image. First and foremost the key light is not on the camera! That was a big change for me but after trying different things for a few hours I found it was pretty easy to work with. In fact I found myself wanting more speed lights so I could do a few more things. I think I’ve caught the flash bug.
