Photos on the footplate

[Guest]

Last night I was asked to go over to the Great Central Railway station at Lougborough to take pictures of a prize draw. The prize was a driver experience day and the draw took place on the footplate of a steam locomotive about to take a rake of coaches laden with diners off down the line. I knew this would be a difficult picture to take, confined quarters, low light etc. so I picked the equipment to take with care whilst keeping to the minimum.

 

In fact it was far trickier than I ever imagined, the space of the footplate turned out to be about as I expected but the available light was not. Before I set off I had upped my camera’s iso to 1600, which is as high as I like to go unless essential but the available light was virtually nil. The only light there was came through the open firebox door and from the tiny illuminator on the water level gauge. Whilst the carriages were on the illuminated, canopied platform the engine was right at the platform’s end and there was no external light, not even a moon! Fortunately I had brought two flashguns and a trigger so I could create light if I could sort out the black equipment from the confines of a black bag with so little light. I was half done when Fred, the driver, produced a small torch! What a relief and in future a credit card torch will go out with me on night-time events, the one vital piece of equipment I did not have this time.

 

The end result was a success and the magazine’s editor, seen here between driver Fred and fireman Cyril, was pleased.

 

click to view larger.

[FUJI]

Well done Bill,

Great success under very difficult circumstances...........I have three LCD torches around the house, plus a small one in a jacket pocket, they are great for photography.

Which camera, what lens.

FUJI

[Guest]

Thanks Fuji

5DMk3 and 24-105 at 24mm - manual exposure f7.1 at /100 and the flashguns balance the fill light.

[ChrisLumix]

That's a technical tour-de-force. Wow, you really used all the resources available to you, and it worked out. As for the pic itself, the right hand side shows beyond any doubt where steampunk got its main inspirations from.

[Leon]

Well done Bill,

Great success under very difficult circumstances...........I have three LCD torches around the house, plus a small one in a jacket pocket, they are great for photography.

Which camera, what lens.

FUJI

never seen an LCD torch, I have a LED  one though

[NannyFerret]

Brilliant capture, Bill. I like the way that the men are to one side and the works to the right. 

Everything is so clear.

[FUJI]

never seen an LCD torch, I have a LED  one though

Bl**DY iPad spell checker and predictive text!.......Gotta blame something ;-)

I keep coming back to your photograph Bill, there us so much in it to see.

FUJI

[NannyFerret]

Bl**DY iPad spell checker and predictive text!.......Gotta blame something ;-)

I keep coming back to your photograph Bill, there us so much in it to see.

FUJI

My spelling is worse since I've used a computer. It was very good before that.  

[Martyn]

Fantastic shot Bill! With a quality picture like that, no one would have realised just how technically difficult it was to achieve.

[Kobione]

Agree with Martyn on this one Bill, and, like Fuji, I keep coming back for another look. Fantastic!!