A timely heads-up from a befriended train-driver was all the motivation required to prepare the night gear again and put into practice the lessons from previous times.The subject: an empty grain train from Antwerp to Tergnier, operated by Lineas.The train was running a bit earlier than expected and I had to hurry to set up the gear on time. For some reason one of the … Continue reading Grain in the night
After the previous attempt, I wanted to work on sharpness. The strong flash lasts for a time that is long enough to get motion unsharpness. Solution: less powerful flashing, ISO up. Sharpness is fine now. Next working points: get the ISO value down and light some more aspects of the train and its surroundings. Continue reading Optimizing the night shots
Night photography fascinates me. How to get good pictures in almost complete darkness?Previous attempts with flashes were frustrating. I didn’t like the whole setup with classic batteries: they are always empty when you need them, and flashes didn’t fire a bit too often. Also, separate battery powered remotes were needed.This year I tried a new system with rechargable high-capacity batteries and efficient flash units, with … Continue reading Into the night again
A normal train in a normal station, but light was extraordinary. Continue reading Only once in a while
It was cold, freezing cold. But we really wanted to get this shot. We were two, and unfortunately we couldn’t find a way to trigger two a camera’s at the exact same moment, so we took turns taking photos. The one not taking the photo, could then also hold another flash in position. This is one of the shots that I got. A BR185 TRAXX … Continue reading A flash under ink-black sky
A few hours later than previous photo. Fingers frozen, and getting tired. On the way back to the highway we came across a Captrain engine waiting to leave the Alaska section. This would have been a nice one to follow, but me and my friends lights were fading out so it was time to head back to our respective homes. Continue reading A final effort
For some reason, we always decide to go out for night shots during the cold months of the year. If we would start at 7 or 8pm that would make sense, but usually we start around 10 or 11pm. *Mental note to go out for night shots during the warm summer months. The night from january 22 to january 23 was a beautiful one. Light … Continue reading A cold and foggy winter night
Trains also rest sometimes. Not too long, of course, who wants an expensive pile of metal just standing there… So consider us lucky to catch this Europorte locomotive resting right where we just witnessed the delivery of some freight cars, and even more lucky that it did so close to the sign of the owner of the site, Euroports. Continue reading Europorte @ Euroports
Final destination. The cars are delivered at the client’s, to be loaded or unloaded. There were only a few gaps in the concrete fencing, we had to grab the opportunity to shoot the train when it presented itself. Continue reading A gap in the fence
At night it’s quiet in the port of Antwerp. Almost no trucks, no cars… but if you look well, you can find some trains. During one of the longest nights of the year, we found one at the small Lillo marshalling yard. The B-Logistics’ crew was working hard to deliver the goods on time at a client’s site. We had to hurry to get our … Continue reading Working hard
Railscapes 