On this night the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society had their first ever paid night shooting session and wow what a treat. A few years back they had a little night session where they simply turned the headlight on for about an hour. I was expecting something similar but wow was I wrong. Well known railroad photographer Steve Crise provided lighting through strobes on huge stands and he led the group through numerous lighting setups and arrangements of period reenactors around and in front of the locomotive. The real treat was that throughout the shoot they actually lit the fire, blowing the whistle for some shots and blowing steam through the cylinder cocks and out the stack for just a fantastic steamy scene. Here is perhaps my favorite shot of the night, taken without any strobe light, but with 3751 spitting out a lot of steam from the stack, the cylinders, and the generators. Behind her the signal towers of Fullerton Station are bathed in steam, and the headlight’s beam is traced in it. A huge thank you to the SBRHS (check them out at sbrhs.org) and Steve Crise for a wonderful evening.
