Shooting the Lancaster, South Carolina Santa Train... in the Rain

The Lancaster and Chester Railroad in conjunction with See Lancaster has been providing Santa Train rides since 2006 and this year was no different. On Saturday, in spite of a gloomy forecast, my son, Michael the Photog, and I went up to get some pictures I've shot this train in 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013 and now this year and three of those years featured weather that could only be described as crappy. I had been following the weather forecasts all week and the consensus was that both days of the train rides would be the same.

Both of the shots I have on Joe the Photog Dot Com so far were taken at West Manor Road in Lancaster. The first one shows the train going away from us. They run an engine on both sides so that at the end of the ride, the train crew only has to get off of one engine and walk back to board the other for the return trip. As the train was passing me, I noted the backgrop of the trees in the background and thought that might make a nice shot, in efect, getting rid of all of the sky.



Getting shots of the entire train proved tricky that day. Since it was raining, the trucks under the train would all but disappear or else the rain would look like frain. I was happy with this shot though and agree with Teressa Nichole who commented that the background gavethe image a nice texture. I didn't need to do a lot in post, but the blue engine was more subdued than I wanted, so I increased the saturation. My cameradidn't give the image the contrast I thought it needed, but I was happy with it from the moment I viewed the shot on the back of my 60D. I like the way the tracks lead you to the train and the wet look addsa nice touch.

The next shot I took was of the same train at the same road. Given the cloudy conditions, I was able to get shots of both ends of the train at each stop where sunlight may have seriously hindered that plan. Here, it's most a head on shot showcasing the new blue paint on what was until recently a grey engine with yellow stripes on the nose. The Christmas wreathe is a nice, festive touch on an industrial piece of rolling stock. The grey mist and fog behind the train, in my opinion, makes the train stand out even more.



As I mentioned, these engines have been painted within the last few years. Here is a comparison shot on a freight train in the summer of 2012. All three of these engines are now painted in the blue L&C corporate scheme.

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