Using strobes or Speedlights to freeze moving trains, (Operational info)

Let me be frank I am not the best at this and don't claim to be, but that said there's a lot for you to learn from me. First of all here are my tools.

Required on my outings
2x Ailen Bee 1600 (rated at 640 watts)
1x Promaster 300c (300 watts)
2x Neewer C300 (300 Watts) (Rarely used but can be good cheap strobes)

*All my strobes are softboxed, or umbrellaed, explanation will be later on.

Puresine Ion inverter

*Battery powered speed-lights can be substituted for strobes.

*On my lights it's important to note that the watt ratings, this is really important as you know what you can run off your power source. It's a very fat chance there will be an electrical socket conveniently located near your shoot location, so an inverter is important, but make sure your inverter his not too limited. Ideally you want to have an inverter attached to every strobe, but if you can't you can run extension cords and run them off one inverter. This said my Pure Sine inverter has a 1000 watt limit and that usually limits me to using one Ailen Bee and my Promaster 300c. In a few weeks I should have my new inverter that plugs into my vehicle and inverts 12 volts into 4000 watts of power. That should run not only all my strobes but my laptop to. Also watt ratings are important in deciding which strobes to work where as some are just simply more powerful. Ideally it's best to have the same model for all your strobes, but I don't.

Sturdy Tripods, and weights to tie to them prevent wind gust from blowing them over.
Nikon D5300

*I have 3 DLSR cameras but my Nikon D5300 is my favorite for this operation because it has an ISO capacity of 12800 this allows me to softbox my strobes. It's a fat chance that any train crews stare directly into them and get blinded, but with the magic of high ISOs I am able to still get decent lighting with my strobes softboxed. When a train rolls passed me it's just like they rolling into a studio. In my last blog I mentioned the blinding myth and how the odds of it are slim.

Other options are slaves, remotes, and other things I may not mention or use. I have some slaves and remotes in repair so currently I don't use them, but it is ideal to have them. I usually use slave mode to activate all my lights with my camera's main flash.

Another piece of equipment that is not required but surly nice to have is a scanner, if you can listen in and get a good read, you might can set up and have minimal wait time for the train you're after.

Location, Location, Location

Important, when you're doing this to pick a good location. Setting up in the woods in the middle of nowhere probably is not a good idea. Nothing attractive and the chances of scaring the crews are high. You also want to set up on public land, or maybe privately owned land that you have permission to operate on. But a good rule of thumb is obviously avoid trespassing on the railroad. If you cannot tell where railroad property begins and ends a good rule of thumb is stay 15 yards away from the track. Usually if you end up in a situation I call a grey area, you're not going to have an issue, but getting too close or on the tracks will get you into trouble. It also helps if your first time doing this, is on a crew you know well. Maybe you know a railroad crew, that you hang out with. For me I knew NS E13's crew well and my first outings were all on 6th street in Augusta. It gives you a little first timmer leeway to make your first timmer mistakes. You will probably look far from O. Winston Link on your first outing, but it's just like your first kiss, you probably won't do it right but if you never do it you never improve.

General set up, really there is no general set up. First and foremost be ahead of the train so you can set-up in a timely manner and get test shots in. The test are crucial so you know if you got any malfunctions. One strobe not firing can ruin the entire shot so keep that in mind. So the test are important, and then you can set up your light layout accordingly. A rushed set-up very rarely yelds any good results. I think I'm batting just over .250 when I have to rush in there. 25% is not good odds.

Set up your lights according to how you desire the shot to come out. You got to develop a little psychic ability to foresee what you're perusing and what effect you want. Is there any interesting background you would like to light up? Also make sure you do not blow out the ground, which is a common mistake I make. Then you got to adjust your camera's settings to optimal settings to allow the right amount of light in without it being too dark or bright. There is no one size fits all here, you will have to figure out these settings pretty much no two nights shots have the same settings unless you're trying to dupe yourself or somebody.

Another important shop tip is, make sure you know what the dew point is. Do not let your camera's temperature drop the Dew point. This will cause your lens to immediately fog up as as the train approaches your set-up as the locomotive's lights reflect off your camera and 75% of the time your outing is ruined when this happens. Not only that but obeying the dew point rule adds more life to your camera as this dew can damage it.

Next it's show time power on all appliances, as the train is approaching focus in your lens good and swap it to Manuel focus, this is important because Autofocus on a moving train at night has a tendency to select the wrong subject and will sometimes roll out of focus. Fire a final test dump to notify the crew that they are about to get a flash of light, this way it does not surprise them of your presence as bad. Then be patient and try and get the shot at the perfect moment.

I like the results of this photo only thing I didn't like was how the pavement got blown out. But other than that everything else went as planned and next time I use this location at night I will angle my strobes a little higher.