o winston link

[tk shots]

does anyone know how link got his night shots? i know he used lighting,but what about the trains in the distance?

they were hardly lit...

[gary_watson]

Crates and crates of flashbulbs. Just do some research.

[lex_jenkins]

http://www.linkmuseum.org/collection.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._Winston_Link

 

http://www.carolinaarts.com/winstonlink.html

[tk shots]

i know he used a lot of lights...what i want to know is how he did it...how did he light the trains in the background? was it with a stronger light,and if so,where was it positioned? how was it used so that it didn't overexpose the foreground? i want to know exactly how he did it...crates of flashbulbs tells me nothing....

[ellis_vener_photography]

As Lex and Gary pointed out: lots and lots of flash bulbs strategically located throughout the scene. The modern equivalent would be electronic flash of course.

 

To take it further:<P>

 

Because these photos were at night and made in a time where there was not so much light pollution, he could either use a very long exposures and set off individual sets of bulbs only when the train was in the right position for the composition or possibly do multiple short exposures on one sheet of film , again each one timed for the train to be in the right position for his very carefully planned out compositions. I am sure he had to have had some assistance doing all of the set up work and possibly acting as a human remote triggers as well. As to how and where he specifically set lights that would be dictated by his sense of what story he wanted each photo to tell. or he and his assistnat may laid down a lot of wire from each light to a central command point and closed a switch to trigger individual or sets of lights. Today we use <A HREF = http://www.pocketwird.com>Pocketwizard remotes</A> to set off remotely placed lights and sometimes cameras.<P>

 

Given all of that planning I think it is safe to assume that he likely used "gobos" or barn-doors or possibly just strategic aiming upwards of the flash bulb fixtures and reflectors as well as positioning to control exactly what and how intensely various areas were illuminated. I imagine there is a fair amount of very careful dodging and burning going on in his prints as well. <P>

 

 

 

There is a great photo of Mr. Link with an assistant and some of the gear they used towards the middle of the page at http://www.carolinaarts.com/winstonlink.html

[lex_jenkins]

I was in a hurry when I posted those links earlier and didn't have time to elaborate...

 

Years ago I read an excellent magazine article that described Link's flash setup in some detail. It was fascinating. I don't recall which magazine it was, could have been Modern, Pop or American Photo, or even Shutterbug. I've never subscribed to any other mags so it was probably one of those. I'm sure you can find a reprint or similar reference online.

 

I do recall that one of the reasons Link gave for preferring flashbulbs was supposedly the flash duration. Other than suiting his camera shutter, tho', I'm not sure why the duration would matter. There's also the fact that during the time when he was doing this project flashbulbs were more readily available. That would be impractical nowadays.

 

For stationary subjects many photographers have used one or more small hotshoe type flash units to "paint" a night scene with light, using multiple pops. I have tried this technique and it works well, but only with stationary subjects.

[ellis_vener_photography]

"I'm not sure why the duration would matter."

 

To freeze moving trains with maximum detail that is the tool he would have needed. At the time he was making those photos very powerful electronic flash equipment was large, extremely heavy, cumbersome and expensive. Flash bulbs were cheap and light.

[lex_jenkins]

Thanks, Ellis. That old article probably explained that.

 

When I think of flashbulbs all I can remember is the crackle and odor. Smelled like... nostalgia.

 

I wonder how much each setup would cost at today's prices for vintage #2 and #0 bulbs?

[tk shots]

this is what i wanted to know...thanks guys....

[randall ellis]

Read some of his books - the exact technique for some of the shots is told in detail.

The Last Steam Railroad in America, Steam, Steel and Stars, etc. I have them all and they are well worth the price if you are interested in this sort of information. There were times when he worked for many hours to setup a single shot, then expended hundreds of flashbulbs located all over the scene, and linked with miles of cables. He built quite a bit of his own equipment because he needed to do things of a very specialized nature. He built, for example, a lantern that contained a flashbulb so that the lantern in the shot would be lit. He built huge, and I mean HUGE, reflectors that housed dozens of bulbs, he filled many rooms of buildings in the shot with flashbulbs so that they buildings would be lit, etc. The books go into a lot of detail in this regard.

 

- Randy

[www.philwinterphotography.]

Randall beat me to it. The book, Steam, Steel, and Stars is outstanding book that documents the last steam

railroad in the U.S., the Norfolk - Western. NW served Virginia, W. Virginia and a small part of North Carolina.

Link's shots were meticulously crafted and he only had one chance to get it right. Of course, all the huge lights that

Randall describes had to be connected by wires. In one shot in the book, the timing had to be perfect because

moments after the shot the train ran over the wires and cut them.

 

The reason Link shot at night was so that he could control the lighting. The only photos (that I'm aware of) of the

Norfolk Western RR that were shot in the daytime were a few taken of the Virginia Creeper which only ran in the day

from Abingdon Va to West Jefferson, NC.