Harpers Ferry

Rainy evening setup in Harpers Ferry: photographing a coal train over the Potomac

[@sly8056]

Wow!! Love the pic! Excellent work.

[@TrainGeek]

Thank you for the “behind the scenes” look at the process. You have to be in pretty good shape to scramble around and I bet you put a lot of steps in that night. You really need to know your gear to pull this off - well done. The final product was superb.

[@WilliamCGill]

A lot of back and forth for this one - probably close to 10 miles. I really should leave my GPS tracker on and let it go…would be such a chaotic looking map as I adjust everything :)

[@timofeegraaay8165]

Amazing amount of work in poor conditions to work in. Very well done. Harper’s Ferry is one place that I have gone to for 50 plus years to walk, train watch and just relax. It is a special place in many ways. Long ago I knew many of the men on the train crews based out of Brunswick, MD and before 9/11 and all the security and fear they used to let me hobo along up as far as Martinsburg, WV. I have crossed that bridge many times. Thumbs up 👍🏼

[@WilliamCGill]

It’s amazing how a line can be boring for 100 miles and then there are 25 interesting views tucked in one spot. Wouldn’t call this line boring but HF is definitely one of these spots!

[@suprheater9850]

Fantastic work: some comments: That's the Potomac River on your left and meets the Shenandoah on your right. The C&O canal is on the other side of the Potomac River on the Maryland side and the "rapid transit" is one of the regular M-F MARC commuter trains

[@WilliamCGill]

Being outside all day was making me forgetful! I couldn’t for the life of me remember ’MARC.’ I think I have the rivers and canals right - I was setting up the lights on the Maryland Heights side - had to cut a scene where I said the highways was in WV….on the drive home I realized that’s Virgina over there!! I should include some maps of the scene with the camera and lights next time I make one of these

[@EricWillPhotography]

It's a tremendous amount of effort to make some of these shots, but you are creating some unique and signature images. This one is superb!

[@WilliamCGill]

Thank you - I’d never tried lighting up rocks like this…was really worried they either wouldn’t show well or would just look like artificial daylight. I’m thankful they are so sharply shaped, kept them looking dramatic

[@NorfKhazad]

I wish I had the kind of commitment to a single perfect shot that you do.

[@AlonKoppel-g8u]

Thanks for sharing a bit of your process. The photo came out great!!

[@WilliamCGill]

@@AlonKoppel-g8u I think I could spend a whole week there, so many interesting views. A lot of tracks, rivers and canals packed in to a tiny place: our kind of place!

[@roblane247]

Your shots a beautiful but I have to wonder how the train drivers feel getting flashbanged on the night shift.

[@WilliamCGill]

That’s a really common question - I’ve done a bad job many times and the whole thing has worn into something I hope is better. The cab in this shot is completely black because all the lights are behind the crew, nothing in their face.