My Dad and I had been talking about the new steam train (The Tornado) which was in the headlines a few weeks back, and he mentioned that it was due to do a run in the Surrey hills last weekend. My ears pricked up as I thought an image of this train running through the hills could be quite nice and photogenic, but wasn't that bothered. However, I then thought that it may be a newsworthy piece for the local paper, "the new train comes to Surrey" - just what the Surrey Advertiser would be interested in.
An Internet search or two later and I had a specific timetable, and realised it would travel literally past the next village, and even more luck, it would briefly stop to take on more water (the only stop on it's 3hr journey) . As it would be dark, having the train stationary would be essential for any decent photos.
I managed to convince Sheens that I wasn't a train spotter, and this was a business plan to get more photo publications. Off I went expecting to take a pic and be back home within 30mins. What I hadn't banked on, was that the whole of Surrey had decided to descend on Shalford train station to see it that night. There were hundreds of spectators, and I battled past them all to get to the end of the platform. I knew the direction of travel, and the line it was due in, so setup in the optimal position.
Everything came together when the train arrived amid clouds of steam and I got the shot. It was sent off to the Surrey advertiser with a short description in the hope I'd be the first submission and that they may use it. So I was ecstatic yesterday when I received an email from the paper asking for permission to use the shot in print, and today it's there for everyone to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment