Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk: Sacramento Train Museum

On Saturday I participated in Scott Kelby’s Third Annual Photo Walk in Old Town Sacramento.  Worldwide there were over 33,000 photowalkers at over 1,100 locations.  Our groups was allowed into the Sacramento Railroad Museum before it was open so that we could use our tripods and not have to deal with tourists.  So, I got up at 4:30 a.m. to be in Old Sacramento by 6;15. There were about 50 photographers who were able to roust themselves out of bed in time to be there.  It was well worth the effort.

We were lead into a large auditorium and given the rules of the museum.  Then, the drama began.  Dave Henry, the leader of our walk (on the right above), called for our attention to be drawn to the solid wall behind him.  As it began to rise we could see that there was a large window behind it.  Unfortunately they forgot to turn off the lights in the auditorium, so all we saw was…ourselves and a fain outline of a large locomotive. Always having my camera ready, I snapped this picture.  The quality is not so good, but you can see the walkers superimposed over the locomotive.

We only had about 2 1/2 hours in the museum before it would open to the general public.  At that point we would no longer be allowed to use our tripods.  Since the lighting was very dim in the museum, a tripod is a must in order to get a nice crisp photo. I wandered around with my friend, a wonderful photographer, Roger Aylstock, for some of the time.  But, as photographers do, our interests lead us in different directions.  I found this wonderful gentleman (above) who was willing to let me take his photo in front of this beautiful train.  (Keep in mind that I know nothing about trains…my brother, Andy Thomas, is the train person in my family.)

Here are some of the shots I took.

At the very end, they took us outside where they had fired up the steam engine for us to photograph.  What a treat.

Now to decide which one to submit for the contest…