The Story Behind the Photo

June 2026: Member’s Choice

Shannon Milner

So you want to know how this image came to be?

Step 1  sign up and attend a photography workshop with Lerro Photography. Pete Lerro has many workshops throughout the year for trains, lighthouses, reenactments etc. I am on his email list so whenever there are new ones or he adds dates, I receive an email.  The workshop was originally just 2 days with 1 night and he added an additional day/night the day before.  It worked out for me as a teacher that the workshop was during spring break making it easier for me to attend.  I have previously attended one of his other workshops on vintage trolleys.  I find the workshops are reasonably priced. I guess it’s the separate flights, hotels, car etc. that costs the most.  Making the images a bit expensive to capture, yet still fun.This April workshops was a 3 day, 2 night train photography workshop in Durango Colorado. 

This image was composed on the first night. Pete Lerro arranged for the train engine to be stagnant with the engine running in order to get the steam and smoke.  He then had a guy stand with an old lantern with a red light in it so that he would be backlit and have steam and smoke around him and the train engine.  Pete set up and arranged the lighting as well as a couple of vintage cars with their headlights on.  This all contributed to the light effects.

As for the camera set up and settings. I used my Sony a7rV with my 16-35 mm lens, on a tripod, set at 28mm at F22, 1/13 of a second exposure, and ISO 12800.  I took multiple shots to get a select few that I liked the amount of steam, light effects etc.  In Lightroom Classic I did very minimal editing with just slight changes to highlights, shadows, and exposure.