Steam & Excursion > Steam images for Christmas card... submissions?

Very soon, I am going to start making a painting that my family can use as a Christmas card this year. I have had trouble finding the perfect image. I haven't taken any winter scenes myself, so in the past I have either added snow to a picture or I have snagged a picture from elsewhere. Anyway, I decided it would be cool to make it like a contest and take submissions. I am mainly looking for vintage images of steam in regular service, but recent photos are good too if they are representative of historic events. I am more interested in eastern railroading than western, but I'm open to anything. I would probably use my own artistic license and change things around within the image to make it my own regardless of what I end up doing. The photo must be of steam however.

If you are interested in submitting your photo to be used for reference in my painting, please post it in this thread. If I choose yours, I will send you a high resolution photo of my painting. Once again, I may change things within the image or combine elements from many images to make the painting. I thank you for any submissions and ideas.

Here is what I did last year:

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I'll post some of my favorites this evening. The last one looks nice. :)

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

Here are a couple of my favorites from the Heber, back in '07 when the gettin' was good. The first one's been painted a couple of times by other artists.

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/08/12 22:49 by Harlock.

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Or howabout some Nevada Northern? About as authentic as you can get. Or something unorthadox, a lantern.

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

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One more from Nevada Northern. I'm making some assumptions here...that you want horizontal, probably passenger more than freight, and good 'scenes' with the locomotive / train in context with other stuff and not by itself.

There's a metric ton more photos here at my site: http://www.mikemassee.com/gallery/v/trains/

The largest collection is from NNRY. I've been shooting there since '07 and helping to run their winter freights since '08.

Cheers,

-Mike

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

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Those are truly beautiful images Mike. Thanks so much for your willingness for sharing. I will look at them and see which ones I want to paint. All of them are spectacular, so It's going to take me a while to choose. I'm disappointed no one else posted anything, but you gave me plenty of material to work from. Thank you.

-Nat

I'm surprised as well. I like having my photos painted. I guess not everyone shares that sentiment. Let me know which one you want to use and I can send a higher resolution version if you need it.

Cheers,

-Mike

Mike Massee
Tehachapi, CA
Photography, Railroading and more..

I have one photo that I will also submit later today as I am posting this thread at work. The image is a B/W so would you still consider that versus a color photo?

Those are really nice images posted earlier. I really only have one scanned that was taken in winter, and it might not have enough "atmosphere" for a painting. I just saw your post this evening (others may be in a similar position) so didn't have a chance to offer up anything until now.

Cheers,

aussiehinz


Shakedown run of NKP #765 near Green Springs OH in a snow aquall off Lake Erie, December 1979.

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Black and white images could be great too. This one of 765 is fantastic! I think I remember it from last year sometime.

Yes, I posted it a while back. Here are a couple more that I forgot I had scanned, in case you are interested in the real life inspiration for the popular "Polar Express" Christmas book and movie. These were taken on the last run of the "Polar Express" for the 2007 holiday season, a few miles north of Owosso MI on a cold and damp December 23, 2007.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/10/12 06:51 by aussiehinz.

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There is no snow in this, but plenty of winter steam.

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This one comes already decorated for Christmas.

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I'll throw my hat in the ring as well, give you one more picture to think about - from the Wilmington and Western this past January.

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these are all beautiful! Thank you. I'll let you know which one I choose. I'm having a difficult choice, as there are so many wonderful images here. I thank you all for sharing.

-Nathaniel Emerson

I'm late to the party; something called Hurricane Sandy slowed me down a bit.

A few of my suggestions for a Christmas card cover:

http://www.losttracksoftime.com/p1017320714/e1cf6ec14

http://www.losttracksoftime.com/p947421187/e131d325b

http://www.losttracksoftime.com/p58527735/ece0b409

http://www.losttracksoftime.com/p457915148/e3a5b692a

http://www.losttracksoftime.com/p627341631/e2eba95cd

4 of the 5 are East Coast, the other being Alaska.
Matthew