Monthly Archives: March 2026

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Cardinal Contrasts—Modern Visions on the old C&O

Amtrak’s Cardinal (New York City–Chicago) is one of the most unusual trains on the network.

It is among the few trains that operate with a non-standard consist, typically including the relatively rare Viewliner dorm/baggage cars. Its route is also one of the few that operates over a shortline carrier, and it is one of only a handful of long-distance trains that runs just three days a week.

A few days ago, Kris and I timed a visit to Staunton, Virginia, to coincide with the arrival of Amtrak No. 51, the westbound Cardinal, at the former Chesapeake & Ohio station.

This historic station is situated on a narrow alignment along a sharp curve near the base of a steep grade, making it an especially unusual location to photograph a modern intercity passenger train. The line is operated and maintained by the Virginia based Buckingham Branch and hosts trains of several carriers including Amtrak.

Rain was cascading when the train approached the station. I thought the sleek, streamlined contours of the state-of-the-art Siemens Charger diesel made for a delightful contrast with the historic setting of the old C&O station.

Photos exposed using my Nikon Z6-III with 24-70mm lens.

Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Is Cropping Cheating?

Looking west into the reverse curves at Christiana, Pa., I was limited by my 70–200mm lens. As I envisioned the scene, making the most of it would require a longer telephoto.

Lacking the appropriate focal length, I opted to frame the image with the intention of allowing for a very tight crop. As Amtrak Keystone 651 raced through the curves, I made this trailing view showing Siemens ACS-64 electrics at both ends of the consist.

My Nikon Z7 II’s high-resolution sensor (approximately 45 megapixels) allowed me to retain considerable detail and sharpness despite the tight cropping of the original image, which was exposed at a 200mm focal length.

So I ask: is this cheating?

Screen shot of the Adobe Lightroom work window that illustrates the degree of cropping of the original Nikon NEF Raw file.
Cropped version of the full frame image.

Tracking the Lights Explores Photography Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Toronto Streetcars June 2010.

In June 2010, I purchased my first (and only) DSLR before embarking on an epic three-week trip that included a visit to Toronto, Ontario, with fellow photographer Pat Yough.

DSLR stands for digital single lens reflex. This type of camera provides an optical viewfinder using a system of mirrors to allow phographer to see through the lens as compated with a ‘Mirrorless’ camera that provides a hi-res digital display.

Using my new Canon EOS 7D fitted with a 200mm f/2.8 prime lens, I made this view of TTC CLRVs (Canadian Light Rail Vehicles) plying the city’s streets.

The bright red cars made for striking subjects on a dull June day marked by intermittent rain.

Tracking the Light Examines Railroad Photographic Techniques!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Isle of Wight’s Island Line

In April 2009, I visited the UK’s Isle of Wight, arriving at Ryde Pier by ferry from Portsmouth.

I spent two days making photographs under sunny skies.

At St John’s Road in Ryde, I made this photograph of Island Line’s former London Underground cars passing a vintage signal box.

For me, these antique cars were the primary attraction. Built in 1938, they were among the oldest cars in regular revenue service in Europe—a throwback to another generation. They made their last scheduled runs more than five years ago and have since been retired.

I thought the small widow’s peak vent at the top center of the cars was a nice touch of Art Deco design on what was otherwise a utilitarian vehicle from an earlier era.

Island Line class 483 cars approach the platfrom at St. John’s Road in Ryde, Isle of Wight. Exposed on Fujichrome using a Canon EOS-3.

Tracking the Light Looks Back!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

I Love an ‘Extra’!

Back in the day, railroads used white flags to indicate an “extra.”

Today, even the term “extra” probably eludes many observers.

Under the old system of rules, an “extra” was a means of operating a train that wasn’t part of the schedule. In some cases, this was an extra section of a regular schedule, denoted by green flags. I never saw a proper second section.

A pure extra often represented something unusual.

I didn’t know what “887” signified, but it wasn’t part of the regular program.

A local enthusiast tipped me off that this was a test train with HHP-C cab cars.

I recall the old HHP-8 ‘Hippos’ from their days as high-horsepower passenger electrics. They were always a bit elusive, especially east of New York City. Some of the old HHP8 units have been transformed and are being trialed as replacements for the old Metroliner cab cars. (note the lack of pantographs).

When the headlight of 887 appeared on the horizon north of Newark, Delaware, I set my Nikon Z to capture the train as it passed the old PRR station.

An HHP-C cab car wearing the new “Phase VII” paint was at each end, with an Amfleet car on either side of the ACS-64 electric powering the short test train.

Pretty neat stuff—gotta love an “extra”!

Tracking the Light Likes Extras!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Railroad Photo Class April 14, 2026

My next railroad photography class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsyvania will focus on the equipment of the Pennsylvania Railroad and its successors, Penn Central and Conrail.

This event is intended to roughly coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Conrail. I will provide seminars aiming to encourage students to make detailed visual studies of the museum key exhibits.

I’ve selected a few of my personal favorites, including E44 electric 4465.

The advertisement for this class reads:

“Railroad Photography: PRR to Penn Central to Conrail with Brian Solomon” will be held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, from 9 AM to 11 AM, at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The cost is only $25.00 per person. The class size is limited to 25 individuals and is designed for beginning photographers ages 18 and over.”

To register for the class see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-prr-to-penn-central-to-conrail-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1985578201852?aff=oddtdtcreator

Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography Every day!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Bridges in the Lehigh Gorge-and Locating an old Slide.

A recent discussion with friends about bridges and tunnels in the Lehigh Gorge led me to mention some photos I made at Glen Onoko, near Jim Thorpe, Pa., in 2007.

On a humid August morning, I followed a trail and climbed a hill overlooking twin bridges over the Lehigh River. One bridge carried the former Lehigh Valley main line, now used by Norfolk Southern and Reading & Northern; the other was the parallel former Central Railroad of New Jersey route. This was part of a twentieth-century line relocation that replaced the CNJ’s earlier alignment, which passed through the “Turn Hole” Tunnel beneath the ridge on which I was standing. The CNJ’s modern route was consolidated with the Lehigh Valley’s, and the extant former CNJ bridge was later converted for use as a road/trail.

Our continuing discussion about these alignments led to the question, “So, where’s the picture?” To which I replied, “What? Now I need to scour my collection looking for a train photo? Arrgh!”

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been labeling, organizing, and filing my slide collection—and this was a test of that effort. I went to the binder for “R” shortlines, flipped to the section on Reading & Northern, and located two of the photos from that August morning nearly 20 years ago. I scanned them using my Nikon LS-5000 scanner and scaled the images for internet presentation.

Why scale the scans? When I go through the effort of locating a slide and setting up the scanner, I always make the highest-resolution scan possible with my equipment—typically a TIFF file at 4,000 dpi. Since the resulting file is about 150 MB—far too large to send via email and too big for presentation here on Tracking the Light—I then import the TIFF into Lightroom and scale it to a more appropriate size.

Tracking the Light Examines Photography Every Day!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

DART at Blackrock

It was a bright sunny afternoon in County Dublin’s Blackrock Park on 18 May 2004, when I photographed a Bray-bound Dublin Area Rapid Transit train gliding along on the 1834-built Dublin & Kingstown line—often described as the world’s first suburban railway.

Fuji Sensia in my old Contax G2 rangefinder was a classic camera/film combination that I employed to make countless successful photos in Ireland and across Europe.

Tracking the Light Explores Railway Photography Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Metroliner Night Pan

A tip-in-hand made for an opportunity at Bird-in-Hand!

Our friend and fellow photographer, Pat Yough, tipped us off that Keystone 655 was heading our way and helped arrange for Cab Car 9635 to lead west of Philadelphia.

So what’s the big deal? This is one of at least two former Metroliner cab cars painted in Amtrak’s so-called Phase VII scheme, which—when applied to these vintage cars—closely resembles the look they wore in the mid-1970s. Pretty cool stuff. And while we’ve seen this on various occasions, it always pays to act on a tip!

Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I beelined for Bird-in-Hand to catch the train. A lineside billboard features a bright light, which helps provide illumination for nocturnal movements such as 655.

We didn’t wait long before the gleam of headlights shimmered on the rails, announcing the westward train’s approach.

To make dynamic images of the passing train, I set my Nikon Z6 III to f/1.4 at 1/60th of a second and panned with the movement.

Soon we’ll be heading into longer days, bringing fewer opportunities for night photography—but more chances to work in the evening dusk.

Nikon NEF RAW file process in DxO PureRaw 5 using the Deep Prime option. This corrects for lens defects, improves contrast, and minimizes the effects of pixelization stemming from a very high-ISO setting.

Tracking the Light explores night photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

NextGen Acela at 1/4000th of a Second

I realize I’m a bit late off the mark.

Last Friday, I finally captured my first action photos of Amtrak’s NextGen Acela on the move.

I wanted to photograph this high-speed train at full speed as it passed a landmark structure, so I set up an elevated vantage point across from the old Pennsylvania Railroad station in Newark, Delaware.

When the blue-white headlights of Acela service 2108 came into view, I was ready with my Z6. I set the motor drive to “H*” for a rapid sequence of images and dialed the shutter speed to 1/4000 of a second to freeze the action.

I fired off a burst as the sleek new high-speed train blitzed past.

Wow!

Check out the articulated passenger cars!

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Is there room for subtlety?

In a world of short attention spans, sensory overload, an expectation of hyper-saturation, the realities of unwanted image compression, is there any room for subtle images?

The other night I made this panned high-ISO image of Amtrak ACS-64 616 westbound at Gap, Pennsylvania.

Afterward, I experimented with various tools to make post-processed interpretations of my original NEF RAW file.

I used DxO PureRaw, and imported this file into DxO Photolab, and later into Adobe Lightroom.

There are three of my variations below.

I wonder if the variations will translate via WordPress, or if the subtleties will be lost in translation?

Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Snaking Through the Canisteo

April 16, 1989, was a busy day on the former Erie Railroad.

It was another of my epic trips photographing the Erie that began before dawn.

Among the trains I photographed that day was an eastbound Delaware & Hudson PLMT (Pittsburgh & Lake Erie–Mount Tom, Massachusetts) unit coal train running via trackage rights on the line then owned by Conrail.

At the time, D&H was being operated by the New York, Susquehanna & Western and was short on motive power. This coal train was underpowered and moving at less than track speed. Leading the consist was former Reading Company GP39-2 No. 7410, still wearing Reading paint. Other locomotives in the consist had been borrowed from Bangor & Aroostook and leased GATX unit (in Chessie System paint). Fifth in line was a NYS&W SD45, still in the Cascade green and white of its former owner, Burlington Northern.

I had been following this train for miles through New York’s Canisteo Valley in my Toyota Corolla. Near West Cameron, I hastily parked and ran through a farmer’s field to capture a series of photos as the train passed from across the river.

On my way back to the car, the farmer stopped to chat. “I don’t mind you walking through my field, but I thought you ought to know that I killed six rattlesnakes there the other day.”

At the time, I wasn’t sure whether he was joking, trying to rattle me, or serious. A couple of weeks later, however, I was walking the line about a mile to the west when I spotted a rattlesnake lying near the rail. As I passed, the “snake” slithered off in three different directions—each with its own distinct rattle.

That’s the old Erie for you!

Tracking the Light posts daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Frame 1000

One of the neat things about modern digital cameras is that they automatically keep track of a variety of trivial things.

Some such as the date, time and exposure details of each photo are useful for captioning the images and better understanding the success and failures of photos when using various camera modes, lens settings etc.

Others are pointless, but nice to know.

Tuesday evening at 7:29pm, I exposed my 1000th frame with my ‘new’ Nikon Z6-III. This photo was part of a rapid-fire sequence of Amtrak ACS-64 644 leading eastward Keystone 658 at Christiana, Pa.

The photo was exposed at f1.4 with my ‘Fast Fifty’ (50mm lens), with a shutter speed of 1/640th of second and the ISO at 4,000. I was panning the front of the locomotive, which combined with shallow depth of field help sets the locomotive apart from the background.

I’m presenting two variations of the same file. These received nominally different post processing. I’m not sure which variation I like better.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

DxO PureRaw and PhotoLab

I’m still pushing the limits of my night action photography.

Working with existing artificial light—in other words, streetlights, locomotive headlights, and the ambient glow from surrounding buildings and signs—I set up near Leaman Place in Paradise to make images of Amtrak Keystone 655.

I set my Nikon Z6 III (fitted with an f/1.4 Nikkor 50mm) to ISO 40,000 and placed it on my 3Pod tripod.

A light fog prevailed, making focusing a challenge. The camera’s autofocus system had difficulty locking onto my chosen focus point, so I had to scroll through the menu options to select manual focus mode. I then enlarged the image in the viewfinder to help set focus on the railhead.

When the train came into view, I made a series of exposures.

For post-processing, I first converted the Nikon NEF RAW file to a DNG file using PureRAW 5 (corrects for lens imperfections and minimized pixelization stemming from the high ISO setting). This gave me the option to import the corrected file directly into DxO PhotoLab 9, a program similar to Adobe Lightroom for making cosmetic corrections.

The results of my post-processing are shown below.

In future posts, I will examine DxO PhotoLab 9 in greater detail.

DxO is offering a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO PureRaw, PhotoLab9 or other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% off for any new customer at shop.dxo.com.

Tracking the Light Explores Photography Daily (or Nightly, If You Will)!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Looking back on a New LUAS Tram at Red Cow.

In honor of the day, I thought I’d post this view of LUAS tram 3001 at the Red Cow depot. This was exposed in the Spring of 2002 shortly after the car arrived in Ireland and more than two years before it entered traffic on the Red Line.

Notice that the numbers and other markings have not yet been applied.

The iconic Alsthom Citadis trams have served Dublin daily since 2004.

Exposed on Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) using my Contax G2 rangefinder with 28mm Zeiss Biogon lens.

Tracking the Light Marks the Day!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Pin-Connected Truss at Whitford

Among the surviving vestiges of the infrastructure-intensive Pennsylvania Railroad is the pin-connected truss over the Main Line at Whitford, Pa.

This was part of a grade-separated freight cut-off built when the railroad was America’s largest and the most intensive freight hauler in the United States. This arrangement underwent a transformation during the Conrail era. Today, the PRR’s main lines east of Harrisburg are largely passenger routes.

I made these photos with my Nikon Z6-III fitted with a 24–70mm Z-series zoom. Until recently, I’ve largely used my Z6-III for low-light photography; here I’m working with it in bright sunlight.

NEF RAW files were adjusted for color and contrast using Lightroom.

Tracking the Light Explores Photography Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Dusk at Reinholds Station

Driving south on PA 897 at dusk found us at the former Reading Company line Reinholds Station.

Here, I made this selection of digital images with my Nikon Z6 and 24-70mm lens. I also exposed a handful of Ektachrome 100 color slides with my father’s old Leica M4.

The film is still in the camera, and I’ll be curious to see how these turn out.

There’s something special about capturing the light when the sun is near the horizon, the shadows are deep, and clouds are tinged pink and orange.

Tracking the light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Glint at Gap

Years ago, my late friend and fellow photographer Brian Jennison described this effect as ‘around the corner light’.

I stood in the shadows under a tree at Gap, Pennsylvania looking west. The sun was setting in the tangent between Gap’s two restrictive curves. I centered Amtrak Keystone 656, led by ACS-64 no. 600 David L. Gunn, as it leaned into the near curve.

He doesn’t know what it’s all about, but Seamus-the-Dog was sitting the back seat of the car to watch the train roll by.

Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Z-series Nikkor zoom lens.
Greatly enlarged portion of the lower image.

Tracking the Light Examines Railroad Photography Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Details

Tuesday morning, I delivered my class on Steam Locomotive Photography at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

As part of the class, students were encouraged to wander among and photograph the museum ‘s exhibits. I’d organized with Museum Director Pat Morrison to temporarily remove a few of the protective barriers around key steam locomotives in order to allow for better photographic access.

I chatted with members of the class, offered advice on equipment and discussed details of locomotives and photography. I also made these detailed photos using my Nikon Z mirrorless digital cameras.

My next class at the museum is scheduled for Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

Tracking the Light explores railroad photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Evening Adventures in the Fog with the 36A

The other evening, mist blanketed the Susquehanna Valley.

Kris, Seamus-the-Dog, and I went out looking for trains.

The signals at Washington Boro were lined for an eastbound on the Port Road Secondary. A distant rumble indicated an approaching train, and all the pieces of our adventure came together. Norfolk Southern 36A (Enola, Pa., to Edgemoor, Delaware) appeared, its headlights piercing the evening fog like the eyes of a primordial beast.

We followed the rolling mass down the valley and arrived at Safe Harbor with ample time to watch the freight pass beneath the immense viaduct that one carried the Atgen & Susquehanna Low Grade.

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6-III. NEF RAW Files processed using DxO PureRaw5.

DxO is offering a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO PureRaw5, FilmPack 8 and other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% discount to any new customer at shop.dxo.com.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Shelley Drive Silhouette—March Variations

Last summer, I made a series a variations on a back-lit photograph that I’d exposed looking west at Shelley Drive near Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania.

The other evening, Kris, Seamus-the-Dog and I returned to this location to catch a pair of AmtrakKeystone trains. In post processing. I repeated the exercise with one of Nikon files of the second train (Amtrak 656).

For me this has special significance: One of the last serious conversations I had with my father on photography was regarding last summer’s sequence. He had preferred the hard, unprocessed silhouette compared with my more interpretive digital interpretations.

Since that time, I’ve found some his black & white negatives exposed in the same vicinity more than sixty year earlier. I’m sorry that I cannot share any these photos with him.

Below are five variations of my image, plus a surprise . . .

Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive; constrast, color temperature, exposure and highlights/shadows altered for cosmetic interpretation.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive; heavy constrast, color temperature, exposure and highlights/shadows altered, plus a mask applied to the sky for heavy adjustment to alter appearance.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive, NEF file converted to DNG file with lens correction and nominal contrast adjustment, but without heavy cosmetic adjustment or interpretation. Scaled from the Nikon NEF file.
Amtrak Keystone 656 at Shelley Drive, NEF file converted to DNG file with lens correction and nominal contrast adjustment, followed by additional cosmetic alterations to contrast, exposure, color temperature and shadow/highlight changes.
Did you spot the bird? [Upper left to the left of the catenary poles]. Initially, I thought this might be an errant bit of dust on my Nikon’s sensor. Only after extreme enlargement did I notice that this was in fact a bird in flight. Not a bird in hand, but one in the sky. Sometimes details matter.

Tracking the Light Explores Photography Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Stand Out from the Crowd; How to Make Better Steam Photos

Tuesday March 10th, I’m giving a class on Steam Locomotive photography at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

I intend to offer a brief history of the locomotive and how more complete understanding of steam locomotives can help lead to better contemporary images of these historic machines.

Students will have the opportunity to photograph the museum’s collection and I hope to offer helpful insight in techniques and strategies for making more effective steam images.

For tickets see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-the-steam-locomotive-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1984093349619?aff=oddtdtcreator.

In November 2021, Kris and I were invited to attend a Trains Magazine photo charter with Soo Line 2-8-2 1003. This popular event attracted a wide variety of photographers and enabled creation of some memorable images.

Tracking the Light Examines Railroad Photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Conn River Caboose

Here’s an hidden gem from my black & white negative collection.

In December 1984, I was in my first year of college. On weekends, I’d catch up with my rail-photographer friends to make explorations of New England operations.

On this afternoon, we caught southward Connecticut River line freight rolling through Greenfield, Massachusetts on Guilford’s Boston & Maine. By this time, cabooses were on the wane. Most Fitchburg route freights were already running without them. Yet, the Conn River jobs still carried cabooses.

I made this trailing view on Ilford FP4 using my father’s Leica M3. I located this negative last month, and finally after more than 40 years in the dark now it can see the light of day.. For presentation here, I made a few cosmetic alterations using Adobe Lightroom to improve the contrast and make the most of the wintery sky

Tracking the Light Looks Back!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Site of a Future Silhouette?

Not every photo features a train.

A dusk filled sky made for a rosy sunset at Peach Bottom, Pennsyvlania.

Kris, Seamus-the-dog and I had been exploring locations along the Susquehanna River. I knew there was an eastward Norfolk Southern train expected, but it didn’t materialize before darkness closed in.

I made this view of the former Pennsylvania Railroad bridge across Peters Creek near where the smaller river flows into the mighty Susquehanna.

Someday, I’d like to make a silhouette of a locomotive here.

Tracking the Light Explores the thought processes behind railroad photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

High Altitude Steam!

In the mid-1990s, I made a project out of photographing heritage steam on the former Denver & Rio Grande Western.

In September 1998, while working on my my book Narrow Gauge Steam Locomotives (MBI 1999), I made this trailing view of Cumbres & Toltec class K36 2-8-2 No. 484 ascending toward Cumbres Pass at the Tanglefoot Curve on the eastside of the pass—some of the highest altitude trackage in the United States.

This works for me on several levels. The most basic level is that it shows the locomotive working hard in its element. It follows variation on classic format; three-quarter sun, drive-rods down, etc.

While a preserved locomotive, it is on old home rails and yet I haven’t tried to disguise this image as a photo exposed 30 or more years earlier. Instead, I included ‘Cumbres & Toltec’ in speed lettering on the tender.

Tanglefoot Curve is a snaky-twist in the line that allows the railroad to maintain an even gradient; without over-emphasizing this unusual trackage, I’ve shown the rails on various levels.

Tuesday March 10th, I’m giving my next class on Railroad Photography at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The topic of this class is Steam Locomotives. For tickets see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-the-steam-locomotive-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1984093349619?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Tracking the Light Explores Locomotive Photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Room for Improvement at Moorpark

Studying imperfect composition can lead to better photo technique.

Among my themes of Tracking the Light is the examination of photos for technical flaws, compositional distractions, and unintenional inclusion of annoying visual elements.

I save some of the ‘perfect’ images as illustrations for publication elsewhere.

The photo below was exposed of an outbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner at Moorpark, California in July 2016.

To my eye this photo suffers from two flaws that detract from the compostion and reduce its visual effectiveness.

The first flaw was my choice of shutter-speed—1/500th of second—which just wasn’t fast enough to ‘freeze’ the front of the locomotive. As a result, the nose of Amtrak F59PHI 452 is ever so slightly blurred. This annoys me, since I used an f9 aperture, and thus could have easily bumped my shutter speed up to at least 1/1000th without needing to adjust my ISO higher. This would have minimized the blurring.

The other problem stems from my release of the shutter a fraction of a second too soon. If I had just waited for the locomotive to roll another two or three feet, it would have nicely blocked the trackside lamp-post immediately to the left of the locomotive. This lamp is partially visible and causes unfortunate visual tension while performing no useful compositional function. The photo would be better off sans lamp.

On the plus side; I find the locomotive’s blue and silver scheme suits the southern California afternoon sun, while the off-center arrangement makes for a visually compelling photo of the Amtrak train in motion.

Those are my thoughts on this ten year-old digital image.

Tracking the Light examines compositional elements

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Railroad Photography: The Steam Locomotive with Brian Solomon

My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pa., is scheduled for next week, Tuesday, March 10th from 9 am to 11 am.

I will focus on how to make more effective photographs of steam locomotives. Following my concise slide presentation, students will have an opportunity to make photographs of the museum’s historic collection of locomotives.

I hope to offer perspective, technique, while conveying the history and technology of the machines in ways that can aid in making better locomotive photographs.

For tickets see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/railroad-photography-the-steam-locomotive-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1984093349619?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Tracking the Light explores railroad photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Conrail SD50 at Gang Mills

In January, 1988, I made this portrait of Conrail SD50 6726 at Gang Mills Yard on the former Erie Railroad west of Corning, New York.

Kodachrome 25 was my color film of choice in those days. And it was always nice to find winter sun on a Conrail locomotive. The SD50s were among my favorite Conrail EMDs at that time.

Although I have many photos of Conrail SD50s, this one has never seen the light of day, until now.

I know that some viewers might dismiss this as ‘just an engine picture’, but it is a photo of an impressive looking engine—and that was all it was ever meant to be.

Kodachrome 25, exposed using a Leica M2 with 50mm Sumicron.

Tracking the Light Examines Railway Photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Fullerton in a New Light

Metaphorically. (In fact, it was the same old L.A. hazy sunlight.)

I’ve been going through some of my older digital photo files to locate images that might not have made the ‘final cut’ at the time of exposure, and reprocessing them using the latest software.

Working with DxO PureRaw 5, I converted this ten year old FujiFilm RAF RAW file into DNG format. This include processing using DxO DeepPrime3. The end result is a cleaner, crisper file than what I’d originally found out of the camera from my FujiFilm XT1.

At the end of July 2016, I’d visited Fullerton, California, east of Los Angeles on the former Santa Fe, and made this image of inbound MetroLink train 687 with a MP36PH-3C at the back of the consist.

After conversion to a DNG format, I imported the file into Lightroom for nominal processing to improve highlights and shadows.

Although subtle, I was pleased with the end result, which has encouraged me to continue searching through my older images to find hidden treasures.

Tracking the Light Looks Back with a Fresh Eye!

DxO is offering a discount to Tracking the Light readers. If you are interested in buying DxO PureRaw, FilmPack 8 or other DxO programs, the discount code “TRACKINGTHELIGHT” will work for 15% off for any new customer at shop.dxo.com.

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

The Imposing Smith Bridge

In my search for Conrail SD50 photos, I rediscovered this image that I exposed on February 23, 1985 and scanned back in 2010.

My father and I had driven to Selkirk, New York to photograph a Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts excursion scheduled to cross the Hudson on Conrail’s normally freight-only Selkirk Branch.

The crown jewel of New York Central’s low-grade Castleton Cutoff is the immense Alfred H. Smith memorial bridge. Construction for this massive structure began in 1922. It was named for the late Central president who had initiated its construction but died before its completion.

While we waited at the west end of the Smith Bridge for the passenger special, Jim Shaughnessy arrived with 4×5 Graphic in hand and a similar vision in mind.

My dad made video, Jim exposed large-format photos, and I worked with 35mm black & white in my father’s Leica M4. For this view of a freight preceeding the passenger train, I used a Leitz f4 Elmar 135mm telephoto.

That’s Conrail 6721 in the lead. But, I’m looking for 6722 and 6723 (among others), so it’s Back to the Files for me!

On April 1, 2026, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Conrail. Big Blue was not yet 9 years old when I made this 1985 photograph.

Tracking the Light examines railway photography!