photography

Amtrak 137 Catches the Glint at West Haven.

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Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light is a Daily Blog discussing Railway Photography.

Another set from the old school: On January 29, 2016 at West Haven, Connecticut, I exposed a series of Fujichrome color slides of Amtrak train 137 (Boston to Washington) using my Canon EOS-3 with 40mm pancake lens.

Amtrak train number 137 on the old New Haven Railroad electrified mainline at West Haven, Connecticut.
Amtrak train number 137 on the old New Haven Railroad electrified mainline at West Haven, Connecticut.
Notice the red marker lamps at the back.
Notice the red marker lamps at the back. The trick in exposing a slide in these circumstances is to calculate exposure from the brighter areas of the sky rather than the darker areas of the ground. It is crucial to anticipate the effects of the glinting reflection, as these only last for a few moments yet are integral to the quality of the image.

I’ve found that Fujichrome works very well capturing the wide dynamic range and subtle colors of a stainless-steel train reflecting the sunset.

I scanned these slides using a Nikon Super Coolscan5000 scanner. The files will be ultimately be archived in three locations on portable high-capacity external hard drives, while the slide will be stored with my other film photographs in a cool dark place.

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