photography, Tips and Technique

Backlighting on CP Rail at Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

I made this pastoral scene ten years ago on a visit to Wisconsin with John and Dick Gruber.

We had been photographing former Milwaukee Road lines in the central part of the state and were making our way to Waukesha to visit our friends at Kalmbach.

Near Pewaukee Lake, we heard the blast of an approaching eastbound freight on Canadian Pacific. With little time to spare, I made this hastily composed grab shot of the train running along the north shore of the lake. In the lead was a former BC Rail locomotive. High contrast made for a challenging scene.

The sun was nearly 180 degrees from the camera, yet my lens was shaded by the trees in the park. While the lighting was harsh the photo conveys the spirit of a sunny summer evening in Wisconsin.

Last night, I made a series of adjustements using Lightroom to improve the presentation of this image.

Scaled but otherwise Unmodified Canon CR2 RAW file exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 28-135mm lens set to 28mm
Screen shot of Adobe Lightroom work window showing the ‘Select Sky’ mask and my adjustments to the highlight and color temperature sliders. By using the mask my adjustments only affect the selected areas. Photo exposed in June 2013.
Adobe Lightroom work window with a semi-final image. This shows the positions of slider controls as applied to the overall image including the previously adjusted sky.
Final output of the CR2 RAW file. In the final corrections, I lowered overall contrast while increasing the white level. Note the detail in the bark of the trees.

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