Kris and I had been following the Susquehanna down river. By the time we reached Port Deposit, Maryland the blue glow of an icy dusk had settled on the river valley.
No luck catching a freight on the move on the Port Road Secondary this evening, but the rich light led to a few choice photographs.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
For my 11th birthday in October 1977, my father presented me with a Leica 3A rangefinder. Two months later, we were visiting my grand parents in New York City, and we took a trip over to Queens to photograph trains.
Among the places that we stopped was at Woodside Avenue, where I made a sequence of 35mm photos with the Leica of passing Long Island Railroad third-rail multiple units on the six-track line running toward Penn Station. We are looking toward the New York City Transit Authority’s Flushing Line.
I processed this roll of Kodak Tri-X in our kitchen sink using a mix of Kodak Microdol-X developer.
In 1980, I used a version of this photo to help illustrate my Junior High Science Fair project titled Electrified Railroads in the United States, which earned me second place in the competition. Since that time, this strip of negatives had sat in the dark in a group of my early negatives. I scanned it last week and imported the hi-res scan into Adobe Lightroom for cropping and contrast adjustment.
Considering, I was only 11 years old, I think I made a pretty effective composition.
Tracking the Light looks back!
Kris and I paused at Tamaqua, Pa., where I made a few photo of Reading & Northern’s locomotive parked in the snow covered yard.
Bright sun made for some extreme contrast between light and dark.
All photos displayed here were exposed using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm Z-series zoom lens. In addition, I made a few Ektachrome slides for future consideration.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
DxO Film Pack7 is a program that enables the import and conversion of digital files to simulate the appearance of images made with traditional film emulsions.
I began dabbling with this tool the other day, which led me to look back over one of my 40 year-old photo albums, examining the aesthetics of my traditional images.
In the mid-1980s, I routinely worked with Kodak and Ilford B&W films and made 3.5 x 5 inch ‘proof-prints’ from my negatives by cutting 5×7 inch paper stock in half.
Here, I’ve scanned one of my original 3.5 x 5 inch prints, and for comparision also converted a digital file exposed last week (February 1, 2026), using DxO Film Pack7 software to simulate Kodak Tri-X and Ilford HP5.
The purpose of this exercise is purely about appearance and nostalgia. Although I’ve selected a retro subject (an old Budd RDC), the intent is to compare the aesthetic qualities of the the simulated black & white with my actual vintage black & white.
I wonder if the Nikon Z6 digital camera had been available to me in 1985, would I have chosen this camera over my stalwart Leica 3A loaded with hand-rolled Kodak Tri-X?
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I conducted my first evening class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania on Wednesday February 4th. My goal was to impart low-light photography techniques that would enable students to make better nocturnal railway images.
After my presentation, the museum’s main hall was open to students to make photographs. Museum Director Pat Morrison and I had set up some portable lights on several locomotives to provide a change of scene.
In an effort to capture the spirit of the event, I made these images using my Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens positioned on a 3Pod tripod.
My next class at the museum is scheduled for the morning of March 10, 2026.
Tracking the Light posts every day!
The thrill of the unknown is part of of the experience.
I spotted the signal at Washington Boro, Pa., displaying ‘Approach Medium’ (Yellow over Green), so I knew an eastward train was lined up.
At 7:20pm, I began to hear a distant rumble of a loaded train rolling down the Susquehanna Valley. The sound ebbed and flowed and thirty-five minutes later the headlights came into view.
A single GE Evolution-series diesel-electric was leading symbol freight 38V consisting of a trainload of new tractors.
I made this series of photos using my Nikon Z6-III with f1.4 50mm lens.
The files were converted to DNG format with PureRaw, which also minimized noise, improved contrast and eliminated some lens imperfections. For final presentation, I cleaned up color casts and adjusted contrast in Lightroom.
Tracking the Light explores rail night photography!
Sixteen years ago, photographers Pat Yough, Chris Guss and I spent the afternoon following Western New York & Pennsyvania’s Driftwood Turn on the former Pennsylvania Railroad line over Keating Summit.
On the return run from North Driftwood, Pa., I made this long telephoto view of the Alco-MLW powered freight passing PRR position light signals.
At the time I was working with a Canon EOS-3 fitted with a 100-400mm Canon zoom and loaded with Fujichrome Provia 100F.
Tracking the Light Looks Back!
I had a few minutes on Tuesday night. Amtrak Keystone 649 was running behind the advertised, while eastward Keystone 656 was less that 20 minutes away.
Icy snow covered the ground, limiting where I could safely park, so I pulled into Bird-in-Hand, Pa. Here, I set up my 3Pod Tripod with Nikon Z6-III, and thenas the two trains passed just a couple of minutes apart, I exposed this series of high ISO photos.
These photos made for an ideal addition to my class on Railroad Night Photography, held last night at the Railroad Museum of PA.
In addition to my short slide show, the museum was open to students who were free to wander the exhibits and make images in comparative darkness.
Tracking the Light Explores Nocturnal Rail Photography!
My post ‘I’m Uncertain about this One . . .‘ (from Sunday, February 1), resulted in considerable feedback! Several readers wrote to me with cropping suggestions that improved the overall appearance of the image. (Thank you!).
Below is another view from Rattenburg, exposed a few minutes earlier on the same evening (12 January 2007). This is a long time exposure looking back toward my vantage point (by the lamp to the left of the tracks) from Sunday’s post. In this photo, I like the effect of the train streaking into the tunnel at Rattenberg, Austria.
My shutter was opened for about 30 seconds to allow the train lights to streak. The headlight streak was the result of a locomotive at the rear of the train. The unusually long exposure allow the sky to fill in a bit, despite the winter darkness.
Just a reminder:
This evening (Wednesday, Feb 4, 2026) is my next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and details night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., from 5 pm to 7 pm EST). See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light Examines Night Photography!
In early February 1979, my father drove my brother and me to Palmer, Massachusetts. A visit to the old Palmer Union Station alerted us to a train working in the old Boston & Albany yard to the east.
I encouraged Pop to drive us over to the old B&A freight house, which was adjacent to Haley’s Grain Store. Here we found a former Penn Central SW1500 and a freshly painted Conrail caboose. This was the local which had just finished up its switching and would soon head west to the yard at West Springfield.
My pre-war Leica 3A was loaded with Kodak Ektachrome 200, and during the course of our adventure, I exposed several slides.
I was in 7th grade at the time, and my photography skills were marginal. What I find remarkable is that my slides survived all these years. I recently found them mixed in a collection of my father’s slides and recognized them as my own.
Working with Adobe Lightroom, I made a variety of adjustments to the photos to improve their mediocre qualities and make them more interesting to look at.
Conrail was then in its infancy and would survive for another 20 years as a class I carrier serving Palmer.
Tracking the Light Looks Back!
Urban artificial light offers endless opportunities for railroad night photos, but working successfully with man-made light sources comes with challenges.
I admit, I’m drawn to artificial light like a wayward moth.
I see the ghastly glow of street lights as a way to make interesting rail-images.
Digital photography makes working with artificial light much easier than it was with slide film. Automatic white balance settings enable accurate color control without requiring a color temperature meter and filter packs. In-camera exposure histograms and instantaneous results allows us to set and check exposures on-site. Digital processing allow for noise reduction, contrast control, and the ability to adjust highlights and shadows to maximize detail and manipulate ‘mood’.
In January 2014, I made this photograph looking down on Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station locomotive storage tracks. To keep my Lumix LX3 steady, I positioned the camera on small pocket tripod that I carried in my camera bag just for such occasions. I used the camera’s self-timer to minimize vibration.
The other day, I located the original RW2 RAW file on a backup hard drive and converted the image to an DNG file using PureRaw, a program that I’ve been using to improve my night photos. The details of this improved interpretation are subtle, some of which is lost in presentation here owing to image compression imposed by the Word Press hosting site.
In addition to PureRaw contrast improvement and lens defect reduction, I made a some changes to contrast, exposure, and level using Adobe Lightroom.
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm EST. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Here’s a nocturnal view from January 12, 2007, that I exposed in Rattenberg, Austria on Fujichrome slide film .
At the time, I was aiming to portray the ÖBB local passenger train in its environment and made several very similar color slides.
My feeling today is that I included too much ‘environment,’ and that the train is too small in the frame.
While I won’t throw this slide in the bin, the composition vexes me.
Sometimes the best lesson is a careful impartial examination of an imperfect photograph.
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm EST. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I made this broadside silhouette of German and Austrian electrics rolling east under wire while standing in a field on a frosty evening on the opposite side of the River Inn from Brixlegg, Austria.
It was January 13, 2006, and I was working with Fujichrome film. The sun was sinking in the west.
My goal was to place the locomotives against the textured Alpine backdrop for dramatic effect.
While counter-intuitive to conventional railroad photographic practice, placing the main subject in the shadow can be a useful tool. In this image the dappled shadows draw the eye to the lead locomotive making its standout more than if had been in bright sun.
Tracking the Light works in the Shadows!
On January 7, 1996, I was on a whirlwind winter ramble on the southside of Chicago with Mike Abalos and his friends.
At 1:55pm, we stopped to photograph Grand Trunk Western symbol freight 391 that had stopped near 103rd Street awaiting permission to continue its journey toward Clearing Yard.
Standing at the 103rd Street grade crossing, I made this telephoto view on Kodachrome using my Nikon F3T. A few minutes later GTW 391 resumed its westward journey.
Last week, I scanned this slide that had been stored in the original Kodak box along with two dozen other images from the same trip. This is part of my on-going organization and archiving of my slide collections.
Tracking the Light looks back 30 years!
It was frosty and cold at Christiana, Pa. when I set up my 3Pod tripod and composed this image. Amtrak Keystone 656 was just a couple of minutes away.
I had the Z6-III with the ‘Fast Fifty’ set at f1.4, which offers shallow depth of field. I focused on the ‘Christiana’ sign, which put the foreground in perfect focus and set off the background. The lead locomotive blurred a little as it entered my frame.
The resulting effect looks like a model railroad diorama.
I wonder if I’d exposed the photo just a little later if that might have improved the composition, or blocked the background buildings in such a way as to spoil the model railroad appearance.
Tracking the Light explores railroad compositions with an open eye!
A quarter century ago I exposed this view of an eastward freight rolling along the Deerfield River east of Charlemont, Massachusetts on the former Boston & Maine Fitchburg route.
Guilford Rail System operated a host of classic EMD diesels, most bought second-hand from the fleets of other railroads. I was fond of these machines, and I still am.
I aimed for a classic composition that would preserve the scene on silver halide. In an instant, the release of the shutter of my Rolleiflex Model T exposed a frame a Kodak Tri-X. Later I processed the film in time-honored tradition and later filed the negatives away in archival poyethelene sleeves.
A few weeks ago, I translated the image I made in January 2001 into a digital file. The other night I made some subtle adjustments to the file and scaled the image for presentation here.
I wonder what this image will convey to viewers in another half century?
Tracking the Light ponders railway photography!
My Rollei model T offered a square format, which presents an interesting way of composing photos.
In January 2002, I traveled from Dublin to Limerick by train, where I changed for the branch train to Ennis, Co. Clare. At the time, Irish Rail was still operating a short Cravens set with steam heat hauled by a lone 141-class General Motors diesel.
Upon arrival at Ennis, I made series of square photos of this quaint branch train on Fuji Neopan 400 black & white film. My intent was to preserve for posterity the train in the station.
I scanned this image using an Epson V600 scanner and performed some nominal digital processing to make the most of the black & white negative.
Tracking the Light explores railway photography!
Here’s a compositional challenge.
I wanted to feature three subjects: the old Pennsylvania Railroad station structure, the passing Keystone with Metroliner cab car leading), and the shiny new Subaru.
I faced some difficulties. There was a narrow shaft of light illuminating an area immediately beyond the station that was needed to light up the cab car. I was positioned on a old sidewalk which offered some elevation, but I’d reached its end, and so I couldn’t effectively back up any further without losing the elevation necessary to make the photo work.
Also, I only had my ‘Fast Fifty’ (50mm) lens, which restricted my ability to adjust the field of view, and I hoped to feature both the station and the automobile in their entirety, which limited space to the left of the building.
While I managed to capture all the essential focus points all in one image, my compostion is unbalanced and the front of the train is very close to the left side of the frame. Further complicating matters, the brighter illumination on the right-hand side of the station has the effect of drawing the eye to the right, away from the other central elements of the image.
Tracking the Light considers composition.
The contrasts between day and night; light and shadow; old and new; and bold and subtle.
Tracking Light examines Contrasts!
It was bitterly cold at Strasburg when I made these photos the other evening. A fine crescent moon accented the cool sky. Cars idled during the quiet season make for solemn silhouettes.
Images exposed using a Nikon Z6-III with 50 f1.4.
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm EST. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light examines railroad photography daily!
On the afternoon of 23 January 2005, I aimed my Nikon F3 with 180mm telephoto at an Irish Rail passenger train approaching Cherryville Junction in Co. Kildare.
A ten-year old Class 201 General Motors diesel led the afternoon Up Waterford that consisted of a set of Cravens. These rolling antiques were steam heated and nearing the end of their regular revenue service.
I captured this once-common scene on Fujichrome. The lush green grass and distant mountains making for a distinctly Irish landscape.
In those days, I regularly paid visits to Cherryville Junction. This offered a great place to picture Irish Rail on the move. I can’t recall the last time I paused at this bridge over the tracks. Much has changed in the last two decades and Cherryville isn’t as interesting to me as it was in those days. Yet, someday, I hope to return and make some comparison photos.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography.
Norfolk Southern’s H28 was on the roll east on the New Holland Branch.
I arrived at my pre-selected location just as the lights began to flash.
My hope was to place the stream in the foreground to break up the scene while balancing the train with trees at the left. I was focused on my compositional ratios.
Beautiful over-the-shoulder morning winter sun made for excellent lighting conditions. I made a few digital images and exposed some color slides with the Leica M4.
When I downloaded the digital images, I discovered to my dismay that at the time of exposure I’d failed to notice the bit of red trash in the tree branches. Poor show!
The film remains latent. I hope the slides have better composition.
Tracking the Light explores the successes and failures of individual railroad images.
I didn’t think we could do it, but we did!
In recent months, we often rolled by nocturnal freights at Columbia or Washington Boro, Pa. Likewise, I’ve made numerous trips to the bridges at Safe Harbor, but rarely caught a train on the move.
If only we could just chase a train and beat it to the bridges.
After I made my exposures of Norfolk Southern unit coal train 632, we decided to follow it. It had a good roll-on and was making a steady 30 mph. By the park in Washington Boro, we were even with the locomotives, and with a clear road ahead of us, I zipped southward to Safe Harbor.
We arrived in time for me to set up my tripod, expose a few test photos and set my camera to catch NS 632 framed up beneath the enormous trestle that once carried Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atgen & Susquehanna Branch—a busy double track freight route in its heyday.
To stop the train, I set my Z6-III to ISO 64000, and adjusted my ‘Fast Fifty’ to its widest aperature (f1.4).
Afterwards, I processed the NEF Raw using PureRaw to minimize image noise. For point of comparison, I’ve displayed both the unprocessed NEF RAW file (with detail enlargement) and the post processed image (with enlargement).
I’m 89 percent satisfied with my results, but will need to try this again!
My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 from 5 pm to 7 pm EST. See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt
Tracking the Light works by night!
For more than a century, the repetitious patterns made by lineside rows of poles carrying code lines were a characteristic of North American main lines.
Code lines carried signal information and other railroad communications functions.
By the late 1980s, railroads in the eastern United States were replacing code lines with more modern communications hardware, often consisting of bundles of fiber-optic cables that were buried line-side.
The old lines were being removed, which contributed a significant change to the railroad landscape and altered the way I framed up my photos. While the code lines sometimes interferred with images of passing trains, in other instances the lines provided perspective and scale, presented strong vertical lines that augmented composition, and lent an element of continuity between photos old and new.
On the morning of January 14, 1989, I braved the frosty weather and stood upon the old iron bridge that spanned Conrail’s former Erie Railroad line west of Dalton, New York in order to photograph Delaware & Hudson’s NY-10 (a double stack container train carrying Sealand boxes to New Jersey from the West). This used a New York, Susquehanna & Western routing to reach its New Jersey terminal and was led by a NYS&W SD45.
Working with my Leica M2 loaded with Kodachrome 25, I made these two color slides as the train passed. The wires are the true subject of my photographs, and I carefully integrated the codeline patterns into my compositions.
The slides were processed by Kodak a few days after exposure, but most remained in the yellow box that Kodak returned them to me until a few days ago. Finally, after 37 years in the dark, I scanned them for presentation here.
Tracking the Light examines the thoughts and techniques behind railroad photographs!
At Washington Boro, the signals were lined up for an eastward train, so we drove west to intercept it.
At Cola interlocking in Columbia, Pa., we waited. As the tell-tale distant roar of a heavy freight warned me of its pending approach, I made adjustments to my Z6-III fitted with 50mm f1.4 lens.
Soon, I heard symbol freight 632 call a clear signal over the railroad radio. This was an unit coal train originating in central Pennsylvania destined for Baltimore.
My exposure was set at 1/200th of second with 64,000 ISO. As the headlights came into view, I adjusted the aperture to f1.6 (from f1.4) to better capture the the detail of the lights.
As an experiment, in post post processing, I used two different systems to produce a comparison of noise suppression systems.
Below are three variations of the same NEF RAW file (all scaled for internet). The top is the un-processed RAW file that shows the high degree of noise of the photo right out of the camera. The second was processed with Lightroom’s ‘Raw Details’ and ‘Denoise’ options checked to reduce the effects noise. The third view was processed using DxO PureRaw4.
In this selection, I refrained from making cosmetic adjustments to the files.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
On this day six years ago, I attended two-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington’s Grand Reunion event with photographer Wayne Duffett.
It was extremely cold that day, which resulted in stunning displays of effluence from the three narrow gauge locomotives at work.
Working with my FujiFilm XT-1 I made this back-lit photograph at the Top of Mountain siding near the north-end of the line.
Recently, I revisited the original FujiFilm RAF raw file and processed this using PureRaw4. Among other things, processing improved the image clarity. I adjusted the PureRaw DNG file using Adobe Lightroom in order to make the most of the data captured by the camera.
Below is both the processed file, and the Lightroom work window showing some of the file’s vital information.
Tracking the Light explores photography every day!
Well timed: I arrived at the little pond off Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, Pa., about a minute ahead of Norfolk Southern’s H28 local freight that was working east on the New Holland Branch.
The brush and grass around the pond are lower in the winter than other times of the year, and the water in the pond is still, which make for optimal conditions for photography.
On this morning, NS ‘Crescent Cab’ SD60E 6933 and a SD40E led the short freight. This eased through the curve approaching the Jefferson Drive grade crossing as the locomotive’s wheel flanges squeeled against the rail.
In addition to a few digital images, I also worked with my father’s old Leica M4 rangefinder to made a few Ektachrome slides. We will have to wait to see those, as I still have another 30 or so slides left to expose. Back in the old days that amount of film wouldn’t get me through the morning, but these days it might last for more than a month.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography daily!
On January 16, 2010, I paid a visit to the Mid-Hants Railway in the UK.
I was relatively new to digital photography, having only acquired my first digital camera a few months earlier. This was a compact Lumix LX3. Originally, I anticipate using my first ‘Wee Lumix’ primarily for social photographs; snap shots of friends and family, and architectural studies of buildings in my travels.
However, not long after buying it, I experimented with the camera for railroad photos and found that I had a range of capabilities.
On this misty day visit to the Mid-Hants, I exposed dozens of images with my LX3. Although I simultaneously exposed in both RAW and JPG formats, in my early days I didn’t have advance image processing software, and so tended to primarily work with the in-camera JPGs.
Last night I decided to revisit my photos from January 16, 2010, and retrieve this selection from an old hard drive and processed the RAW files using DxO’s PureRaw4. This allows me to see the full image as captured by the camera, while correcting for a variety of lens defects. In situations where the camera’s zoom was at its wider setting this interpretation results in non-parallel edges to overcome barrel distortion and other defects.
Rather than crop the RAW images to rectangular format to match the JPGs, I’ve opted to show the full file which displays camera’s RAW capture that shows the whole field of view. This reveals detail at the edges of the image that has been hidden away all these years
Tracking the Light Looks Back!
Surprise! Gliding toward Harrisburg in the morning light west of the curves at Gap, Pa., was this unusual Amtrak extra.
To the untrained eye, this might seem like little more than a short keystone consist.
In fact, it was ACS-64 633 leading the track and catenary geometry test train. A special treat was Amfleet car 85999, dressed in the as-built 1970s-era paint. This curiosity of a half century ago was the former exhibit train cafe car. In the middle is a former Metroliner car 10005, followed by the Corridor Clipper car 10002 at the back.
Years ago, Conrail routinely assigned B23-7 1933 to its track geometry train. I wonder if Amtrak’s assignment of its 633 is a tribute to Conrail’s train, or if that was just a raw coincidence.
Conrail will celebrate it’s 50th anniversary in just a few more months.
Tracking the Light explores railroad photography!
As Amtrak Keystone 667 glided through Gap, I made a series of night photos aiming to stop the action and capture the pouring rain.
To do this, I used my Nikon Z6-III with ‘Fast Fifty’ and the ISO sensitivity racked up to 64,000. This resulted in a very noisy NEF RAW file. I imported the NEF file into PureRaw and processed the image to reduce noise and correct for other lens defects before converting the image into DNG file for final cosmetic adjustment using Lightroom.
The sequence below shows the series of changes during this transformation, including the final processed image.
Tracking the Light Shares Night Photography Technique!
From LED headlights to distant twinkling starlight, there’s a lot of contrast in this sequence of Amtrak’s westward Keystone train 651 passing Bird-in-Hand, Pa.,
I’ve been pushing the envelope of still photography at this location for several months. My goal has been to ‘stop’ the action of a relatively fast train using only existing light (no flash).
This goal has been aided recently by a very fast camera sensor (in my Nikon Z6-III), a ‘fast-fifty’ lens (Nikkor Z-series f1.4 50mm), and modern PureRaw image post processing that uses AI technology to make the most of photos exposed with very high ISO.
For this sequence, I mounted the camera on my 3Pod tripod (with legs carefully tightened to avoid any unexpected sudden downward movement). I used all manual settings.
Several minutes before the train came into view, I focused on the rails roughly parallel in the film plane to the front of the old freight house (on right).
As the train passed through the scene, I made subtle adjustments in exposure. After the lead engine passed me, I dropped the shutter speed from 1/320th of second to 1/200th to allow more light to reach the sensor.
Following conversion to DNG files using PureRaw, I made a host of selective cosmetic adjustments in Lightroom.
Tracking the Light Posts about railroad night photography.
The other night an unusually high dew point made for some interesting effects including a fine ground mist.
We had paused near Shelley Drive to watch Amtrak’s westward Keystone pass. This was in the common configuration with a former Metroliner cab control car at the leading end and an ACS-64 electric propelling the train from the rear.
The engine rolled by, its pantograph wire-contact resulted in a series of zaps (sparks) caused by electrical arcing.
Kris said, ‘Wow did you catch the sparks?’
Upon review, I saw that one of my images had recorded the flash as the engine trailed by.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Norfolk Southern’s H23 was approaching at the pace of a casual jogger.
I’d arrived at Greystone Road in Manheim, Pa., a couple of minutes ahead of the train.
I made a test photo of the old mill by the tracks in bright sunlight. Clouds rolled quickly across the azure sky. The chiaroscuro effect of sun and clouds made for a lottery of light.
As the train neared, the clouds obscured direct sunlight. But as the local began whistling for the crossing, the clouds thinned and in the distance the sun was out again.
Then as the lead engine nearly filled my frame, the clouds parted completely, bathing the train in brilliant sunlight!
Hooray!
In the middle of this slow-motion digital sequence, I also made a photo on Ektachrome with my father’s old Leica M4—you know, for the record.
On this December afternoon, Tracking the Light does just that!
In April 2017, I spent a night and a morning photographing trams in Milan, Italy, as I was researching for my guide on European rail travel.
On this trip I carried only two cameras; a Nikon F3 loaded with Fujichrome or black & white negative film (for the ‘serious images’), and my wee Lumix (LX-7).
These digital photos were made with the Lumix. Last week, I re-processed the Lumix RAW files using DxO PureRaw. I was delighted with the results!
Tracking the Light explores railway photography!
I was aiming to make another photo of Amtrak at Hoover Road in Gap.
We were ahead of the train, but not by much.
I had just a few moments to get set up, and set up my 3Pod tripod. Complicating matters, based on the results of my earlier evening attempt at this location, I wanted to try my f2.0 135mm Nikkor lens that offers a slightly telephoto view.
I quickly took my Nikon Z6-III out of the bag and in near total darkness I began to change lenses. Unfortunately, the tripod plate for the 3Pod head blocked me from attaching the 135mm lens because of the lens’s protruding tripod foot. So, I needed to remove the plate from the camera, attach the lens, then attach and tighten the tripod plate to the foot on the 135mm. By this time there was an audible ‘grouch!’
Then, I started to attach the camera to the tripod, but I saw the bluish glare of the headlights of the rapidly approaching train, so I decided to abandon my tripod, and attempt to make the photo handheld. My ISO was set to 400! I needed 64000, so I quickly dialed in the higher sensitivity. However, I still needed to set the lens aperature ring to f16 in order to control the lens aperture using the camera controls. My shutter speed was too slow, and my aperture was set to f5.6, worse, I still needed to focus manually. The train was nearly full frame!
I focused, and released the shutter. The resulting exposure was too hot. I’d run out of time. . . damn . . .my shot was ruined! And then the tripod collapsed!
In my haste, I failed to properly tighten the legs. Fortunately, the camera wasn’t on the tripod, it was around my neck. I was saved by my haste to make the photo!
Below are versions of the failed image, showing it with and without PureRaw processing.
Tracking the Light saved by a fail.
Kris suggested we take an evening drive to see if we could find a freight on the move.
In recent months, we’ve explored Norfolk Southern’s Port Road Branch, and based on the times we’ve caught eastward trains on the move, I thought Peach Bottom, Pa., might offer a good place to roll a train by.
The moon was nearly full and relatively high in the sky when we arrived. I parked near the public boat launch near the Susquehanna River, shut the car off, and listened . . .
“Do you hear that? We have a freight coming!”
What luck!
I set up my 3Pod tripod and attached my Nikon Z6-III with 1.4 50mm and made a few test photos as the distant roar became louder and more pronounced.
After a few minutes, we saw the headlight of the approaching train.
My camera was set at f1.4, at 1/60th of second with ISO64000, and I made some trailing views. This appeared to be one of the Consol Energy unit coal trains and featured a mid-train DPU.
I focused on the grade crossing to make a photo of a former Conrail coal hopper. I think that it’s pretty neat that after all these years, Conrail-painted hoppers survive in service.
When I got home, I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw to remove noise and correct lens defects.
Tracking the Light explores railroad night photography!
