Category Archives: Tips and Technique

photography, Tips and Technique

Irish Rail 071 Leads the Grand Hibernian—Variations on a Theme.

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I’ve been unusually fortunate to catch Irish Rail’s 071 almost everyday for the last couple of weeks.

This locomotive is the class leader and features a heritage livery based on the as-delivered General Motors scheme.

It is very popular with photographers.

On Saturday 22 September 2018, locomotive 071 worked the Belmond Grand Hibernian cruise train from Dublin Heuston to Connolly Station. Until yesterday, it had been assigned to the Dublin-Ballina IWT Liner container train.

To make this view, I used my FujiFilm XT1 fitted with a Zeiss Touit 12mm lens. To help bring in sky detail, I attached a Lee 0.9 graduated neutral density filter (a physical filter), then made further adjustment to RAW files in post processing using a digitally applied graduated neutral density filter, which allowed me to make adjustments to highlight and shadow detail.

Additional adjustments were made globally (the entire image) to modify contrast and colour saturation to improve the appearance of the photograph.

Compare these images with my earlier post: Irish Rail 071 in Retro Orange and Lessons in Exposing for RAW Adjustment 

A view from Dublin’s Conyngham Road above the south portal of the Phoenix Park Tunnel on the branch that runs from Islandbridge Junction toward Connolly Station.

Thanks to Paul Maguire for lending me an SD card! (I’d left mine in the computer, and the spare on my desk, and the second spare in my other bag! Poor show on my part.)

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photography, Tips and Technique

Northern Ireland Railways at River Foyle Peacebridge.

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I arrived from Belfast on this Northern Ireland Railways 4000-series diesel railcar.

With a little more than ten minutes before the train began its return journey from the Derry/Londonderry Station, I hoofed to the pedestrian Peacebridge over the River Foyle to make this photograph.

Although overcast, it was bright, but very windy.

The view from the Derry/Londonderry Peace Bridge. Exposed using a FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens set at 23.5mm; ISO 400, 1/500 second, f5.0.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Enterprising the Boyne or BIG BRIDGE tiny train.

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Irish Rail’s lofty Boyne bridge spanning the river and valley of the historic Boyne at Drogheda poses a visual conundrum.

This prominent span rises high above Drogheda. It is a very impressive bridge.

But it’s difficult to adequately picture a train on it. Feature the bridge; the train is lost. Feature the train; the bridge gets cropped.

Look up at the bridge; and the train is marginalized.

Stand back to take in the whole span of the bridge and the train becomes insignificant.

Place the train at the center of the bridge and it become lost in the iron work.

Complicating matters, the only regularly scheduled trains with locomotives are the cross-border Belfast-Dublin Enterpriseservices, and on these train the locomotives always face north.

Last Sunday, I made these views of up and down Enterpriseconsists at Drogheda.

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Mainline Steam: RPSI No.4 at Mosney—16 September 2018.

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Gauzy autumn light is perfect for photographing black steam locomotives on the move.

Yesterday, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland operated steam excursions between Dublin, Drogheda and Dundalk. Plans to work with engine 85 were foiled by difficulties with the turntable at Connolly Station.

Instead RPSI engine No.4 did the work.

Paul Maguire and I drove to a remote overhead bridge near Mosney.

I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens. To make the most of the scene, I imported the RAW file into Lightroom and adjusted it for contrast and saturation, using a digitally applied graduated neutral density filter to bring in sky detail.

RPSI engine No.4 has a roll-on working north toward Drogheda.

Learn more about the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland:

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

As I was preparing this post, Dublin’s Radio NOVA was talking about the excursion on FM.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Transport Museum at Cultra

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Below are a selection of contemporary digital photographs that I made on visits to the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum at Cultra, near Belfast, Northern Ireland.

See: https://www.nmni.com/our-museums/ulster-folk-and-transport-museum/Home.aspx

Museums offer opportunity to study historic equipment and take in the spirit of earlier times. But can be challenging places to make captivating photos. Confined quarters, cluttered arrangements, and other visitors can complicate composition.

Contrasty mixed source lighting is another problem. Thankfully modern digital cameras do an excellent job of balancing  florescent, incandescent light with direct and indirect daylight. While the ability to make test shots helps to obtain better exposures.

I exposed these images using my FujiFilm XT1 with a 12mm Zeiss Touit lens.

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Northern Ireland Railways at Helen’s Bay.

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Here’s another case of when the station isn’t a station.

The classic old stone station building at Helen’s Bay, County Down is now a salon.

The platforms still serve the railway though.

Exposed digitally using a FujiFilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.

NIR 4006 bound for Bangor glides into Helen’s Bay.

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Great Northern Railway 85 at Killarney.

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The Railway Preservation Society of Ireland operated a steam charter last week using former Great Northern Railway engine  85 Merlin.

Rich afternoon sun and a colourful train made for easy photos at Killarney on 3 September 2018.

These views were among the digital photos I exposed with my FujiFilm XT1.

I was playing with scale and focus while working with the light to make the most of shadows.

Which is your favorite?

Learn more about the RPSI: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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photography, Tips and Technique

John Gruber at IRM.

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The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) is a wonderful repository of American railway equipment and artifacts.

Last month, photographer John Gruber and I spent a couple of hours wandering around, photographing and traveling on IRM’s preserved trains.

John has an on-going exhibit of his finest Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee photographs in IRM’s East Union station.

He asked if I could make a few photos of him surrounded by his photography.

Lumix LX7 digital photo, partially desaturated for effect.
John Gruber surrounded by his North Shore photos at the East Union station.
Frisco 2-10-0 1630 made a cameo appearance.

Back in the day, John worked with an iconic Nikon F single lens reflex. Today, he carries a Canon EOS 7D. Both have served him well. Right John?

As we were leaving we crossed paths with Trains Magazine editor, Jim Wrinn.

“Small world!”

Jim Wrinn greets John Gruber.

If you are planning a trip to Illinois Railway Museum, be sure to check John’s photos!

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Purple Tram Harcourt Street.

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There’s a purple tram prowling Dublin’s Green Line.

The other day I was on my way over to John Gunn’s Camera Shop on Wexford Street and I made these photos with my Lumix LX7 of LUAS trams gliding along Harcourt Street.

This is a perfect place to pose modern Citadis trams against a backdrop of Georgian Terrace houses.

To compensate for flat lighting, with two of these three images I made some minor manipulations in post processing to boost sky detail, lighten shadows and improve contrast.

That means one of the images is simply the unaltered camera-JPG. Can you guess which one that is?

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Old School: Steam and Coal Dust.

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What better place to work with black & white film than on the locomotive footplate?

Last week, I made these steam portraits and views of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s engine 85 at work using my battle worn Nikon N90S with f2.0 35mm lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X.

Processing the film was the tricky part.  I did this by hand the old fashioned way.

To make the most of highlight and shadow detail, I used multiple-stage split-development, followed by selenium toning to give highlights the silvery edge.

After processing, I scanned the negatives using an Epson V500 flatbed scanner.

So in the end presentation my silver photos are digital after all.

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Bad Luck with the Belmond!

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Two Sunday Mornings in a row I walked up to the line with an aim of catching an 071 class locomotive in heritage paint leading Belmond’s Grand Hiberniancruise train on its run from Dublin Connolly to Waterford.

Two Sundays, two locations, two heritage locomotives (numbers 073 and 071 respectively), and two different Irish Rail scheduled trains that got in my way.

Gosh, bad luck!

In both instances, I came away with different photos than I’d set out to make.

Irish Rail 073 leads Belmond’s Grand Hibernian in Dublin on 2 September 2018. An Irish Rail intercity rail car destined for Heuston Station is stopped at a red signal. Bad luck! The Belmond train was running a few minutes behind the advertised.
Bright sun, fluffy clouds, elevation, all the elements for a calendar perfect image. Oh no, an ICR! Shoo shoo!
Well, that didn’t work out as hoped! But then again, I have a zillion photos here anyway.

My question: might these photos age well? Perhaps the intrusion of the ROTEM ICRs may make these photographs more interesting in years to come?

 

I’m not one to get overly excited when a photo opportunity doesn’t work as planned. Sometimes it’s best to just keep making photos when a scene plays out.

PSSSST! (I also made some sneaky 35mm slides that may make the most of both situations).

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photography, Tips and Technique

Steam Portraits-Faces of the Footplate.

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A locomotive is hardly an ideal portrait studio.

Or is it?

Shafts of filtered light and a dark background make for a fascinating setting, while the opportunity to make silhouettes against the daylight provide a contrast.

The men of the footplate proudly wear the coal dust, cinders and ash that identify them.

I made these portraits of the crew on board Great Northern Railway of Ireland 85 on its excursions last week.

Driver Ken Fox adjusts the regulator on locomotive 85.
Lumix LX7 portrait.
Lumix LX7 portrait.
FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Touit lens.
Lumix LX7 portrait.

Special thanks to everyone at the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and at Irish Rail for making my locomotive journeys possible.

For details about the RPSI and scheduled steam and diesel trips see:

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

Check out: Room with a View: The Challenges on Photographing from/on a Steam Locomotive Footplate—12 Photos.

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Irish Rail 079 leads RPSI Cravens.

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On Monday, 3 September 2018, Irish Rail 079 worked Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s preserved Cravens carriages, running as an empty train from Dublin’s Inchicore Works to Connolly station.

This was a scheduled move to position the heritage train for RPSI’s private charter to Killarney, County Kerry with steam locomotive 85 (featured in earlier Tracking the Light Posts).

Working with my FujiFilm XT1 and 90mm lens, I photographed from the north end of Connolly platform 1 & 2.

The train was slightly backlit. To compensate, I made nominal adjustment to the Fuji RAW file to lighten shadows in post processing, then exported as a scaled JPG for internet presentation.

Irish Rail’s Ken Fox is at the throttle of General Motors-built class 071 number 079 approaching Dublin Connolly station.

For details about the RPSI and scheduled steam and diesel trips see:

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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Room with a View: The Challenges on Photographing from/on a Steam Locomotive Footplate—12 Photos.

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Earlier this week it was organized for me to travel on the footplate of Great Northern Railway of Ireland 85.

The thrill of experiencing a steam locomotive cab on the main line is a rare privilege.

My job was to make photographs and stay out of the way.

Locomotive driver Ken Fox works on the left side of the engine as it rolls through Tipperary countryside.

Locomotive 85 is a three cylinder compound  4-4-0, a 1932 product of Beyer Peacock.

The compound arrangement is what intrigued me, but like the low droning throb sounding  from the 20 cylinder diesel powering an EMD SD45, this element of the steam equipment is beyond my ability to picture.

Instead, I had to settle for making images of the crew at work and the locomotive in motion.

Fireman’s view near Mountrath on the Cork Line.
12mm Zeiss Touit view of the fireman shoveling coal.
Fireman’s view of a Mark 4 train up road near Thurles. Special viewing equipment on my Fuji XT1 made images like this possible.
Fireman’s view. Working the injector.
View of the firebox.

The footplate offers a rough ride, while swirling coal dust and locomotive exhaust complicate photography and the handling of sensitive equipment. The lighting is at best difficult. Staying out of the way often means that I wasn’t always  able to get the angle I really wanted and needed to make due with where I was able to stand.

Driver side view.
Feeding the fire. Lumix LX7 photo.

The locomotive is bathed in smoke and dust.

Special thanks to everyone at the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland (RPSI) and at Irish Rail for making my locomotive journeys possible.

For details about the RPSI and scheduled steam and diesel trips see:

https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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Tips and Technique

Ghosts of the North Shore—Five Photos.

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In the 1950s and 1960s, My father made a project of photographing the Chicago, North Shore & Milwaukee, the distinctive interurban electric line connecting it’s namesakes.

Last month, John Gruber and I paid a visit to the Illinois Railway Museum at Union, Illinois. Like my father, John had focused on the North Shore. He made hundreds of excellent photographs that distilled the spirit of the railway.

North Shore was before my time, but I feel that I know the line thanks to my dad’s and John’s photographs,  which were featured in books by the late William D. Middleton.

The railway may be gone 55 years, but key pieces of it’s equipment survive.

I made these digital views of preserved North Shore cars at IRM using my FujiFIlm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens. This flat-field super wide-angle lens is well suited to making images in the tight quarters of IRM’s car barns.

John Gruber has an on-going exhibit of his finest North Shore photography in the East Union Station at IRM. This will be subject of another Tracking the Light post.

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Tips and Technique

NI Railways at Botanic, Belfast.

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Sometimes a station name conveys a grander image than what’s really there.

Cherry Orchard in Dublin comes to mind.  Put out visions of lush blossoming trees in a bucolic pastoral setting, and replace it with industrial squalor, palisade fencing, graffiti and garbage. Yet, it’s still a good place to catch trains on the move.

Then we have today’s featured location: NI Railway’s modern station at Botanic in Belfast. For me the name invokes images of flowing beautiful gardens, tall majestic trees and rows of manicured flowers, perhaps a fountain.

Er, not exactly.

While more salubrious than Dublin’s Cherry Orchard (and undoubtedly safer too), Botanic isn’t a wonderland.

But it’s not a bad place to picture trains.

Here’s a couple of Lumix Views.

Lumix LX-7 view, August 2018.
Lumix LX-7 view, August 2018.

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Modern American Railroading in Soft Light.

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Here’s a thoroughly today scene: An Amtrak Midwest Siemens Charger at Milwaukee’s Intermodal Terminal.

Diffused afternoon sun works well with the geometry of the station’s architecture and the curves and lines of the Siemens Charger.

Using my FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with a 12mm Zeiss Touit, I opted for a skewed angle that accentuates this modern scene.
In post processing, I adjusted contrast and color balance.

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Ireland’s Oldest Railway.

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The Dublin & Kingstown commenced operations in 1834. Today, the line is part of Irish Rail’s national network and also hosts Dublin Area Rapid Transit suburban electric trains.

In August 2018, I exposed this view of the down evening Dublin-Rosslare passenger train approaching Blackrock along the shore of Dublin Bay.

I like the modern candy-apple green livery that now graces some of Irish Rail 29000-series diesel railcars, and I find that it works especially well in a scene such as this one.

To make for a more appealing photograph, I imported the camera RAW into Lightroom and made a few minor adjustments to contrast and color temperature. Among my most important changes was to lighten the shadow areas to more closely represent what we see with our eyes.

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East Union—Digital Black & White.

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Sometimes the medium fits the image in more ways than one.

Earlier this month, John Gruber and I visited the Illinois Railway Museum at East Union.

Among the photos I exposed that afternoon, was this digital black & white of a recreated vintage passenger train simmering at the East Union station.

Not real black & white exposed on film, but a camera created black & white JPG.

FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit lens.

The scene emulates a classic view of a steam locomotive and heavy weight cars at a country station, the sort of scene that was once prevalent across North America.

The photo carries the spirit of a vintage photograph, yet it was exposed using modern techniques to distill the essence of the elements of scene now long gone.

It is just a view of a museum, but it lets us step back, maybe to a happier, simpler time.

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Belmond’s Grand Hibernian on the Middle Road.

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On Sunday’s an Irish Rail class 071 works Belmond’s luxury cruise train, the 10-car Grand Hibernian, on its run from Dublin Connolly to Waterford.

Although slightly back lit, I found the famed ‘Gullet’ offers a good place to catch this train at work.

This cutting dates from the 1840s and features three tracks.

In this instance, Irish Rail 082 was accelerating down the middle road with the posh-looking train. (‘Down’ refers to traveling away from Dublin, and doesn’t reflect the gradient, which in this situation is actually rising).

Working with both my FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm telephoto and Lumix LX7, I made two sets of digital photos.

Irish 082 with Belmond’s Grand Hibernian cruise train. FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm lens.
Lumix LX7 view.

The locomotive sound was impressive as on this particular Sunday a couple weeks back the roads in the area were shut for a foot race and there was very little ambient noise compared with a typical day in Dublin. Perhaps, I should have made a recording!

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Tips and Technique

Old Signals: My Last Photos?

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I was running a few final errands before heading to the airport.

CSX had been working on making CP83 in Palmer, Massachusetts compliant with positive train control requirements, which has coincided with commissioning new signal hardware.

By the time I return, the old signals will likely have been retired and the new system up and working.

Crossing the South Main Street bridge in Palmer, I spotted a New England Central local working the diamond, and a CSX intermodal train (Q022) waiting to the west.

This gave me enough time to set up and made a few final photos of the transitional arrangement at CP83 in Palmer.

Old signals to the left, new heads on the right; CSX Q022 holds to the west of the Palmer diamond.
A moment of sun as Q022 begins to pull forward. Modern signaling equipment is in the silver box at right.
Working with an 18-135mm zoom lens gave me needed flexibility to adjust the focal length as the train pulled forward.

Changeable lighting made for patches of direction sun under a partial blanket of cloud. I tried to use these sunny spots to my best advantage since the train was moving slowly through the interlocking.

 

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Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light posts Daily!

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Every day Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light posts photos with stories and tips about railway photography.

To view the latest post, access the site directly via: briansolomon.com/trackingthelight

Please note that soon Tracking the Light link’s via Facebook may no longer publish regularly.

However, links via Google Plus, Tumbler and Twitter should remain active.

See: briansolomon.com/trackingthelight

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Sunset at Pinole, California.
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Parallel Lines: Wisconsin & Southern Left and Right at Ackerville.

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Parallel lines. On the left is Canadian National’s Wisconsin Central line from Fond du Lac to Chicago; on right is Wisconsin & Southern’s former Milwaukee Road line running from Horicon to Milwaukee.

On this day, Chris Guss and I were aiming to catch Wisconsin & Southern’s T-4 freight on its way to Janesville. This train joins CN’s route at Slinger, just a little ways north from our location in the curve at Ackerville.

My goal was to show the parallel routes, while featuring the freight accelerating through the curve, to demonstrate the power of the locomotives.

Complicating my composition were the rows of trees. When I place the train in the distance, the tops of the locomotives are below the tree-line, and the thus less dramatic. When I let the locomotives get closer, they obscure the freight cars and most of the interesting effects of the parallel curves.

90mm view at Ackerville.
Tight 90mm view. How do you like the fluffy cloud above the engines?

If I move lower, the angle would be more dramatic, but the second set of tracks would be nearly lost altogether. Longer focal length lens? Similar quandary, this minimizes the second set of tracks and features the trees more prominently.

Such are the challenges of perfecting railroad photo composition. Often there’s no one ideal solution.

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Cabbage Pan on the old Milwaukee Road

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In the mid-1930s, Milwaukee Road introduced its high-speed streamlined Hiawatha on its Chicago-Milwaukee-Twin Cities route where elegant purpose-built shrouded 4-4-2 and 4-6-4 Alco steam locomotives whisked trains along in excess of 110mph.

Today, Amtrak’s Hiawathas have Siemens Chargers on the Milwaukee end, and former F40PH Control-Cab/baggage cars, known as ‘Cabbages’ on the Chicago-end.

While Amtrak provides an excellent corridor service, today top speed is just 79mph.

I can’t help but think that as a nation we’ve lost the plot on this one.

We went from elegant, fast steam streamliners to this?

Panning my Fujifilm XT1 plus 27mm lens in parallel with Amtrak’s fast moving Hiawatha has allowed for the effect of speed and motion. ISO 200, 1/125thof a second. Note: that my shutter speed wasn’t especially slow.

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High ISO: Sturtevant Station at Dusk in the Rain.

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Heavy rain had given the ground a lacquer-like gloss.

Chris Guss and I had arrived at Sturtevant, Wisconsin to roll by an Amtrak train. (Featured the other day in: FIRST ENCOUNTER: AMTRAK CHARGER.

While waiting for the northward train. I made a series of photographs of Amtrak’s relatively new Sturtevant station. I’ve always liked the effect of a twilight sky, when the blue light of evening nearly matches the intensity of electric lighting.

Fujifilm XT1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit at ISO 2000.
greater color saturation and contrast applied in post processing.

Here, I worked with my Zeiss 12mm Touit lens. This is flat-field lens, so keeping the lens level, minimizes perspective distortion.

I was without my small tripod, and I used the camera handheld at a low angle. To make use of the reflections of the station in the parking lot.

I set the ISO to 2000. Here are two post-processing variations of the Camera RAW file that feature different contrast curves.

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Wisconsin’s Byron Hill: Then and Now.

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Two views almost 24 years apart.

Both feature southward trains on the former Soo Line, Wisconsin Central route ascending Byron Hill on their way south from Fond du Lac, exposed in the morning from the overhead bridge near the top of the grade.

In the interval between the images, the line was improved to two-main track and Wisconsin Central Limited became part of the Canadian National system.

The locomotives are very different too.

For this December 1994 image, I exposed a Kodachrome 25 slide using a Nikon F3t with Nikkor f4 200mm lens.
In August 2018, I worked with my FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm Fujinon zoom, that approximates the perspective of the earlier photo.

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EMDs on the Roll! Conrail-Era SD60M.

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Gosh, I remember when 6798 was NEW and blue. This is among Conrail-era SD60Ms still at work on Norfolk Southern.

To make for a more dramatic locomotive action photo, I’ve taken a low angle medium-telephoto view.

Notice how the angle features the wheels on rails, allowing you to see below the locomotive.

Engine exhaust blurs the wires beyond, demonstrating the engines are working.

By focusing on the locomotives; I’ve cropped most of the following freight, more than a mile of it in tow.

Exposed at LaPorte, Indiana on Norfolk Southern’s former New York Central Water Level Route mainline. FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm telephoto. ISO 200, f5, 1/500thsecond; JPG image processed from camera RAW file using Lightroom; contrast and exposure adjusted globally and locally to improve visual impact.

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Documenting the Common: Norfolk Southern Double-stacks at CP485.

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Norfolk Southern’s Water Level Route is among the busiest freight routes in the East.

It features a continual parade of trains; long freights led by common modern diesels.

Here a cookie-cutter General Electric Evolution-series works east with a double stack train, ducking under the South Shore line at CP485 near Burns Harbor, Indiana.

Isn’t this freight the modern day equivalent of a New York Central freight led by F7s; or a generation earlier by a common Central H-10 Mikado?

Freight trains are about freight and I’ll often make photos of the consist.

But does it matter that I exposed this image? Where does it fit in the BIG picture?

I was pleased when I made this view. Chris Guss and I had enough time to set up, but didn’t wait long. I recalled a photo made more than 20 years ago in this same territory; Mike Danneman and I spent a snowy February morning photographing Conrail. Those photos are looking better all the time.

The common deserves to be recorded.

 

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Irish Rail Workhorse Diesel; The Unremarked 221 in four photos.

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Here’s four views of Irish Rail 221; two film, two digital; two orange, two green & silver; two with passenger, two with freight; one in snow, three without; but all showing this machine on the move.

221 leads the down Dublin-Cork liner at Ballybrophy on 25 March 2005. Exposed on Fujichrome Velvia 100F using a Nikon F3 with 180mm lens.

This is part of my on-going series depicting Ireland’s class 201 diesel electrics to mark my 20 years photographing in Ireland. Photographic details in the captions.

Irish Rail 221 leading Mark 3 carriages at Kildare on a damp summer day in 2005. Exposed on Fujichrome Velvia 100F using a Nikon F3 with 180mm lens.
Freshly painted 221 (with expanded number) leads the down IWT liner (Dublin to Ballina container train) at Islandbridge Junction in Dublin. Exposed digitally using a FuijFilm XT1 with 90mm Fujinon telephoto lens. Notice the effect of scale with the monument visually positioned over the locomotive. The date of exposure was 21 September 2017.
Irish Rail 221 in the snow at Islandbridge in Dublin on 28 February 2018. Exposed digitally with a FujiFilm XT1 and 27mm pancake lens.

Question: do head-on telephoto views portray the shape of the 201-class effectively?

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South Shore Revisted

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Last week, Chris Guss and I revisited the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend street trackage at Michigan City, Indiana.

This classic vestige of interurban railroading always makes for interesting photos.

My father, Richard J. Solomon first visited the South Shore at Michigan City back in 1958.

My first trip over the line was 26 years later.

I exposed this sequence of an afternoon eastward electric train using my FujiFilm XT1 with prime 90mm telephoto. I was playing with the focus.

At Michigan City the tracks are the subject.
In this view I’ve focused on the train. If the sun had been out, this would have been a harshly lit afternoon image.

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New Signals at Dusk—working with high ISO.

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Saturday evening I used my FujiFilm X-T1 with 12mm Zeiss Touit to photograph CSX’s westward Q437 (Framingham, Massachusetts to Selkirk, New York) at Palmer, Massachusetts passing the new signals at CP83.

They’ve yet to be activated and the new signals are in place alongside the Conrail-era signals installed in 1986.

It was dusk and the light was fading fast. I pushed the camera ISO to 2500, and exposed this action shot at 1/250th of a second at f2.8.

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Tips and Technique

Pan Am Pacing View at the New York State Line!

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With photographer Mike Gardner behind the wheel, we were in hot pursuit of Pan Am’s EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction).

Rolling along with the train at the Vermont-New York state line west of Pownal, Vermont, I made this pacing view.

There’s wasn’t time for niceties such as carefully calculating exposure. I set the camera shutter speed dial to ‘A’ and exposed a burst of images in RAW.

After the fact I adjusted shadows and highlights in Lightroom to make for a better balanced photograph.

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Telephoto and Wide Angle of EDRJ at Rices.

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Rices at Charlemont, Massachusetts used to be an interlocking, where the Boston & Maine’s line went from double to single track.

Back in the 1980s, I’d catch meets here between eastward and westward freights.

Much has changed.

Not only was the interlocking decommissioned and later removed, but almost all evidence of it, including the old signal bridge are now gone. Trees and brush have grown up between the railroad and the river, and trees along the road are taller than ever.

This now makes for a pretty challenging setting.

At some point I’ll present ‘then and now’ views, but these photos demonstrate telephoto and wide angle photos of the same train from the same vantage point.

There was nice afternoon light on Pan Am’s EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction) so I settled on my traditional location, which still gets a bit of sun late in the day.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Hump-set in the Rain.

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The sky opened up as the East Deerfield hump set was crossing the Connecticut River bridge at the east end of Pan Am Railway’s East Deerfield Yard.

I thought the effects of the cascading rain added atmosphere to the scene.

90mm Fujinon telephoto view.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Bus Meet on Digital Black & White.

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Here’s something different. I had my FujiFilm X-T1 set up to record monochrome with a digitally applied red filter to alter the tonality.  Working with a Zeiss 12mm lens, I made this view at Arlington, Massachusetts of two MBTA buses passing on Massachusetts Avenue.

This digital black & white image is unaltered from the camera-produced JPG except for scaling for internet presentation.

How does this black & white compare with film?

It is a lot easier, but is it better?

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