Hazy midday summer sun presents difficult lighting for photographing trains on the move.

The overall light quality is flat, yet shadow areas are muddy and indistinct. This especially challenging on the underside of equipment and tree leaves.

The other day at Amos Herr Park in Landisville, Pa., I photographed Amtrak’s eastward Pennsylvanian. Moments before it came into view, a small fuzzy cloud dulled the already dull light.

The simple solution to this problem is to avoid photographing in midday summer light.

In this instance, I am seeking a post-processing solution to mitigate the problem and help produce a better image.

Below is a sequence of images. The first is the scaled, but otherwise unmodfied NEF Raw file. Next is my first attempt at adjusting color, contrast and exposure in an effort to improve the overall appearance of the photo. I wasn’t satisfied with this effort, so for my next attempt I converted the image to black & white and then selectively adjusted contrast and exposure.

In the final image, I manually reintroduced color to the photo, carefully controlling saturdation and luminance for specific parts of the spectrum using the Lightroom slider controls. Although imperfect, this allowed me to control the amount and intensity of color in defined areas of the image. If it looks a bit artificial that’s because it is! This is the product my controlling AI technology to colorize the image using information stored in the original file. It is not organic or natural.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!