Below are two views of Irish Rail’s 071 with a ballast train at the old Guinness sidings at Dublin’s Heuston Station.
This locomotive has been popular with photographers since its repainting in the 1970s heritage livery last year.
What I’m trying to demonstrate here are the various effects of lighting and technique. One view was made on black & white film in the fading daylight of early evening. The other is a digital colour photo exposed the following morning.
Which is the better photograph?
Tracking the Light posts daily!
Colors wins this one. The bright sky in the B&W version dominates the foreground and you barely notice the train. It might work better if the subject filled more of the frame.
Personally, I’d go for the black and white. There’s great drama in that sky, and while the image obviously doesn’t show the livery as such, the division of the colours between black and orange is very apparent.