photography

Luncheon Train Before and After Processing

In my digital photographic workflow, I treat the camera’s RAW file much as I would treat a black-and-white negative in the printmaking process. It is the raw material from which I interpret the image. The RAW file is not intended to be the final result; it is simply the most effective means of capturing the data.

Here’s a trailing view of Cape Cod Central’s Luncheon Train as it rolled through West Barnstable station. The top version is scaled but otherwise unprocessed from the Nikon NEF RAW file.

The bottom version reflects my adjustments to color, contrast, shadow and highlight detail, plus a minor crop.

Although scaled for internet presentation (the original NEF file is about 20MB), this represents the appearance of the RAW file without digital processing. The exposure and white balance were set for optimal digital capture.
This is my initial interpretation of the RAW file, using Adobe Lightroom to adjust highlights, shadows, overall exposure, contrast, color temperature and color balance, plus a very minor crop at the left. Post-processing also included slight sharpening, necessary to make the image appear sharp on a computer screen.

Tracking the Light examines railroad photography!