Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

NS-5656 in the fields near Manheim.

I’ve made a variety of exploratory trips along the former Reading Company’s Reading & Columbia line, but until last Thursday, I had not had the opportunity to photograph a train in motion.

Working with my FujiFilm XT-1, I set up at South Penryn Road in Manheim, Pa., to catch Norfolk Southern’s local freight on its way to Lititz. By using a very low angle, I was able to better show the wheels on the rails. This perspective gives a visual separation by allowing you to see the grass on the far side of the train.

Track speed is very casual, so I had no difficulty getting ahead of the train for more photos on this pastoral and rarely photographed portion of the old Reading.

Photo exposed in RAF Raw format using a FujiFilm XT1 with 16-50mm Fujinon lens. The raw file was converted using Iridient X-Transformer and then imported into Adobe Lightroom for post processing adjustments which include a mask to improve detail in the sky.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!