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Pushing the Envelope: Position Light at Dusk

I drive by this signal almost daily.

It’s not an easy item to represent photographically.

In light of midday, the lights are nearly lost in the inky ring.

At dusk, the lights standout, but they are are easily overexposed which has the unintended effect of desaturating the light color.

A more complicated problem is stopping a fast moving train when the light is optimal for catching the signal lights at their correct density and hue.

Focus is another issue. In this situation, I was working with an f2.8 70-200mm zoom wide open (f2.8). I set my shutter speed manually to 1/640th of a second. According to the camera meter this resulted in about 2/3s stop (-0.7) under exposure. ISO was set to 5000. My focus point was on plane with the signal. The signal and near track are sharp, but the train suffers both from motion blur and being slightly out of focus.

Not a lot of options to do better. But, I’ll keep trying.

Amtrak Keystone train 620 eastbound near Greenfield in Lancaster, PA. Westward signal 64.5 displaying ‘approach’ with amber lights.
Amtrak Keystone train 620 eastbound near Greenfield in Lancaster, PA. Westward signal 64.5 displaying ‘approach’.

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