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Rockville file 2357.

It was a hot, hazy afternoon when Kris and I paused at the west end of the famous Rockville Bridge over the Susquehanna River.

I sensed that a westbound freight was near. To make the most of the bridge’s graceful arches, I fitted my old Nikkor 135mm f/2.0 prime lens to my Nikon Z6 III. Before long, a set of Norfolk Southern GE diesels appeared with a heavy mixed freight. As the train crawled across the Susquehanna, I exposed a series of images, carefully focusing manually and using the Z6 III’s magnification feature to verify critical sharpness.

Later, I imported the NEF RAW files into Lightroom and adjusted the color and contrast.

I wasn’t 100 percent satisfied with the results, so I imported one file (NEF2357) into DxO PureRAW 5 for correction and conversion to a DNG file. I then opened the DNG in DxO PhotoLab, a photo-processing program similar to Lightroom, where I made a series of additional color and contrast adjustments.

The results offered several improvements and produced a decidedly different look from the Lightroom version. I was especially impressed by how PhotoLab rendered the sky and the river. Although I find the final image far more pleasing than the original NEF file, I’m still not 100 percent satisfied.

I may just have to head back to Rockville and try again!

NEF RAW File 2357, scaled as a JPG without correction or adjustments.
NEF 2357 Adjusted with Lightroom to improve contrast and sky detail and color balance.
NEF file 2357 converted to a DNG file using DxO PureRaw 5 with DeepPRIME corrections.
NEF file 2357 was converted to a DNG file using DxO PureRAW 5 with DeepPRIME corrections, then imported into DxO PhotoLab for a series of minor cosmetic adjustments to color, contrast, and exposure. These refinements were intended to improve the overall appearance, reduce aerial haze, enhance sky detail, and produce a more dramatic visual impact. Scaled as a Jpg for presentation here.

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