April 9, 2010; a group of my Irish friends and I were on a week long trip to the Rhein and Mosel Valleys.
The Rhein is great place to experiment with equipment and technique. Busy double track mainlines occupy both sides of the river amid stunning scenery and historic architecture.
I was set up at the south end of the station platform at Kaub on the Right Bank. This is the busier freight line, with trains passing in fleets. Rarely ten minutes would pass without something clattering along.
My vantage point also gave me a good view of the Left Bank and the Pfalzgrafenstein—a colorful castle situated on an island in the middle of the river. Working with my Lumix LX3, I played with the camera’s aspect ratios as an exercise in composition.
A DB class 151 electric leads a southward container train at Kaub, Germany. I’ve used the Lumix LX3 with the 1:1 (square) aspect ratio to frame the train with the castle on the side of the hill and lighting masts on the left. April 9, 2010.I made this image of a northward car train from the same location as the above photo. By selecting the Lumix’s 16:9 aspect ratio I had a panoramic frame with which to compose my photo. My intent was a juxtaposition of the castle in the river with the freight train. Would this photo work if the DB locomotive wasn’t bright red?
Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.
The Lumix LX3 has a sliding switch above the lens that allows control of the camera’s aspect ratio (in other words the relative dimensions of the frame). This gives the photographer the ability to compose images using different proportional rectangles and easily change from one to another as it suits the composition.
I find this an extremely valuable tool when making railway images. There are three basic ratios, 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 (popular as the HDTV video format), as well as a 1:1 square ratio (that must be accessed using the camera menu). Most of the time I use the 3:2 aspect because this makes maximum use of the sensor area.
The 16:9 aspect gives a broader rectangle that can be very useful in landscape style images. It is a good format for photographing railway locomotives and equipment broadside, and can be used to accentuate a variety of compositions.
New England Central GP38s work the interchange track at Palmer, Massachusetts on October 17, 2013. Lumix LX3 with 16:9 aspect ratio.
Keep in mind, the aspect ratio simply determines the dimensions of the rectangle and does not affect the focal length of the lens (controlled separately).
Someone might ask, ‘why not just shoot everything with the sensor at its maximum and then crop later?’
I find that using the different aspect ratios in the field changes the way I see and thus allows me to compose images that I might not recognize otherwise. While I could certainly crop after exposure, having the ability to work on site produces a different photograph (and perhaps more intuitive) than one cropped later.
New England Central locomotives at Palmer, Massachusetts. Lumix LX3 with 16:9 aspect ratio.
I’ve included a variety of 16:9 aspect images exposed over the last ten days. Along with a comparison between a 3:2 and 16:9 aspect of the same subject.
Connecticut Trolley Museum’s New Orleans Public Service car crosses a road near East Windsor, Connecticut on Sunday October 20, 2013. Lumix LX3 with 16:9 aspect ratio. The broader rectangle facilitated this split composition that both features the streetcar and the road it has just crossed.Pan Am Railway’s symbol freight 190ED at East Deerfield Yard on October 18, 2013. Using the 16:9 aspect ratio made it easier to include the colored foliage on the right while retaining a strong image of the locomotives. LX3 photo.
This pair of image demonstrates the relative dimensional difference between the 3:2 aspect ratio (top) and the 16:9 aspect ratio (bottom).
New England Central symbol freight 611 waits for a crew at Brattleboro, Vermont on the morning of October 18, 2013. Exposed using the 3:2 aspect ratio.Combination of a lower angle and the 16:9 aspect ratio allows for a more dramatic image that minimizes distracting foreground elements. Lumix LX3 photo.
