Tag Archives: #black&whitephotography

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East Deerfield Yard, September 30, 1984—Two photos.

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I took a break from classes at Hampshire College and ventured to Boston & Maine’s East Deerfield yard (near Greenfield, Massachusetts) with some friends for a day of photography.

Among the many trains we saw that day was B&M’s EDSP (East Deerfield to Springfield) through freight that operated with a GP18/GP9/GP7 locomotive combination.

At the time this was a refreshing throwback, as more modern and often mixed lash-ups of B&M, Maine Central and Delaware & Hudson locomotives tended to predominate on the east-west Fitchburg route via the Hoosac Tunnel.

I was especially keen to picture GP7 1566, which was among the last to retain its vertical white nose stripe and harked back to an earlier era.

Photos were exposed on Kodak black & white film using my Leica 3A.

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ALCO RS-3 Westfield, MASSACHUSETTS.

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On May 14, 1985, I exposed this photo of Pioneer Valley Railroad’s stored RS-3 203 at the railroad’s Westfield, Massachusetts yard.

PVRR was one of the Pinsley-owned railroads.

In 1985, my photographic efforts were supported by a shoe-string budget. I’d buy bulk 100-foot rolls of 35mm black & white film to roll my own cassettes. At the time I was working with a 1938-vintage Leica 3A with a screw-mount Cannon f1.8 50mm lens.

I’d process the film at college using Kodak D76.

Three decades later I’d scan the negatives. I have hundreds of rolls from that era picturing thousands of scenes, most of which can never be repeated.

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photography, Tips and Technique

The Bronx, New York—c.1980.

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Using my Leica 3A, I made this view from a NYCTA city bus in The Bronx circa 1980.

I don’t have any notes at all from this trip.

In all likelihood, I was using a 35mm Nikkor lens with a screw-mount designed for the Leica 3 series cameras. This was a favorite of mine at the time because it required an adjustable external viewfinder that made it easier to compose than the tiny window on the camera body.

The primary subject of the photo was the subway train on what I think was the White Plains Road elevated line. At right is my brother Sean. We were traveling with our grandmother from Fordham Road toward Co-op City as part of a shopping trip.

This photo has been quietly hiding, unprinted and unseen in a glassine negative sleeve for nearly 40 years! (Try that with your favorite phone photo.)

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photography, Tips and Technique

Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited in the 1980s.

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Amtrak 448 approaching milepost 84 in Monson, Massachusetts. March 1986.

On March 16, 1986, I hiked west of milepost 84 on Conrail’s Boston & Albany route to photograph Amtrak train 448, the eastward Lake Shore Limited(Boston section).

This was just a few months before Conrail single tracked the line between Springfield and Palmer, Massachusetts.

I was keen to document the Boston & Albany’s line that passed through the northern reaches of my home town, Monson, Massachusetts, in the railroad’s traditional directional double track configuration.

This lone image is part of my much more extensive project to document the Boston & Albany route on film.

I exposed the photo on 120 roll film using my father’s Rollei Model T. In May 2019, I scanned the negatives using an Epson V750 flatbed scanner. For presentation here, I adjusted contrast and exposure using Lightroom.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Roscrea, County Tipperary—Only a Test.

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Here’s a scan of one of my negative strips showing the exposure bracket.


Hiding in my negative file was a page of 12 photographs.

This was a test roll from late 2003. I believe I was testing my recently purchased Rollei Model T; and I may been testing exposure/processing for Fuji Neopan 400 film.

In either case, I’d set up my camera fixed to a Bogen tripod on the Irish Rail platform at Roscrea, County Tipperary and made photos at dusk of the signal cabin and station.

This is on the lightly used Nenagh Branch, which even today retains its old cabins and embodies the rustic charm of a rural branch line.

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Irish Rail 085 at Enfield, December 2003.

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The distant roar of a class 071 GM diesel announced the approach of Irish Rail’s up Sligo passenger (train) at Enfield Cabin.

Working with a Rollei model T twin-lens reflex, I made this black & white photograph of Irish Rail 085 leading Mark 2 carriages in December 2003.

At the time, there was nothing remarkable about an 071 working the Dublin-Sligo passenger trains, yet this was soon to change.

I had made one my first photos of an Irish Rail 071 diesel at Enfield more than five years earlier.

Exposed on 120 size Fuji Neopan 400 and processed in Agfa Rodinal Special (R09) followed by selenium toning.

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photography, Tips and Technique

When Reality Looks Like Fantasy—Kingsbridge Monochrome

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Yesterday, I had one frame of film left in my Nikon F3.

I’d been exposing photos of Dublin’s North Side and I wanted to process the film before dinner.

I exposed this view of Heuston Station and the old Kingsbridge (now Sean Heuston Bridge) on frame 37.

The sky was impressive; dark blue with textured clouds rolling across it like a flowing tapestry.

To make the most of the usual light, I did a few tricky things.

I exposed the film for the sky and clouds with the intention of some non-standard chemical processing.

To make the most of the shadows with out roasting the highlights, I presoaked the film in a very dilute bath of Kodak HC110 at 75F for 6 minutes with very little agitation. Then, I drained the presoak solution and processed the film in Ilford ID11 mixed 1-1 with water at 68F for 7 minutes (considerably less than the recommended time).

The results were even better than I expected.

Looking across Dublin’s Croppy’s Park toward Kingsbridge and Heuston Station. Exposed using a 24mm Nikkor lens on an F3 SLR camera loaded with Ilford HP5 black & white film. Processed for maximum dynamic range.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Enterprising Patterns at Connolly

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Real black & white under a Victorian-era train shed.

Here’s some views I made of the Enterprise in August 2018 using my Canon EOS-3 with a 40mm lens with Fuji Acros 100 film.

I like the reflections in the windows.

Sometimes its fun to play with the level. Is this an improvement or an annoyance?

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NI Railways 3021 at Cultra, Co. Down.

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No, not on display. Not yet! This was a service train.

It had just begun to rain. So rather than making a potentially bland colour view, I exposed this photograph on black & white film using my Canon EOS 3 with 40mm lens

My choice of film is a bit obsolete:  Fuji Acros 100. I have a few rolls left in my bag.

Afterwards, I hand processed in a Paterson tank with Rodinal Special mixed 1 to 31 with water for 3 minutes 45 second at 68F.

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