May 31st, 2014, I stood in the grass south of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina to photograph a German-dessigned Siemens Mobility-built model S70 tram working as the Lynx.
I like photographing modern lightrail systems in urban environments.
The sun was softened by a cloud moments before exposure. I rescued the image in post processing with some shadow-lightening and contrast adjustment, and by warming the color temperature.
Since my 2014 visit to Charlotte with photographer Pat Yough, the city has expanded its light rail system and purchased many more Siemens trams.
Lumix LX7 photo, exposed in RAW and adjusted with Adobe Lightroom to create an internet-sized JPG file.
Thirty-five years ago, I made this view of a Conrail coal train working the Charlotte Running track at Charlotte, Rochester, New York. At that time, a short vestige of the old Hojack Line (Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg) still crossed the Genesee River.
This was exposed on Kodachrome 25 slide film using my Leica M2 rangefinder fitted with a 50mm Leitz Summicron lens.
It was among the images featured in my 1989 article on the railroads of Rochester published in Railpace Newsmagazine.
Looking at Google Earth last night, I gather there’s very little left of this scene today!
On January 10, 1988, I made this Kodachrome slide of Conrail SD50 6779 leading a coal train at Charlotte, NY.
I experimented with compact mirrorless cameras on May 31, 2014, during a visit to Charlotte, North Carolina,
My trusty Lumix LX3 had failed a few weeks earlier, and I was seeking a suitable replacement.
On this trip photographer Pat Yough let me try out his FujiFilm XE-2. While my father had lent me his Lumix LX7, (a model that was an upgraded variation on the older LX3)
I made these images using the Lumix LX7 which photographing the Lynx light rail system south of downtown Charlotte.
Ultimately,not onlydid I buy a Lumix LX7, but after continued experimentation with the Fuji system, I also bought a Fuji XT1, which served me well for a number of years.
I’ve found that it really helps to experiement with different camera systems to put them through their paces BEFORE drawing firm conclusions or making a purchase.
Below are three variations of the same image. The first is a scaled version of the in-camera JPG (scaled for internet presention, not cropped); the other two are interpretations from the camera RAW using Adobe Lightroom.
Lumix LX7 in-camerea JPG scaled for internet.JPG adapted from Camera RAW.Alternative interpretation of the same Camera RAW file.
Tracking the Light aims to post new material every day!
