Southward New England Central freight along Plains Road, near Sweetheart Lake, south of Stafford, Connecticut shortly after sunrise on January 13, 2013. Canon 7D with 40mm ‘Pancake’ lens; ISO 200 f4.5 at 1.500th second—intentionally ‘underexposed’ and adjusted in post processing using Photoshop to maintain desired detail and balance in highlight and shadow areas.
One of the benefits of my visits to Monson, Massachusetts, is being within ear-shot of the former Central Vermont Railway, now operated by New England Central (NECR). Yesterday morning (January 10, 2013), I awoke to the sounds of a southward freight clawing its way up Stateline Hill (so-named because it crests near the Massachusetts-Connecticut state line). NECR freights take their time ascending the grade and on a clear day I can hear them climbing from about the time they depart the Palmer Yard. As a kid I’d count the crossings: CV’s GP9s whistling a sequence of mournful blasts for each one. Yesterday morning I dithered for a few minutes. Should I go after this train? Or, should I keep my nose to grindstone, writing? Clear skies forced the answer: GO!
My hesitation caused me to miss the opportunity for a photograph in Stafford Springs, Connecticut. This was blessing in disguise, since I’ve often caught the train here and then broke off the chase before getting deeper into Connecticut. Having missed Stafford Springs, I pursued further south, and caught the train four times at various points between Stafford and Willimantic. This a relatively easy chase, as Route 32 runs roughly parallel to the line.
Three elements made yesterday’s chase a satisfying exercise:
1) The train was operating at a suitable time of the morning for southward daylight photography (lately, NECR’s trains seem to have headed south either way too early or too late in the day for my photographic preferences—I’ve been photographing this line for more than 30 years, first chasing it with my Dad in the early 1980s, so I can be unusually choosy).
2) It was a ‘clear blue dome’—sunny, bright, and cloudless, always a great time to make morning photographs.
3) As it turned out, one of New England Central’s yellow and blue GP38s was leading. As I’ve mentioned previously, while this was once NECR’s standard locomotive, in recent years the type has become comparatively scarce on NECR, with many of the locomotives working the line wearing paint of former operators (Conrail, Union Pacific, Florida East Coast, and others).
I was also eager for a clear day to test some recently acquired equipment, especially my new Canon 40mm Pancake Lens, which arrived on Monday. I’ll make this lens the detailed topic of future posts.
New England Central’s southward freight approaches Mansfield Depot, Connecticut. Canon 7D with f2.8 200mm lens; ISO f5.6 at 1/1000 second, ‘Landscape’ ‘picture style’ (no adjustments except for scaling).
After abandoning NECR at Willimantic, I made a few photographs of the town, which still has some wonderful old mill buildings, then continued south to New London where I focused on Amtrak for a while.
Since New England Central is among properties recently acquired by Genesee & Wyoming, I’m anticipating change and wondering when I’ll photograph the first orange & black locomotives
See my recent published book North American Locomotives for more information on New England Central’s and Genesee & Wyoming locomotives.
New England Central at Willimantic Yard as viewed from the famous footbridge (must be famous, it has its own plaque). NECR shares this yard with Providence & Worcester with which it interchanges traffic. Canon 7D with f2.8 200mm lens; ISO f8 at 1/640 second, ‘Landscape’ ‘picture style’ (no adjustments except for scaling).Old thread mills at Willimantic, Connecticut. Exposed using Canon 7D with 40mm ‘Pancake’ lens; f9.0 at 1/500th second, no adjustments except for scaling.
South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority provides public transportation in the Philadelphia area and is one of the most eclectic and historically diverse transit systems in the USA. In addition to former Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading Company suburban railway services, it also operates two street car/light rail systems, several third-rail rapid transit subway/elevated services, the former Philadelphia & Western interurban third rail electric line (100 route), and myriad bus and electric (trolley) bus routes. Despite the variety of former operators, today’s SEPTA is reasonably well integrated and offers a variety of interface points between different transport modes. From my experience the transit vehicles appear clean and well maintained and the stations, many of which retain a classic appearance are also generally well appointed. The trains typically operate a regular interval service, with most heavy rail routes offering at least an hourly frequency, with express or extra services at peak times.
Over the years, my brother Sean and I have explored SEPTA as part of a greater urban experience, and I’ve gradually accumulated a considerable body of work depicting the network. SEPTA’s mix of modern and historic equipment combined with Philadelphia’s patchwork urbanity offers seemingly endless opportunities for image making.
Collected here are a few of my most recent efforts that were exposed over the last few days since the New Year. Significantly, these were largely made while using SEPTA as transport, thus integrating my photography with my transportation—an age-old tradition in urban-rail image making. I’ve found that SEPTA’s $11 Independence Pass is great value for such exercises. When possible, Sean and I will ride at the front of a vehicle, which both provides picture possibilities and allows for a better understanding of operations.
A vision of modern transit: SEPTA’s new Silverliner V at Market East Station. Lumix LX3.
SEPTA’s offices on Market Street, Philadelphia. Canon 7D w 28-135mm lens.Under and over at Norristown: on January 3, 2013 a Silverliner V running on the old Reading Company passes below the Route 100 terminus. Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens.
Wier and Schuylkill River Bridge at Norristown with Route 100 car. Nothing lasts forever, and this bridge may be reaching the end of its life.Schuylkill River Bridge at Norristown with Route 100 car. Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens.Former Pennsylvania Railroad tower at sunset; viewed from the front of an Elwyn bound train. This reminds me of Edward Hopper‘s 1929-oil painting “Railroad Sunset”, that also features a signal tower silhouette with rosy glow. Lumix LX3; set in ‘Vivid’ film mode.Train arriving at Suburban Station. Lumix LX3.Railway photography benefits from a bit of humor, don’t you think? Lumix LX3.Detailed view of a vintage Silverliner IV multiple-unit at Suburban Station. Lumix LX3.Meet on the Reading near North Philadelphia. Lumix LX3.Our SEPTA Independence Passes, which by definition offer freedom and liberty of travel! Yea! Lumix LX3.Back in the day many American towns hosted a single-track trolley line. Today, Media, Pennsylvania is one of the last such places in North America. On January 3, 2013 SEPTA’s 101 car crosses Olive Street. Lumix LX3.View from the floor of an Market-Frankford Elevated train. That’s my soiled shoe at left, suffering from a slip in the mud along the Schuylkill earlier in the day. Poor form. Lumix LX3.Market-Frankford El in the Subway at 16th and Market. Lumix LX3.
See my book Railroads of Pennsylvania for more about SEPTA, Pennsylvania Railroad, Reading Company and the history behind these operations.
Reading Terminal clock on Market Street, Philadelphia. Exposed with a Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens.
On Wednesday January 2, 2013, I revisited Philadelphia’s old Reading Terminal with my brother Sean and Michael Scherer. It was still a functioning passenger terminal when I first visited this iconic railroad facility in the late 1970s with my family. In 2007, I covered its history in my book Railroads of Pennsylvania.Here’s an excerpt of my text:
In the 1890s, Philadelphia & Reading invested its anthracite wealth in construction of one of Pennsylvania’s most ornately decorated company headquarters and passenger terminals. Facing Philadelphia’s Market Street, one of downtown’s main thoroughfares, Reading Terminal represented an ostentatious display of success, but one that now has benefited citizens and visitors to Philadelphia for more than a century.Like many large railway terminals of its time, Reading Terminal followed the architectural pattern established in Britain, perfected at London’s St. Pancras station. This pattern features two distinct structures for the head house and train shed. The Reading station architect, F. H. Kimball, designed the head house to rise nine stories above the street and its façade is made of pink and white granite, decorated with terra cotta trimmings. Behind the head house is the functional part of the station, an enormous balloon-style train shed—the last surviving North American example—designed and built by Philadelphia’s Wilson Brothers. The terminal closed as a result of consolidation of Philadelphia’s suburban services on November 6, 1984. Its modern underground replacement—SEPTA’s Market East Station—is nearby.
Philadelphia & Reading’s crown jewel was its immense, opulent railroad terminal and office building on Market Street in Philadelphia. Its corporate imperialism was spelled out in an Italian Renaissance revival style, with this corner office specially designed for the president of the company. Exposed with a Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens.Reading Terminal Market’s logo reflects that of the old Reading Company— like many coal hauling railroads symbolically used the diamond (inferring black diamonds). Exposed with a Lumix LX3.This large mural inside Reading Terminal conveys a sense of what the shed was like in the late 1930s. Exposed with a Lumix LX3.It has been nearly three decades since the last train departed the shed at Reading Terminal. Today the classic balloon shed covers part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Lumix LX3 photo.
Designed by Philadelphia’s Wilson Brothers and built by Charles McCall, Reading Terminal’s vast balloon shed is the last surviving example of its type in the United States.
Canon 7D with 28-135mm AF lens set at 135mm; ISO 200 f6.3 1/640 second. Image was adjusted slightly in Photoshop to increase saturation.
For several years I’ve been eyeing the view from Laurel Hill Cemetery as a place to make a railway photograph of the former Reading Company bridges over the Schuylkill. I was intrigued by combination elevation and the complexity of the scene. My brother Sean and I scoped this out last winter, but the light was dull and trees blocked the angle I wanted for a southward train. Recently the view was improved as a result of extensive tree removal around the river-side of the cemetery. Yesterday, Sean, Mike Scherer and I investigated photographic views from Laurel Hill. Our timing was right; I made this image of CSX’s symbol freight Q439 rolling across the bridge at 2:22 pm. I’m pleased with this effort, since catching a train here has been a challenge and the angle is a new one for me, yet I see room for improvement. Finding a train here an hour or two earlier in the day might offer better light on the side of the locomotives, while a slightly longer lens would tighten my composition.
Yesterday evening (January 1, 2013), on the way back from Philadelphia’s parade, I made this lone image of SEPTA’s Broad Street Subway at the Ellsworth-Federal station.
On the way back from Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade I made this lone image of SEPTA’s Broad Street Subway at the Ellsworth-Federal station. Lumix LX-3 at ISO 80 f3.2 1/13th second hand-held (with camera resting against post to minimize movement); camera set in ‘A’ (aperture priority mode) at + 1/3 (to compensate for the dark ceiling with bright lights, a situation that tends to result in underexposure).
Harcourt Street looking north on a rainy March 1998 evening; Nikon F3T with 50mm Nikkor Lens, Fujichrome 64T slide film. Exposed manually with aid of a Sekonic Studio Deluxe hand-held light meter. This image appears on pages 184-185 of my book Dublin, published by Compendium in 2008.
There are very few places where I my memory predates the railway. However, Dublin‘s LUAStram system (opened in 2004) offers one example. I made my first photos of Harcourt Street in March 1998. It was a rainy evening, and I was experimenting with some tungsten balanced Fujichrome to enhance the blue twilight glow.
On November 3, 2010, a LUAS Green Line Tram bound for St. Stephens Green navigates Dublin’s Harcourt Street. Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens set at 130mm, ISO 1250 1/40th sec f5.7.
Moving a dozen years forward, on November 3, 2010 I was interested in replicating the effect of my earlier efforts (without any attempt at precisely recreating the scene; my 1998 photo was made from the south-end of the street looking north, while the 2010 image was from the north-end, looking south). The image of the tram was made with my Canon 7D with the 28-135mm lens. Here, the tungsten color balance was accomplished in-camera using the ‘light bulb’ white balance setting. (See: Steam at Dusk, December 15, 2012) . This image was made during the final glow of daylight, and rather than neutralize the bluish light by using the auto white balance setting, I opted to enhance the effect while offering adequate compensation for the warm-balance street lamps. I was particularly drawn to reflections in the street and the repeating window frame patterns in the Georgian buildings above the tram. The pedestrian silhouettes seem apropos for the time of year; here past meets present.
Anticipating change is key to documenting the railroad. In nearly three decades of photography along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line, I’ve tuned my images to clues of this route’s past. While the PRR vanished into Penn Central in 1968, key PRR infrastructure has allowed necessary visual cues that retain elements of the old railroad. Among these are PRR’s iconic Position Light style signals that date to the steam era, and have survive the decades of change. However, a wise photographer will have noted that this style of signal hardware is out of favor. While Norfolk Southern has been gradually replacing its PRR era signals with color lights, I’ve learned that a recent NS application with the Federal Railroad Administration includes elimination of most remaining wayside signals from its former PRR Main Line between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.
The morning of July 1, 2010, was clear and bright. I set up on the outside of a curve near Lilly, Pennsylvania, to get a good view of the automatic (intermediate) signals at 254.7. Here NS maintains three main tracks with the center track signaled in both directions. This arrangement stems from a Conrail-era modification in the 1980s, when it converted the line from PRR’s directional four-track system (the two south tracks were for eastward trains and two north tracks reserved for westward trains). In this view of NS freight 12G, I used a 100-400mm Canon zoom with my Canon 7D mounted on a Bogen tripod. The lens is set at 285mm; image exposed at ISO200 f/9.0 1/250th second (camera RAW adjusted in Photoshop). By using a long focal length aimed directly at the signals I’ve maximized the effect of the position light arrangement.Norfolk Southern 12G is crawling upgrade, which gives ample time to expose many images. This one offers a more dramatic angle on the leading General Electric DASH9-40CW while keeping the signals in view. I’ve adjusted the 100-400m lens to 180mm, and closed the aperture slightly to f/10.0. (Camera Jpg, unmodified).
The writing is on the wall for these signals. Among those to go are favorites on the ‘west slope’ (between Gallitzin and Johnstown, Pennsylvania). I worked this area intensively in summer 2010, making an effort to capture trains passing former PRR Position Lights. Be forewarned: the signals that protected trains hauled by PRR’s magnificent K4s and M1b steam locomotives and have survived these long decades will soon pass from the scene.
In this June 30, 2010, view. I’m looking downgrade (west) from the ‘Railfan’s Overlook’ at Cassandra, Pennsylvania. I’ve set the 100-400mm at its maximum focal length to capture a set of light helpers drifting west toward the signal bridge near Portage. In the distance an eastward train is climbing. While the signals are incidental, they offer a touch of PRR heritage. A wink of sun improves the composition. The exposure was at ISO200 f/5.6 1/500th second with Canon 7D.
I researched the development of PRR’s Position Light signals for my book Railroad Signaling. Here’s an excerpt:
PRR’s first position lights were installed in 1915 along the Main Line between Overbrook and Paoli, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with its new 11,000-olt AC overhead electrification. Early position light signals featured large background shields to protect the view from effects of harsh backlighting. Aspects mimicked those of upper quadrant semaphores by using rows of four lamps. After a few years of service these position lights were deemed successful. However, before PRR adopted the signal for widespread application, the form of the position light signal head was refined: Each head used rows of three lights oriented around a common center lamp with the outer lamps forming a circle. Lamps were mounted on bars with a circular background panel affixed over the lamps and shades to prevent backlighting. Traditionally this panel was made of Armco iron, measuring 4 feet 4 inches in diameter, with 7-3/4 inch holes punched in it for the lamps. Each single head can display several basic aspects: ‘clear’, represented by three vertical lights; ‘approach’ by diagonal lights at a 45 degree angle running from the 1:30 clock position to the 7:30 clock position; ‘restricting’ by diagonal lights at a 45 degree angle running from the 10:30 clock position to the 4:30 clock position; and ‘stop’ (or ‘stop’ and proceed) by three lights running horizontally. An individual signal head is only provided with lamps for the aspects it is expected to display and unnecessary holes are covered over. The lower of two heads, tended to use a slightly different shape for the shield panel. By using two heads, a great variety of speed signal aspects mimicking those of two and three head semaphores are possible. Slow speed aspects are provided by dwarf position signals that use a slightly different light pattern.
On June 30, 2010, an NS SD40E helper set (rebuilt from SD50s) drifts down at Summerhill, Pennsylvania. These signals are easily accessible from the village. By design, position light signals are meant to be viewed head on, which makes it difficult to capture their aspects in photographs in bright daylight. Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens set a 70mm, ISO200 f/5.0 1/800.
Valley Railroad 3025 at Essex, Connecticut on December 15, 2012. Tracking the Light now posts new material every morning!
Last night (December 15, 2012) I made this atmospheric image of Valley Railroad 3025 at Essex, Connecticut before it departed with one of the railroad’s popular North Pole Express excursions. I felt that evening twilight and the crescent moon added a timeless quality to the scene. The locomotive is a 1989-product of China’s Tangshan Locomotive Works and was cosmetically modified to resemble a New Haven Railroad J-1 class Mikado. I worked with my Canon 7D fitted with a 28-135mm lens ( at 38mm) on a Gitzo tripod; camera set at ISO 200 with an exposure of 0.8 seconds at f5.6. To enhance the hue of the sky and balance the headlight, I set the camera’s white balance to tungsten (indicated by a light bulb in the WB menu). I chose the exposure manually and deliberately silhouetted the locomotive boiler while retaining subtle detail in the moon and number board. This image is present full frame, although it might be later tidied up with some selective cropping—photographer’s prerogative.
Yesterday (Wednesday Dec 12, 2012) I made productive use of winter light while photographing between Ayer, Fitchburg and Gardner, Massachusetts. Where many of my images focused on the railroad, delineating it from its surroundings, on reviewing my work, this scene at Gardner caught my eye. Here, almost lost in a modern setting, is the hood of a GP40-2L with only ‘Rail System’ helping to identify this transportation hardware in virtual visual geometric patchwork quilt. Is this how most of the world perceives railways? I wonder.
Canon 7D with f2.8 200mm lens; ISO 400, f6.3 at 1/1000 second.
New England Central SD40-2 722 pauses on the former Central Vermont Railway bridge over the Millers River at Millers Falls, Massachusetts on December 9, 2012. Canon 7D 28-135mm lens at 135mm, ISO 200, f5.6 1/400th second.
This morning (December 9, 2012), New England Central 603 worked north from Palmer, Massachusetts to the Pan Am Railways interchange at Millers Falls. To pick up and drop cars, the train worked a north-facing switch that required it to pull out onto the high bridge over the Millers River. The span is classic; a pin-connected Pratt deck truss built in 1905 by the American Bridge Company of New York. The contrast of New England Central’s former Union Pacific SD40-2 on the 107 year old truss looks more like a model railroad diorama than a scene typical of modern American freight railroading. Here the soft early-afternoon sun accentuates the diesel’s details, while offering a stark view of the bridge structure against the backdrop of late-autumn trees. In the summer fully foliated trees tend to minimize the impact of the bridge’s cross members.
I’m mindful of pending change. New England Central is a Rail America railroad, and if the Surface Transportation Board approves Genesee & Wyoming’s bid to acquire Rail America, New England Central’s operations and locomotive colors may soon be different. The implications for photography are impossible to gauge, but the wise photographer will capture the scene as it is today and make the most of every opportunity, for each may be the last.
Every so often trains converge and pause, presenting opportunities to make interesting and dramatic images. Such was the case yesterday, December 5, 2012, at the junction known as ‘the Willows’ east of Ayer, Massachusetts (where the former Boston & Maine Fitchburg Mainline meets the B&M Stony Brook line). Where the Fitchburgh continues toward Boston, and now used by MBTA commuter trains, the Stony Brook serves as part of Pan Am Railway’s primary freight route. A pair of freights had come west over the Stony Brook and were waiting to continue over the Fitchburg line to Ayer, (where they would diverge and head southward on the former Boston & Maine line to Worcester).
Overcast conditions combined with the bright headlight and ditch lights on CSX 8747 made for a challenging set of circumstances. Canon 7D fitted with 28-135mm zoom set at 135mm, ISO 400 f5.6 1/500 second.
On the left is Pan Am Railways’ POSE (Portland, Maine to Selkirk) with CSX (former Conrail) SD60M 8747 leading. (At Worcester this will become CSX Q427 for its journey over the former Boston & Albany toward CSX’s Selkirk Yard, see post Palmer, Massachusetts 11:01pm November 30, 2012). On the right is an empty coal train returning from the generating station at Bow, New Hampshire to the Providence & Worcester. This was led by a mix of P&W General Electric diesels, leading is former Santa Fe DASH8-40BW 582 in BNSF paint with P&W lettering. Both trains were waiting for an MBTA equipment move coming from Worcester (MBTA has been detouring equipment using the Worcester-Clinton-Ayer route as to bypass a damaged bridge on Boston’s Grand Junction Branch—which normally handles transfers between South-side and North-side operations.)
There’s nothing like a bit of sun to brighten your day. By changing my angle to the locomotives I minimized the objectionable effect of headlight flare. Canon 7D and 28-135mm zoom set at 122mm, ISO 200 f8 1/500 second.
My friend Rich Reed and I arrived at the Willows to catch the unusual MBTA move with the hope of also seeing the pair of freights. This easily accessibly junction is split by a public grade crossing. When we found the two freights side by side this became the main photographic event. The day offered a changeable mix of sun and clouds and so my initial exposures were made under overcast conditions. Complicating my exposures were headlights and ditch lights on CSX 8747 which when photographed straight-on flared and proved too bright relative to the rest of the scene. To compensate I waited for the sun to come out (thanks sun!) and then made a few views off axis to minimize the effect of the ditch lights while taking advantage of the better quality of light. While this solved the difficulty of the flared lights, it wasn’t as dramatic as the head-on view and didn’t show the freight cars, just the locomotives.
Moving back from the trains and using a longer lens increased the drama offered by a pair of freights ‘coming at you’. However, the sun had going in again, and the result amplified the effect of the light flare. Canon 7D fitted with 200mm lens, ISO 400 at f5.0 1/500 second.
Switching from a 28-135mm zoom to a 200mm fixed lens proved part of the solution by offering a more dramatic angle, but ,if anything, this exacerbated the difficulty of the engine lights. The longer lens forced me to move back from the locomotives in order to fill the frame. I made some test pictures, and analyzed them on-site while I waited for a moment when clouds partially diffused the sun. This allowed for bright light on the front of the locomotives, not only increasing the drama, but it offered the necessary compromise condition to better cope with locomotive lights (making them less objectionable). Another trick, I adjusted the white-balance in-camera for a slightly warmed tone (by setting the WB to ‘overcast’—pictured with a puffy cloud). After about 10 minutes, I could hear the MBTA special approaching from the West and shifted the focus of my photography. Soon after this passed, the coal train received a signal to proceed westward, and the whole scene changed.
With this view, the sun is slightly softened by light cloud, yet bright enough to help balance for the lights. The lighting is rich and warm, while the angle is dramatic. On both trains, the angle reveals freight cars behind the locomotives which tells part of the story; these are freight trains and not just modern locomotives posed side by side. Canon 7D with 200mm lens, ISO 400 at f6.3 1/1000 second.I always check focus by enlarging a selected portion of the image. This detail of the P&W GE displays a high degree of sharpness. I’ve cropped a portion of the Camera RAW file in Photoshop for display here.
New England Central’s former Central Vermont line at Stafford Spring, Connecticut at 10:35 am December 3, 2012. Exposed with Lumix LX3.
As I write this I’m eagerly anticipating arrival of an Author’s Copy of my latest book: North American Locomotives published by Voyageur Press.
This morning, while I was polishing off some text and captions for another future Voyageur Press project, tentatively entitled Railroad Family Trees, I thought I heard familiar thunder in the valley.
What’s that? I turned down the volume of Led Zeppelin’s Going to California to listen outside. It was the unmistakable sound of turbocharged 645 diesels at work. I opened the window and turned off the music (sorry Jimmy). Clear blue sky, and a New England Central train was into the grade on State Line Hill — roaring slowly southward.
Over the last couple of weeks, I’d been eyeing some of New England Central’s recent acquisitions: rebuilt GM six-motors wearing Union Pacific’s Armor Yellow. Of special interest to me are those that feature old SD45 bodies and thus characterized by angled radiator intakes (factory built SD45s were powered with 20-cylinder 645-E3 diesels, but during remanufacturing these machines were modified and received a variation of the smaller 16-645-E3). While I’d made static photos of these locomotives in the yard, I’d been waiting for an opportunity to catch one on the road in nice light.
Opening email I hastily attached the remaining documents for my editor, pressed ‘send,’ then grabbed my cameras, scanner and notebook (a real paper one) and made for the car. Soon, I was in downtown Stafford Springs, Connecticut, and after about 10 minutes I heard the southward freight whistling for nearby crossings. As the train crawled into view my intuition proved correct: New England Central 2674 was leading on train 603. (I’d probably known this sooner if I’d been listening to my scanner instead of Zeppelin).
New England Central 603 approaches downtown Stafford Springs on December 3, 2012. Exposed with Canon 7D fitted with 28-135mm lens.
On December 3, 2012, New England Central 603 passes Stafford Springs, Connecticut with 23 cars in tow. Lumix LX3 photo.
In Stafford Springs a succession of grade crossings combined with a sharp curve limits speed to 10 mph; and today’s train was taking it handily, giving me ample opportunity to exercise my Lumix LX3 and Canon 7D (didn’t bother with film today). As it crawled through town I opted for pursuit, and continued to the Route 32 overpass on the Stafford-Ellington town line, where I made another set of images.
New England Central 603 rolls south of Stafford on the former Central Vermont Railway. This view was made from Route 32 which runs loosely parallel to the railroad between Palmer and New London. Canon 7D photo.
Later in the afternoon, errands brought me north toward Palmer, Massachusetts, and so I spent the remainder of daylight photographing a variety classic General Motors Electro Motive Division diesels at work. CSX’s local B740 was working the former Boston & Albany yard in Palmer, while Mass-Central’s daily freight arrived on the Ware River Branch with its rare NW5 trailing. This 1947-built antique is among the most unusual locomotives operating in New England today. Later, a New England Central local came on duty using one of its few remaining GP38s to work Palmer. All in all, a day filled with classic GM diesels, and not a modern safety-cab to be seen! (Although GE Genesis units worked Amtrak’s Vermonter.)
Three class GP40-2s work CSX local B740 at Palmer, Massachusetts on December 3, 2012. Lumix LX3 photo.
Typically CSX local B740 requires a pair of GP40-2s, but today (December 3, 2012) it had three. It is seen working the old Boston & Albany yard in Palmer, Massachusetts. Canon 7D photo.Mass-Central’s Ware River line freight arrives at Palmer about 2:45 pm on Monday December 3, 2012 with locomotives 960 and 2100. Canon 7D photo.Mass-Central’s Electro-Motive model NW5 number 2100 is a rare treat. Lumix LX3 photo.Mass Central’s freight and CSX local B740 are both within Palmer yard limits. Soon, Amtrak’s daily Vermonter will be due. Palmer was a busy place on the afternoon of December 3, 2012. Canon 7D photo.At the end of the day, New England Central 3550 works a local freight at Palmer. I made this pan-shot with my Canon 7D set at 1/30th of second at f5.0. This image was made in the evening twilight, and required modest post-processing adjustment using photoshop to improve contrast and color balance. The secret of a good pan is to use a slow shutter speed and keep panning with the front of the locomotive. Another trick; turn off the camera’s image stabilizer because it tends to interfere with the panning action.
It’s late, it’s dark, and it’s bitterly cold (ok, it’s been colder). I’m tired and I’m in Palmer where I’ve made countless thousands of images. I left my tripod at home. However, I’ve been eying the odd wintry textured sky, and then the CSX home signal at CP83 clears to a high green. There’s a train coming west, and it’s not too far away. As always, I’ve got my Lumix LX-3. I dither for a couple of minutes. No, I should make a photo. I’m here, there’s no good excuse not to. So, I walk to the South Main Street overpass. This was rebuilt in the 1990s in a manner ill suited to photography. A high concrete parapet combined with a chain link fence blocks most places I’ve like to work from. Yet, the fence proves my salvation. (I’ve done this before, now what did I do?)
CSX Q427 rolls through Palmer, Massachusetts, at 11:01 pm on November 30, 2012. Notice the photographer’s shadow superimposed on the blur of the train (lower center). Single exposure with Panasonic Lumix LX-3 (equipped with Leitz Vario-Summicron lens) zoom set to 5.1mm, ISO 200, exposed in ‘A’-mode with +2/3 over-ride, f2.2 at 7 seconds. Entirely exposed with existing light; no flash.
I wedge the Lumix into the chain-links, using the fence to hold my camera. I set the exposure using Aperture Priority (A on the dial), and as explained previously (see: Installment 4: Lumix LX-3—part 2: Existing Light Digital Night Shots) I use the toggle switch to manually override the exposure, setting it to +2/3. This will compensate for the evening’s relative darkness and lighten up the gloomy sky.
I hear the westward train approaching. It’s about a mile away rolling under the Tennyville Bridge (Route 32). Looking west, I make a test exposure at about 7 seconds, but manage to jiggle the fence in the process. My exposure is spot-on but the is photo softened by blur—no good. I try again, but this time the auto-focus can’t find a focus point and the picture is worse.
Now the lights of the train are illuminating the signals. I’d better get it right this time. I make two more exposures. While the first is too dark, the second is spot-on. In this one, CSX’s Q427 (a manifest freight that originates on Pan Am Railways and is destined for CSX’s Selkirk, New York yards) is racing toward the signal. I’ve got it. It works. Yea! Success. I can go back to my car and thaw out, and never mind CSX’s westward Q119 following two blocks behind.
Mass Central 960 near Forest Lake, Massachusetts at 8:35 am on November 19, 2012. Exposed with Canon 7D, 28-135mm lens at 44mm, ISO 200 f7.1 at 1/500th second. Post-processing: minor contrast and saturation adjustments in Photoshop.
Between November 2008 and March 2009, I researched and wrote an article on Mass-Central for TRAINS Magazine that appeared in the March 2010 issue. I continue to photograph this short line which serves 25 miles of the former Boston & Albany Ware River Branch between Palmer and South Barre, Massachusetts. While on some days, I’ll make a project of working the branch, making photos from a variety of angles, and staying with the train for the whole day. This morning, after finishing non-photographic business in Palmer, I opted to catch the morning freight on its way northward on the branch. Today, I was only interested in catching it near Forest Lake, where the line crosses a short fill. During the summer this tends to get too brushed in for a satisfactory image, but after the foliage has gone, the location opens up. The difficulty this time of year is working around harsh shadows. I exposed this image at 8:35 this morning using my Canon 7D fitted with 28-135mm zoom. Initially I was tempted to make a tighter image, focusing more on the locomotive, but in the end I settled for a wider view that takes in more of the setting. Had Mass-Central been using its rare EMD NW5 number 2100, I’d probably stayed with a tight view. Reviewing my images, I decided the contrast was too much, and the light on the engine resulted in slight over exposure. As a result, I made a nominal adjustment to exposure curve using Photoshop, while boosting the saturation slightly to give the water and sky a bit more snap. These subtle changes required just a few minutes to implement. Other than that, the image is presented here un-cropped and more or less as I exposed it. Since Mass-Central departs Palmer northbound most weekday mornings between about 7 and 8:30 am, I’ll probably make another attempt at this location before the leaves return. The remarkable thing about digital photography is that as I write and post this, the train is still out on its run.
Mass-Central tracks at Thorndike, Massachusetts at 8:16 am on November 19, 2012. Mass-Central’s former Boston & Albany branch makes a near horseshoe through the village of Thorndike, just a few miles north of its interchange with CSX and New England Central at Palmer.
Railway Preservation Society Ireland with 461crosses the Curragh, County Kildare 6 November 2012. Exposed with a Lumix LX3; ISO 80 f3.5 1/640 second in ‘A’ (aperture priority) mode.
Low sun, frosty damp weather combined with constantly changing conditions make for a challenging but potentially rewarding setting for railway photographs. Add in a classic steam locomotive and you have all the potential for stunning dramatic images. That was my experience on Irish Rail yesterday (Tuesday 6 November) . I’ve already posted a few images from Monday and Tuesday (5-6 November, see: Gallery Post 5 and Gallery Post 6), I’ve now had time to plow through many of the digital images I exposed yesterday. As previously mentioned, in addition to digital images made with my Lumix LX3 and Canon 7D, I also exposed some Fuji Provia 100F. Deciding to use film or digital is a spot decision; while I use past experience with these materials to gauge when film or digital may be best, when the action is under way, I’m often juggling cameras and exposing as quickly as I can. When working with steam locomotives, wafts of steam and smoke and changing light mean that each moment can product dramatic changes in composition. Not only is the exposure impossible to predict, but the whole scene can change quickly and fantastically. Reaction time is crucial.
Boiler pressure on 461 is set at 160 lbs psi; safety valves lift at Portlaoise as the locomotive is being serviced in preparation for its return trip to Dublin. Initial reports indicate the locomotive enjoyed a very successful trial. Exposed with a Canon 7D; ISO 400, f8.0 at 1/1000 sec with 200mm f2.8 lens hand-held.Irish Rail Rotem-built 22000-series Intercity Rail Car (ICR) makes a station stop at Portlaoise on 6 November 2012. RPSI 461 waits for a signal on the down road to complete running around its train. Exposed with a Canon 7D ISO 400, 200mm lens.
Railway Preservation Society Ireland’s locomotive 461 and Irish Rail’s IWT intermodal liners were my primary subjects, but I focused on all elements of the railway, photographing the regularly scheduled trains, stations, and infrastructure, as well as what ever else caught my eye.
Irish Rail locomotive driver Ken Fox. Exposed with Lumix LX3.
On the afternoon of 6 November, Irish Rail class 201 (General Motors diesel built in London, Ontario) running light meets an Intercity Rail Car working uproad at milepost 40 east of Portarlington . RPSI 461 was just a few minutes behind the scheduled train on the up main—minutes that dragged like hours as the sun wafted in and out of clouds. Exposed with a Canon 7D with 200mm f2.8 lens.
Low sun backlights 461 and Cravens carriages working uproad near milepost 40 east of Portarlington. Dramatic light accentuates railway action. This was one of more than a half dozen exposures made in sequence with a Canon 7D with 200 mm lens.
Steam and smoke at milepost 40; RPSI 461 works toward Dublin on 6 November 2012. Exposed with a Canon 7D and 200 mm lens.
Irish Rail’s Portlaoise Station (formerly Great Southern & Western Railway’s Maryborough Station) catches the light on 6 November 2012). Exposed with Lumix LX3 at ISO 80 f4.0 1/500 second.
Locomotive 461 crosses the fill near Cherryville Junction county Kildare on its way to Portlaoise from Inchicore on 6 November 2012. Exposed with a Canon 7D with 28-135mm lens.The Railway Preservation Society Ireland trial train has taken the loop at Sallins as the 1100 Dublin-Cork passenger train (led by a 201 class General Motors diesel) overtakes it on 6 November 2012. Exposed with Canon 7D and 200mm lens.RPSI 461 passes the station on Portlaoise on its run down from Dublin, 6 November 2012. Exposed with Canon 7D fitted with 28-135mm lens.
These are just a sampling of my results. I’ll be very curious to see my slides, but it will be weeks before these are processed.
Brian Solomon will be giving an illustrated talk titled “Ireland from an American Perspective 1998-2003” at the Irish Railway Record Society’s Heuston Station premises in Dublin at 7:30pm on Thursday November 8, 2012. Admission free.
Today, Tuesday 6 November 2012, was another day of main-line trials with Railway Preservation Society Ireland locomotive 461; the locomotive departed from Inchicore and made its run to Portlaoise and return under mixed skies. Hugh Dempsey & I made a very productive day out catching the locomotive, IWT Liner and other trains at various locations. My Canon 7D was very active; its card is nearly full! Made use of the Lumix LX3, and exposed more than a roll of Provia 100F with the EOS-3. (What? Only one roll?! Yes yes, I know, but the digital cameras filled it where the film camera left off, or vice versa.) Here is just one of many photos from today’s very productive outing.
Sun and clouds; RPSI 461 works west toward Cherryville Junction, County Kildare on Irish Rail’s Dublin-Cork mainline on 6 November 2012. Made with a Canon 7D fitted with a 28-135mm lens. Photo by Brian Solomon
Brian Solomon will be giving an illustrated talk titled “Ireland from an American Perspective 1998-2003” at the Irish Railway Record Society’s Heuston Station premises in Dublin at 7:30pm on Thursday November 8, 2012. Admission free.
The morning of 5 November 2012 finds Railway Preservation Society Ireland’s former Dublin & South Eastern 2-6-0 461 approaching Stacumny Bridge (east of Hazel Hatch station) on Irish Rail’s quad-track mainline west of Dublin. Photo by Brian Solomon
This morning (Monday 5 November 2012) was unusually colourful for Irish Rail; on a railway primarily populated by Rotem-built 22000-series Intercity City Railcars and Class 201 (General Motors model JT42HCW) diesels with Mark IV trains, the course of just a few minutes saw passage of Railway Preservation Society Ireland’s historic 2-6-0 461 (on trial from Inchicore) followed by the weekday IWT intermodal liner (Dublin North Wall to Ballina, County Mayo) led by class 071 number 083 (General Motors model JT22CW). While it was a mostly sunny, a thin band of cloud managed to dull the light for 461, but bright sun prevailed for the liner. Stacumny is just a short jaunt for me (thanks to a lift from a friend). By noon I was home in Dublin, where I spent the afternoon processing B&W film. By constrast this morning’s efforts were made with my Canon 7D with 200mm lens. I also exposed some Provia 100F, but that will be in the camera for a while yet.
Just a few minutes behind the steam locomotive was Irish Rail’s weekday IWT Liner led by 071 class diesel-electric number 083. Photo by Brian Solomon
Brian Solomon will be giving an illustrated talk titled: “Ireland from an American Perspective 1998-2003” at the Irish Railway Record Society’s Heuston Station premises in Dublin at 7:30pm on Thursday November 8, 2012. Admission free.
Wearing a freshly applied advertising livery, LUAS tram 5008 works southward on Harcourt Street in Dublin on November 2, 2012. Photo by Brian Solomon
On the afternoon of Friday, 2 November 2012, I was only my way up to John Gunn’s Camera on Wexford Street in Dublin to buy a few rolls of film. (Yes, I still do that sort of thing). Gazing down Cuffe Street toward St Stephen’s Green, I noted a Green Line LUAS tram in a new advertising livery heading to its terminus. While most of Dublin’s Alstom-built Citadis tram fleet are painted in a metallic lavender with yellow safety stripe, from time to time LUAS dresses a tram or two in a full wrap advertising. In recent months, an attractive blue tram has been frequenting the Red Line route advertising a television service. Friday’s sighting caught my attention, since it’s the first time I noted this new livery. Sometimes these advertising trams can be very short lived, and I like to catch them on camera when I can. Although I was a bit tight on time, I diverted via Harcourt Street, where the Green Line passes nicely restored Georgian terrace houses. Normally a tram will turn around in about 5-10 ten minutes from St. Stephen’s Green, so I knew I wouldn’t have long to wait.
Unfortunately, during my short wait, the wind kicked up, the sky darkened, and a deluge ensued; in other words it was a typical Dublin afternoon. I held my ground, despite the difficult weather, which not only dampened my day, but knocked my exposure down about 8 stops. As always, I carried my Lumix LX3 digital camera (see: Installment 3: Lumix LX-3—part 1 An Everywhere Camera). While normally I use its lowest ISO setting of 80, the gloom didn’t permit this, and I bumped up sensitivity to ISO 200. Within a few minutes the tram was whirring down Harcourt Street allowing me to expose a sequence of images. My favorite is this pan view made at f2.8 at about 1/60 of second. Since lighting conditions were rapidly changing, I used the camera’s built in ‘A’ (Aperture priority) setting, which allowed me to set the low f-stop. By panning the tram, I kept it relative sharp while putting the Georgian houses and street into a sea of blur. If time allows, I’ll try to catch LUAS 5008 again on a brighter day.
Reminder: Brian Solomon will be giving an illustrated talk titled Ireland from an American Perspective 1998-2003 at the Irish Railway Record Society’s Heuston Station premises in Dublin at 7:30pm on Thursday November 8, 2012. Admission free.
(text originally reproduced in Irish Railway Record Society Journal no. 177, February 2012)
Photography is an art, not a science; yet it relies technology and it is necessary to master that technology to consistently produce successful images. Railway photography requires the photographer to make a variety of small decisions at precisely the right moment. Rapid movement combined with the operational uncertainties inherent to railway operations makes railway photography challenging and there is no proven sure-fire method of ensuring perfect railway photographs. There isn’t a single defined set of skills required to make pictures, furthermore efforts to impose absolute photo formulas have typically resulted in stale image making. By contrast there are diverse and myriad approaches toward photography each unique to the individual photographer, and it is this endless variety in approach to the subject that has kept the medium fresh and exciting. Many photo opportunities have been missed or ruined, or simply fall short because of the photographer’s momentary inattention or minor technical error. This is not limited to the novice or occasional photographer, as even the most experienced practitioners make mistakes. While formulas lead to dull repetitive images, here’s some simple philosophy and habits that may help you improve your odds at making successful railway action photos:
1) Always carry a camera: If you don’t have one, you can’t make a photograph.
2) Insure that your camera is ready: if it uses a battery, check to see that it’s fresh; if using a film camera, insure it’s loaded; if using a digital camera, insure the recording card is installed and working properly; double check to see that sufficient exposures remain on the film/card to make all the photos you have planned. If you reach the end of roll or fill your card unexpectedly, you’ll miss the critical image.
3) Always carry an extra battery and at least one spare roll of film/recording card.
4) If your camera has a light meter, check to see that it works; if using an automatic or program mode, be sure that these are set as you intended.
5) When using auto-focus, insure it is switched ‘on’; if you focus manually, check (and double check) your focus point.
6) Don’t fight with your equipment! Select a camera that you feel comfortable using. If you aren’t happy with your camera or it routinely malfunctions, replace it post haste.
7) Many fully automatic cameras are designed for making snapshots of children’s birthday parties and scenic vistas, so by design may greatly limit your ability to make successful railway action photos. Especially troublesome are automatic cameras that impose an unwanted shutter delay. Although these are prolific, the only advantages to them are high availability and low cost.
8) Use a camera that allows you to control the shutter speed. While working a camera manually grants the greatest operator flexibility it also requires a high-level of photographic skill and practice; using a camera in a ‘shutter priority mode’ is easier. Be sure to select a ‘fast’ shutter speed to better freeze the action and avoid motion blur. While the speed of the train, your relative angle to the train, and the focal length of the lens all affect the amount of blur, in most instances a shutter speed of 1/500th second is fast enough to stop the action. Any speed less than about 1/125th of a second is probably too slow for conventional railway action photography.
9) Think ahead and select your locations carefully: select an interesting backdrop or setting—is this a timeless scene or one about to change? Consider obstructions and if these may cast shadows; watch for objectionable wires, line-side rubbish, trees, and other items that may detract from your planned image. Pay close attention to lighting and watch the weather.
10) Study the details of railway operations so you may anticipate what and when trains will run and how they will perform. The more you know, the more likely you’ll anticipate a train’s performance and apply that information to your photography. Is the train on an upgrade or drifting? What is the track speed? Is the train approaching a junction, a station, or a speed restriction? Does it run regularly or is it a special move? Will it take the next passing siding or run through on the main line?
11) Arrive at your desired location well before the train is expected.
12) While waiting use your time wisely: make test photos to insure everything is working as intended. If using a digital camera carefully study test photos and check for: focus, exposure, overall composition, the locations of shadows or undesirable visual elements. If trains or equipment pass before the main attraction, always use these as practice for the main event. Some photographers might dismiss this action as ‘waste of time/film/pixels’, but not only will this exercise hone your skills, but in years to come you may find that the photo of the ordinary train dismissed on the day turns out to be more interesting than what you set out to capture!
13) Repeat number 12.
14) Be patient. If you leave before the train passes, your efforts will have been wasted.
15) Study and edit your results. While you should only display photographs that satisfy your expectations; it’s important to study failures and learn from your mistakes.
16) Share your work; idle photographs sitting on hard drives or stored in closets are wasted.
17) Have fun!
In August 2012, I made a few photos along the old Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line at Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Several weeks earlier, fellow photographer Pat Yough and I inspected this location and decided the open area on the outside of the curve was well suited for a westward train in the evening. Some photographers might have ignored the common SEPTA Silverliner IV multiple units, hundreds of which have worked Philadelphia suburban services for decades. Yet, this train provided me the opportunity to test exposure, composition, and focus, while keeping my photography skills sharp. For this image I used my Canon 7D with a 100mm f2 lens set in manual; ISO200, f5.6 1/1000. As always, I simultaneously exposed both a RAW and JPEG. Except for the scaling of the Jpeg (reduction of file size for internet display), I made no post-production adjustments to this image.
The main attraction for the curve at Berwyn was SEPTA’s AEM7 powered evening suburban trains. While these run every weekday, summer evenings are the best times to catch them in good light on the Main Line, as most sets only work one turn daily, and tend to lay idle during off peak. In the winter, they largely operate in darkness. Having refined my location based on passage of the earlier Silverliner IV, I was prepared for the arrival of the AEM7 and able to make a more pleasing image. High clouds slightly softened the sun so I adjusted my exposure accordingly; ISO200, f6.3 1/640.
Even after all my preparation, I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my results. I found the dumpster, fences and other clutter at the left distracting. You might say, ‘but this was part of the scene.’ True, but it doesn’t add anything to the image of the locomotive at work, and in this case I decided to crop the image square to eliminate distractions—photographer’s perogative. Ultimately, if time allows, I’ll return to Berwyn, and try the location again to make for a more dramatic image. I might go a little lower next time too, to allow for a better view of the wheels touching the rails.
On the morning of September 10, 2012, LUAS tram 4010 proceeding westward on Benburb Street toward Heuston Station in Dublin collided with a bin lorry (garbage truck) near the Croppies Park. This accident occurred on my virtual door step, so I reluctantly availed myself of the opportunity to make photos. I say reluctantly because I don’t relish railway accidents and I prefer to portray railways in a positive light. However, the proximity of the crash, and the fact I just completed my first LUAS video the previous day (September 9, 2012) encouraged me to make the ten minute walk to the crash site.
LUAS Crash on Benburb Street Dublin September 10 2012
When in Dublin, I routinely walk the route of the LUAS, and have passed this spot hundreds of times in the eight years since LUAS Red Line operations commenced. In fact, the Irish Railway Record Society Journal recently published a photo I made of LUAS at this location during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in May 2011.
I regularly ride the trams as well. Normally LUAS is a pleasant, safe, and convenient means to travel into Dublin, which is why I chose to feature LUAS in my video: A Tram Called LUAS. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn7HWp-KbAg&sns=em
These photos demonstrate the crash worthiness of the LUAS’ Citadis trams. Although the front was smashed, glass broken, and tram derailed, considering the impact, the vehicle survived in relatively good shape and appears to have protected people within as best as is possible in such circumstances.
LUAS Crash on Benburb Street Dublin September 10 2012
I made these images with my Lumix LX-3, the camera I carry everywhere just for these types of circumstances.
Irish Rail’s Sperry rail inspection train at Islandbridge Junction, Dublin August 30, 2012.
Camera: Canon 7D fitted with an EF 28-135mm zoom.
Every so often everything comes together nicely. Yesterday (August 29, 2012), I learned that Irish Rail would be running its Sperry inspection train up to Dublin for stabling at the sidings near Heuston Station. This suits me well, as I’m staying just a short walk from Islandbridge Junction, immediately west of Heuston. While I caught the train yesterday afternoon, the conditions were less than ideal, although typically Irish; it was heavily clouded and lashing rain. I racked up the ISO to 800 on my Canon 7D digital camera and popped off a few frames, which I was happy to get. In 14 years of photographing Irish railways it was the first time I caught the Sperry train on camera.
What’s a ‘Sperry train?’ In the early part of the 20th century, a hidden rail fracture caused a serious derailment on the Lehigh Valley Railroad in New York. This tragic incident inspired prolific inventor Elmer Sperry to devise a system of inspecting rails. This consisted of a magnetic induction profile. For many years self-propelled black and yellow ‘Sperry Cars’ have been seen making the rounds on American railways. In more recent years, Sperry Rail devised a testing system using ultrasonic equipment to reveal rail fractures. Today, Sperry provides rail-defect detection services in many countries. On today’s train, Sperry’s detection equipment is in the yellow container riding on a flat wagon immediately behind the locomotive. The yellow tank wagons are to assist with braking.
A perfect sunny day greeted me this morning. I’d heard the train was due to depart the old Guinness sidings at Heuston about 9 am, so I was in place at that time. For this exercise I used my Canon 7D fitted with a EF 28-135mm lens. This arrangement gives me great flexibility, produces high quality images, and allows me to post images very quickly after exposing them. Another benefit is the digital medium allows me to make test frames that I can analyze on site to check for proper exposure, adequate focus, as well as framing and etc. For this image, the famed Wellington Testimonial (located at the east end of Dublin’s Phoenix Park) is featured. I’ve made many photos here before, but sometimes with film I’ve inadvertently cropped the top of monument while focusing on a moving train. I tried to avoid this mistake today, and with digital I could check right away, and not wait days or weeks to find out. With the camera set manually (in ‘M’ mode) I made several exposures bracketing my crop and exposure. This one was made at f6.3 1/500th of second at ISO 200; lens set to about 35mm. I made two files in camera; a large Jpg and a RAW. I made no adjustments to this image, other than scaling the large Jpg to 1024 pixels on the long side and adding my name and copyright information.
I feel I’ve had a productive morning so far! Later, I also caught one of Irish Rail’s IWT Liners, an intermodal container train that runs from Dublin Port to Ballina, County Mayo. Today, this was led by one of Irish Rail’s 201-class General Motors diesels wearing the Enterprise livery. While not unheard of, it is a good catch to see one these in freight service.
Irish Rail’s IWT Liner passing Islandbridge Junction, Dublin, photo by Brian Solomon
Technique: Use a tripod and select a slow ISO; then after making a test shot, adjust exposure to ‘overexpose’ by about one stop, while using the self timer to actuate the shutter to avoid camera shake.
On the left an ÖBB steel train led by Siemens Taurus electrics has paused at Schwarzach-St. Veit, Austria . This photo was exposed using a Panasonic Lumix LX-3; ISO 80, lens set at f2.2 with a timed exposure estimated at one second with the camera in ‘M’ (manual exposure) mode and fitted to a portable miniature Gitzo tripod.
As described in Installment 3, the Lumix LX-3 is a compact lightweight digital rangefinder camera that features excellent optics (Leica Vario-Summicron f2.0-2.8/5.1-12.8 [mm] ASPH) and the ability to set functions manually. I’ve found this is a great tool for making urban night photos, and I’ve developed a successful technique well-suited to nocturnal railway images. I made this image with my LX-3 on January 11, 2012, at Schwarzach-St. Veit, Austria, which features double-headed Siemens Taurus electrics on a steel train.
Schwarzach-St. Veit offers a well-lit moderate-size station near the junction of two routes, one of which is the OBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen/Austrian Federal Railways) main-line over the famous Tauern Pass through the Alps to Villach (with international connections beyond to Italy and Slovenia). Some Irish friends and I were on a week-long visit to Austria. On this evening, after dinner at a nearby hotel, we spent a little while at this station watching trains and making casual night photos. This OBB steel train had come in from the north and was awaiting a path over the Tauern, and so had paused for several minutes, which provided ample time to make some time-exposures (long exposures). Rather than go through all the effort to set up a large tripod, instead I opted for a relatively compact ‘pocket’ tripod with ball head (to adjust the angle of the camera), which I positioned on a snow bank piled at the center of the platform. Instead of using one of the LX-3’s many automatic modes, I opted to set ISO, shutter speed and aperture manually, which is easily accomplished using the ‘Q-menu’ toggle switch at the back of the camera to step through the appropriate selection menus. (Other cameras that have the ability to make manual settings will have similar means of making adjustments — consult your camera manual or guru for details.)
When making night photos, the tricky part is obtaining a satisfactory exposure while keeping stray light away from the lens. For night photography, ‘faster’ isn’t necessarily better and the first thing I did was select the slowest ISO. The slowest ISO results in less noise, offers better exposure latitude (range of exposure captured from the highlights to shadows), while offering a sharper and more saturated image. Through experience, I’ve found that the LX-3 produced its highest image quality at ISO 80, and above ISO 200 its images tend to toward the unacceptably noisy (‘grainy’ or pixilated to the eye). Since my subject is static and the camera was secured on a tripod, there’s little advantage in selecting a Higher (faster) ISO. Its true that higher ISO allows for faster shutter speeds, but in this case the difference of a stop or two would be effectively irrelevant; since the light was so low, my exposures would be relatively long anyway.
To calculate the appropriate exposure, I’ll make and analyze a test image. Here, my process may seem counterintuitive and it requires me to override the camera’s programming. In a nocturnal situation, where the sky is completely dark and there are a variety of hotspots caused by electric lamps (and in this case, acerbated by bright piles of snow), I’ve found that the LX-3’s automatic metering modes tend to seriously underexpose the image (in other words, it fails to allow sufficient light to reach the sensor). This is a result of the metering biased for daylight situations which has tendency weigh the effects of bright lamps too heavily and thus overly shorten the exposure time for a nocturnal setting. Strictly relying on either the camera meter or the basic automatic settings is an underexposed digital image. (Lumix offers some automated programmed settings to serve these situations, but I prefer to do this manually).
Another problem is the camera display image. In extreme circumstances, such as night photography, the jpeg displayed on the camera screen is a ineffective tool for correctly gauging exposure. Not only is this jpeg compressed and optimized for computer-screen viewing, but on-camera it is presented much lighter than the data in the actual file and so doesn’t provide an accurate assessment of the scene. So, what looks great on the back of the camera may in fact be way too dark in the file.
To overcome these difficulties, I make a test exposure with the camera, then carefully observe the histogram to make manual corrections that increase the exposure. In this nocturnal circumstance the majority of the histogram exposure graph may be too far to the left (indicating overall under exposure). Since I want to retain some highlight detail, I’ll make a second exposure, usually between ½ and a full stop over exposed (that is, I make the exposure lighter than that recommended by camera-meter, usually by increasing the amount of time the shutter is open, say from ¼ second to ½ second; or by using the exposure compensation feature, see below), and then gauge the histogram so that there’s a hint of highlight hitting the far right, but with the majority of the image-data filling the central portion of the graph (rather than too far to the left, as in the first exposure).
In a rushed situation, I might skip the test exposure and histogram analysis, and just increase the exposure by 2/3ds to a full stop. This can also be accomplished by simply adding in ‘+2/3’ or ‘1’ on the exposure compensation menu at the left-hand side of the screen (with the LX-3: using the ‘Q-menu’ toggle, go left until the ‘+/-’ is highlighted yellow on the screen, then with the same toggle, move up two clicks for ‘+2/3’, or three clicks for ‘+1’). Then you can use the camera in either aperture priority mode (‘A’ on the top dial) or shutter priority mode (‘S’ on the top dial). This is a great compromise, if you don’t feel confident reading the histogram. If possible, make several exposures, perhaps increasing them in 1/3 stop increments.
Examining the test exposures, I also watch carefully for flare caused by stray light hitting the front element of the lens. Flare greatly reduces shadow detail and may cause unpleasant or unnatural patterns in the image. While Hollywood productions in the 1970s ‘discovered’ the use of flare as a dramatic technique, and I occasionally use this myself for effect, generally speaking it is best avoided, especially in situations such as that at Schwarzach-St. Veit. If I cannot place the camera in a natural shadow (such as that presented by a mast, canopy, or other infrastructure), I’ll carefully shade the lens with my handheld notebook (or anything else that I have handy). It’s important to insure the notebook doesn’t crop the frame.
One last point, to avoid shaking the camera, I set the self timer for 2 seconds, and then gently stand back and remain still while the camera exposes the frame.
In this particular case I’d been making photos on the platform for about half and hour, and prior to the steel train’s arrival I’d already made a variety of images that helped establish my base exposure. The photo displayed here was exposed at ISO 80, at f2.2 for 1 second. I used the camera’s pattern metering to base the general exposure, then gave it an extra stop. (If I’d followed the camera meter recommendation, I’d have exposed the image for ½ second instead of a full second.)
On March 30, 2012, a northward CSX auto rack train passes beneath the Bear Mountain Bridge near Fort Montgomery, New York, on its way up the Hudson River. This afternoon image was exposed with my electronic Lumix LX-3. This is the in-camera jpeg, made with the ‘vivid’ color profile with the camera set in the ‘S’ (shutter priority) mode using pattern metering. It was exposed at 1/640 of a second at f 5.0.
Technique: Bring This Camera Everywhere!
I’m a big proponent of always carrying a camera. And as I’ve written elsewhere, ‘If you don’t have a camera, you can’t make a photo.’ As soon as you let this guideline slip, a unique visual opportunity will occur and you won’t be able to capture it. A caveat is: always carry a good camera (why lessen the magic of a unique event with a poor quality photo?). My father had given me an antique Leica IIIa for my tenth birthday and I carried it everywhere and made photos of everything. When I was in school I was ‘the kid with the camera.’ While many of those photos aren’t very good, the point is that I was always ready —constantly going through the motions of making photos taught me how to work under numerous lighting situations. I never relegated my photography to ‘perfect sunny days.’
Over the years my philosophy has resulted in towing around various and different amounts of equipment. Constantly carrying a film-based SLR with a full set of lenses really was pretty awkward, not to mention the big bag of film! It’s one thing to have a camera, it’s another to try to anticipate every possible situation all the time. Beginning in 2001, my ‘everywhere camera’ was a Contax G2 range finder, which had its benefits, but was comparatively heavy, and while it came with interchangeable lenses, these tended to fill my pockets.
In summer of 2009, my digital guru Eric Rosenthal lent me a Panasonic DMC LX-3; I was immediately convinced of its merits and bought one. Since then I’ve made great use of it, and I feel it is as near as perfect an ‘everywhere camera’ as I’ve ever owned. The LX-3 has a variety of kin, including the newer LX-5, as well as the almost identical Leica D-Lux3/4/5 models, with newer models recently introduced. I’ve only used the LX-3, and I’m not intending to compare my camera with the gamut of similar models or its competitors available to photographers today. Rather, I describe its pros and cons, and how this tool has benefited my photography.
The LX-3 offers several key qualities that have allowed me to make numerous excellent photographs: it’s compact, versatile, flexible, fast, durable, and offers exceptionally high quality images for its relatively small size. I can bring it just about everywhere (within reason), and with it I have a dependable tool to make photos. Three of my principle objections to many small. ‘snapshot-style’ cameras are their low-quality optics, an inability to operate the camera manually, and an unavoidable delay from the time the shutter-button is pressed to the time the shutter opens. With the LX-3, not only I can get around all of these problems, but I get performance that rivals that of much larger camera systems.
The LX-3 is equipped with a great lens — a Leica Vario-Summicron f2.0-2.8/5.1-12.8 [mm] ASPH, which is extremely sharp, fast, and offers a nice color palate. While the LX-3 has a variety of modes, it has manual capabilities that allow me to set shutter speed, aperture, ISO, and focus settings (although manual focusing is awkward). Furthermore, when automatic settings are used, these allow for a degree of manual override including the ability to change metering modes and make adjustments with exposure compensation. The degree of delay varies depending on how the camera is set; when the LX-3 is used as a fully automatic camera, or allowed to ‘sleep’ between exposures, there is an objectionable delay. However, when operated manually, setting focus and exposures using the toggle switch, and leaving it ‘queued up’ and ready to go, exposure can be made virtually instantaneously. I’ve used my LX-3 set at 1/2000th of a second to capture a German ICE-3 gliding along at more than 160 mph—no easy feat even with an SLR. If you ever want that ‘deer in the headlights’ feeling, try photographing a truly high-speed train full frame with a standard lens (and no 10 frames-per-second motor drive!).
I’ve found several failings with the LX-3. It lacks a built-in view finder. While there is a separate viewfinder attachment, I’ve shied away from this for two reasons: it’s relatively expensive, and I’ll surely lose it. So while in most situations the window at the back of the camera works reasonably well, it suffers in bright daylight, and I don’t like to stand around with the camera at arms length trying to compose an image. While other models have longer zooms, the LX-3’s range is limited to a view roughly equivalent to 28-65mm on a traditional 35mm film camera. This ranges suits about 85 percent of my requirements, while having the side effect of taking away the ‘telephoto crutch’, which forces me to work with more conventional focal lengths. The battery life on the LX-3 is poor, so as a result I carry three or four batteries with me, especially in cold weather. On a busy day, I can easily tap through three batteries.
Another flaw is slow cycle time, which is partly a function of how I’ve set up the camera. I expose both a RAW and large JPG file simultaneously. While jpegs suit most of my requirements, I’m not just taking photos for today, and I’m uncomfortable with long-term storage problems and compression qualities inherent to JPG format. Furthermore, RAW files offer considerably more data, and this can be valuable both for publication and situations where post processing manipulations are necessary (both topics for another day). But, I’ve made prints from in-camera jpegs up to 13×19 inches that are fantastically sharp and colorful (including the photo displayed here). And I’ve used LX-3 jpegs in books and magazines.
The LX-3 also offers a variety of in-camera color profiles with various color palates and saturation levels; while these are strictly applied to the jpegs, they allow for added creativity when composing images. It has an excellent image stabilizer, which allows for very slow shutter speeds hand-held, and can be switched off when necessary. Another distinctive tool is the ability to control the aspect ratio (external dimensions) in camera; its four standard ratios range from a square to 16:9. In addition, there are myriad controls that enable a high-degree of customization for both user convenience and file output.
Control, flexibility, and high quality are the prized qualities that sold me on the camera. The LX-3 may appear as a snapshot camera to the unknowing observer but it offers most of the control and quality that I’d expect from a high-end SLR. My intended purpose for LX-3 was as a ‘everywhere camera’ to be carried when I wasn’t carrying my full camera kit, but it soon developed into my staple tool for railway photography, as well as urban adventures and other projects. Later installments of Tracking the Light will highlight images made with the LX-3, to demonstrate its abilities as a high quality image making machine.
SEPTA’s offices on Market Street, Philadelphia. Canon 7D w 28-135mm lens.
