Tag Archives: dusk

photography, Tips and Technique

Dusk at East Northfield.

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It is unlikely you will find ‘East Northfield’ on most maps of Massachusetts, since this is a railroad location that doesn’t reflect local geography.

Not withstanding these directional peculiarities, East Northfield (as so-identified by New England Central’s sign) is a classic railroad location and a favorite place to photograph trains. Located on the Massachusetts-Vermont state line, this is where New England Central meets Pan Am’s Boston & Maine Connecticut River line from Greenfield.

On Friday, January 24, 2020, my friends, fellow photographers, Tim and Pat and I converged at the junction to make photographs of New England Central’s northward 611.

Here the train was held for a few minutes while Amtrak’s northward Vermonter made its Brattleboro station stop. Operational considerations typically find freights holding south of East Northfield until Amtrak is north of ‘West River’ (a railroad location situated north of Amtrak’s Brattleboro station).

The light was fading fast. So working with my FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm prime telephoto, I exposed a series of images to make the most of the tinted low lighting.

The first view was made with an auto-white balance setting. The second two using a daylight preset that results in the camera capturing more of the blue-spectrum of dusk.

Auto white balance; no post processing color correction.
Daylight white balance without post processing corrections.

This exposure was made a few minutes later and reflects the approach of evening after the amount of light had diminished. It was also made using the ‘Daylight’ white balance preset.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Dusk on the Corridor—October 25, 1991

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Twenty eight years ago on this day, my brother Sean and I made a survey of the former PRR electrified mainline south (timetable west) of Philadelphia.

Rather than literal interpretations, I was aiming for something more interpretive.

I’d bought a roll of Kodak Ektachrome 160 slide film. This featured a ‘tungsten balance’ designed to work with incandescent lamps and so featured a very cool color temperature, which accentuates the effect of dusk.

My notes from the day are nearly 4,000 miles away, so I can’t tell you which suburban platform on which we were standing when I made this time exposure of a rapidly approaching Amtrak train in the blue glow of the evening.

What I remember most from that evening was a sky filled with migratory birds, chirping, singing and squawking as they flew by.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Every Day is Sunny in North Conway . . .

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 . . . except when it rains!

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Last week at North Conway, New Hampshire hot humid afternoon gave way to rain forest-like torrential rains.

In the twilight of early evening, I exposed this raining view using my Lumix LX7 handheld.

The slight blurred effect is a combination of the cascading downpour and relatively slow shutter speed. For me the combination of heavy rain, dusk, and slight camera blur makes for a painterly effect that helps transcend the decades.

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Tracking the Light Extra! Dublin Greened for St Patrick’s Day 2018! Five NEW photos!

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Lumix photos by Brian Solomon.

Dusk is a great time to capture the light. Once the blue in the sky has faded, the photos just are not as interesting.

O’Connell Street at dusk.

Grand Central at Abbey and O’Connell Street.

Irish Rail’s Loop Line Bridge with the Custom House.

Irish Rail’s Loop Line Bridge with the Custom House.

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Dusk at Elm Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

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Dusk at Elm Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania.Dusk at Elm Street, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

I exposed this view using my Lumix LX7. The angle of view is equivalent to a 24mm lens on 35mm film camera.

The ISO was set to 200, White Balance at ‘Auto’, shutter speed 1/25th of a second, and f-stop at ‘A’ (aperture priority which resulted in a f2.2 setting).

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Tips and Technique

Dusk at Cynwyd; SEPTA’s most obscure branch?

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Dusk is a mystical time to photograph; highlights are subdued, shadows are deep, while the prevailing light is soft and cool. Window light is equivalent to the outdoors, and railroad signal light seems more intense.

The short SEPTA line to Cynwyd in the northwestern Philadelphia suburbs is a vestige of Pennsylvania Railroad’s Schuylkill Valley line that once reached northward into anthracite country.

Today Cynwyd is the end of the line.

Until last week, it was one of the last segments of SEPTA’s Regional Rail network left for me to travel.

I arrived at dusk, and in that ‘blue hour’ and I made these photographs using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1 digital cameras.

All things being equal I would have used a tripod, but I didn’t have one so with the XT1, I boosted the ISO to unusually high levels to compensate for the dim conditions.

FujiFilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm lens. ISO 1600.

FujiFilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm lens. ISO 1600.

Lumix LX7 ISO 200.

FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm Fujinon lens. ISO 1600.

FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm Fujinon lens. ISO 3200.

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Trenton, New Jersey at Dusk—July 6, 2017; digital photography in low-light.

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The other evening I arrived at Trenton, New Jersey on board Amtrak train 55 the Vermonter.

 

Lumix LX7 photo at Trenton, New Jersey, July 6, 2017.

The blue glow of dusk prevailed. That moment between daylight and evening when the hue of the light adds a extra atmosphere to photographs.

That is of course, unless your camera has its ‘auto white balance’ set, which will neutralize the color and make for blander, duller images.

To avoid this problem, I set my white balance to ‘daylight’, which forces the camera to interpret the bluer light more or less as I see it.

These images were exposed using my Panasonic Lumix LX7 in ‘Vivid’ mode at ISO 200.

SEPTA at Trenton, New Jersey, July 6, 2017. Lumix LX7 photo

 

A SEPTA train enters the station bound for Philadelphia.

Other than scaling the in-camera Jpgs for internet presentation, I’ve not made changes to the appearance of these photos in Post Processing; color balance, color temperature, contrast, exposure and sharpness were not altered during post processing.

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Amtrak’s battle-worn Amfleet, now 4 decades on the roll.

Amtrak 55, the Vermonter has the signal at Trenton. The diagonal arrangement of amber lights indicates ‘approach’.

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Dusk at the Hoosac Tunnel

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It was a damp and foggy evening at East Portal. Mike Gardner and I arrived as the final glow of daylight was beginning to fade. The rich blue glow of dusk lasts but a few minutes.

A Pan Am train was working its way west. I had visions of capturing the old searchlight signals lit after the train passed. But this was not to be.

I made this sequence of images with my FujiFilm X-T1 mounted on a tripod. The Hoosac Tunnel is behind me.

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LUAS at Dusk—Silvery Trams in Silhouette

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The other evening, rain had cleared, and clear skies prevailed for a little while before sunset.

Yet, heavy clouds were encroaching from the west, making for some interesting evening light.

I made the opportunity to take a spin on Dublin’s LUAS Green Line.

Pausing at Dundrum, I  made photos of the trams crossing the Dargan Bridge.

The far end of the line at Brides Glen (I saw no brides) was a convenient place to make some portraits of the 5000-series LUAS Citadis tram that I’d traveled on.

I was one of two passengers to board on the return trip. It took the tram 39 minutes to make the run to St. Stephens Green. By time I arrived, the rain had closed in again.

The LUAS trams are a silver-tinted with lilac, with large plate windows, which makes them ideal for photos at dusk. The trams reflect the hues of the evening light.

I exposed these images using my Lumix LX7.

Inbound LUAS tram glides across the Dargan Bridge at Dundrum. Exposed as a RAW file with my Lumix LX7, white balance set to 'daylight', contrast adjusted in post processing.
Inbound LUAS tram glides across the Dargan Bridge at Dundrum. Exposed as a RAW file with my Lumix LX7, ISO 200, white balance set to ‘daylight’, contrast adjusted in post processing.

Outbound LUAS tram glides across the Dargan Bridge at Dundrum. Exposed as a RAW file with my Lumix LX7, ISO 80, white balance set to 'daylight', contrast adjusted in post processing.
Outbound LUAS tram glides across the Dargan Bridge at Dundrum. Exposed as a RAW file with my Lumix LX7, ISO 80, white balance set to ‘daylight’, contrast adjusted in post processing.

End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. No modification (except for scaling).
End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. No modification (except for scaling).

End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. Slight contrast adjustment in post processing.
End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. Slight contrast adjustment in post processing.

End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. No modification (except for scaling).
End of the line: Brides Glen at dusk. Exposed with a Lumix LX7 as a RAW file. No modification (except for scaling).

Interior of a LUAS tram at Brides Glen.
Interior of a LUAS tram at Brides Glen.

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Tips and Technique

DAILY POST: Vermonter at Dusk

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Ethereal View at Millers Falls, January 2014.

Tim Doherty asked me a few weeks back, “Have you ever tried a shot from the north side of the Millers Falls high bridge?” I’d looked a this several times, but was discouraged by the row of trees between the road and the railroad bridge.

Amtrak
Amtrak‘s northward Vermonter crosses the Millers River on January 12, 2014.

So, on January 12, 2014, at the end of the day (light), Tim and I went to this location with the aim of making images of Amtrak’s northward Vermonter crossing the aged Central Vermont span.

 

As there was only a hint of light left, I upped the ISO sensitivity of my Canon EOS 7D and I switched the color balance to ‘tungsten’ (indoor incandescent lighting which has the same effect as using tungsten balance slide film (such as Fujichrome 64T), and so enhances the blue light of the evening.

 

A call to Amtrak’s Julie (the automated agent) confirmed the train was on-time out of Amherst. Running time was only about 20 minutes (a bit less than I thought) but we were in place, cameras on tripods, several minutes before we heard the Vermonter blasting for crossings in Millers Falls.

The result is interpretive. The train’s blur combined with view through the trees and the deep blue color bias makes for a ghostly image of the train crossing the bridge.

Click to see related posts: Dusk on the Grand Canal; Amtrak Extra, Millers Falls, Massachusetts, October 22, 2013

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