There’s nothing like a carefully executed panned photograph to convey a train at speed.
I’ve covered the panning technique a number of times on Tracking the Light; essentially this accomplished by using a comparatively slow shutter speed (in this situation I chose 1/60th of a second) and moving the camera with the subject as it passes through a scene.
The real trick is maintain smooth full-body motion and continue to pan after the shutter is released. Novice pan photographers often violate this rule and stop panning the moment they release the shutter, which tends to result in badly blurred photos.
Yesterday (May 18, 2017) I was traveling with Tim, a friend and fellow photographer, who suggested this location at North Hatfield, Massachusetts on the former Boston & Maine Connecticut River line.
Rather than make a conventional image, I opted for a series of panned views, of which this is but one in a sequence.
Exposed at 1/60th of a second using a FujiFilm X-T1 fitted with f2.0 90mm lens.
Yesterday’s Tracking the Light featured the gripping headline:
“OH NO! I JUST WIPED MY CARD . . .”
And there I’ve told the story of how I accidentally erased my day’s finest efforts (and brought them back again.)
It’s bad enough to accidentally destroy your own work, but it’s especially galling to ruin the photos from such a great day. Bright sun, clear blue skies and a polished executive train moving a moderate speeds.
Simply we’d nailed the Pan Am train at multiple locations in great light, and there were several sets (groups of photos) that I was really happy about.
Followed by the sickening feeling of loss.
The day’s finest photos: GONE!
The film equivalent of this sort of disaster is the accidental opening the camera-back before rewinding, where-in you lose a half dozen photos or so, but if you close it up quickly you can usually save most of the roll.
The worse film-related catastrophe was when your box of film came back from the lab with a little green slip; ‘Owing to a unique laboratory occurrence, we are sorry to report . . .’
By contrast, my digital disaster was an easy fix (Click the link to read Monday’s post for details: http://wp.me/p2BVuC-4ih).
As I mentioned yesterday, when this sort of thing happens: avoid making it worse by continuing to use the card.
Although I’d ‘erased’ (wiped, zapped, cleaned) the camera’s memory card. In truth, all I’d done was erase the catalog. All of my photos remained on the card. Yet, resurrecting them was a slow painstaking process.
Here are some of my favorite photos that’d I never thought I’d have opportunity to post on Tracking the Light
Working west at Buckland. Exposed on a SanDisk Extreme PRO 32 GB memory car using my FujiFilm XT1. Erased accidentally and retrieved using RescuePRO Deluxe. For details see Monday’s Tracking the Light.My friend Tim D. was behind the wheel, and driving well-known back roads along the Deerfield River scored us this view near Charlemont, Massachusetts.This was a grab-shot near Zoar. I have to admit, it was this view that I was most disgusted having lost.Pan Am’s office cars disappear into Hoosac Mountain.A friendly wave near Eaglebridge, New York.Lots of folks were out for this view at Fisherman’s Lane in Schagticoke, New York.
Near Soap Stone, Massachusetts I made this trailing view across the Deerfield River. Sure the trees block part of the train, but I like the overall atmosphere of the scene. Lumix LX7 photo.
Where most of my photos were made with the Fuji, I augmented my efforts with Lumix.
Why? Because each camera produces different results.
On this occasion, I used the Lumix LX7 for some tight angles on the special train.
A report of a broken rail had Pan Am Railway’s office car train moving at a walking pace. Bad news for operations, but a boon for the photographer. At the last moment I made this grab shot with my Lumix. It’s among my favorite shots from the day’s efforts. White flags are a nice touch. Better get out your train-order era rule book: white flags mean ‘running extra’.Years ago, my dad brought me to Boston & Maine’s roundhouse in Somerville. There I gazed in awe at a B&M F7A in McGinnis blue paint. Who could have imagined that more than 45 years later, F-units would be working the Boston & Maine Fitchburg mainline. I think that’s pretty cool. Lumix LX7 view near Zoar, Massachusetts.Here’s a trailing view. PAR-1 seems to get most of the glory, so I thought to make a photo of PAR-2 as it rolled by me.Neat tail car! Six-wheel trucks must make for a nice ride.
I processed the Lumix RAW files in Lightroom to bring out shadow detail, and where necessary to adjust overall exposure, and alter color saturation and contrast to make for the most pleasing images.
It seems like every time I board a plane for far away shores the Pan Am office car special sneaks out.
Not this year!
Yesterday, February 15, 2016, I had the rare opportunity to catch Pam Am Railways vintage FP9s on the roll. The trip was working east from Mechanicville, New York on the old Boston & Maine Fitchburg line.
Pan Am Railways’ office car special works east at Eagle Bridge on February 15, 2016. We’ll have to wait for the broadside view; it’s on Fujichrome! (film). Incidentally, I’ve applied the Lee graduated neutral density filter technique to this image. There’s just a touch of filtration at the top of the frame. (See last week’s Battenkill post for details. And just to tie the posts together, the tracks in the foreground are Battenkill’s.
Working with three cameras, I made dozens of images. The latent gem is the F’s broadside passing the old Eagle Bridge, New York station.
Until last week, I hadn’t visited Eagle Bridge in years. Now I’ve been there twice in less than a week. Funny how that works.
Pan Am’s OCS at North Pownal, Vermont. The temperature was a balmy 22 degrees F. Warm!A reported broken rail near Soapstone had the train moving at walking pace.Electro-Motive F-units are great to pan. 1/60th of second gives the sense of motion while retaining a sense of place.
All the photos here were exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. Contrast and saturation were nominally adjusted in Lightroom.
