Tag Archives: #Foliage

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Red Tree at Black Horse: Variations on a Theme.

Approaching Blackhorse Road, Strasburg Rail Road routinely pauses outbound excursions for a ‘ghost whistling’ routine whereby the echo of the locomotive whistle on the distant hills is made to sound like the whistle from another line (now long gone).

This presents an opportunrity to make photos.

The other day was bright, clear, and unseasonably warm, so I decided to feature the brilliant red tree in the nearby school yard with Strasburg’s excursion. I was working with both my Fuji XT-1 and Nikon Z6. These cameras have different sensors and handle color differently.

While-in both situations-I exposed in RAW and made nominal cosmetic adjustment to the files using Lightroom, this is not intended as a strict comparison between cameras, just an exercise in composition. Below are four similar images from a sequence of more than a dozen images exposed with the two cameras. I’m not sure if I have a favorite. Yet.

FujiFilm XT-1 digital camera with 16-55mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.
FujiFilm XT-1 digital camera with 16-55mm lens.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens.

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Late Season Foliage at Black Horse Road

I found that the colorful autumn leaf season lasted weeks longer in Pennsylvania Dutch Country than it does in New Hampshire’s White Mountains and other areas of New England.

On November 11, 2023, I made these photos at Black Horse Road of Strasburg Rail Road’s 2-10-0 number 90 working midday excursions. Several beautiful trees were displaying their late season colors.

Clear autumn air and bright sun made it possible to get some more distant views of the train.

I’ve always preferred the late season foliage, when the green leaves have largely changed, some trees are bare, but a few radiant trees of red and yellow remain and the sun is low and bright.

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Bright Colors on the West Slope.

The leaves are changing noticeably later this year as compared with last year.

East of Crawford Notch, New Hampshire the foliage is still a bit on the green side, but to the west the colors are turning.

This is one of the best railroad autumn foliage photos I made thus far. It shows Conway Scenic Railroad Mountaineer on the Crawford-Fabyan leg of its run.

September 29, 2021.

Will this foliage season live up expectations, or will the trees go from green to brown?

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Mountaineer at the Girders

Foliage season has begun in the White Mountains.

On Wednesday, I shadowed Conway Scenic’s Mountaineer on its ascent of Crawford Notch.

Ironically, one of the most dramatic unobstructed views of the line can be obtained directly off Route 302, the road which runs parallel to the railroad in the Mount Washington Valley.

I exposed this photo of the Mountaineer on ‘the Girders’ bridge near the scenic vista pull-off at Crawford Notch using my Nikon Z6 digital camera. I processed the camera’s NEF file using Adobe Lightroom to lighten shadows and correct the color temperature, while nominally boosting saturation.

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Frankenstein Foliage

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September 24, 2020: I made my way to Frankenstein trestle on the former Maine Central Mountain Division to photograph Conway Scenic Railroad’s Mountaineer.

The autumn foliage has almost reached its peak brilliance near the bridge. The leaves are turning early this year, probably because of drought conditions.

I made these photos using my FujiFilm XT1. Output is the camera JPG with Velvia color profile. Other than scaling for internet, I did not adjust for color, contrast, or exposure.

If all goes well, I’ll be back up on the mountain today. The conditions look to be warm, bright and dry in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.

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