Today, Sunday 9 August 2015, the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in cooperation with Irish Rail operated a steam special from Dublin’s Connolly Station to Drogheda and Dundalk with locomotive number 4.
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.
This was my first opportunity to photograph this classic locomotive in more than four years. Special thanks to everyone at the RPSI and Irish Rail who made today’s trips a success.
Stay tuned for more photos tomorrow!
Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1; RAW File exported as a Jpg using Adobe Lightroom.
For more than a half century, Dv12 diesel hydraulics have worked Finland’s 1,524mm gauge lines. (Purists will note that in their first decade this type was classified as Sv12).
During my recent visit to Finland I was delighted to find many of these old diesels still on the move. Some have been painted in the new white with green livery, but others were struggling on in their traditional paint, albeit with a green splotch painted across the front.
The Dv12 is to Finland, what the GP9 was to America, and the 141/181 Class General Motors diesels are to Ireland.
A VR Class Dv12 at the yard in Oulu, Finland. Well-worn, but still working in its traditional paint! Exposed with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Builders plate for VR 2533. Exposed with my Lumix LX7.Modern livery on an old machine. LX-7 Photo.LX-7 photo.The trucks are similar to those used by German lass 215-218 diesels.VR Dv12 2617 at Oulu. Exposed with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.Cab detail.
These are just a few detailed views made of these classic locomotives.
Saturday, 8 August 2015: I made these photos a few minutes ago of locomotive 8209 in the new Enterprise livery working Irish Rail’s 1100 Mark 4 from Dublin Heuston to Cork.
It was nice to catch this brightly painted engine in the sunlight.
Saturday, 8 August 2015, engine 8209 with the 1100 to Cork passing Islandbridge Junction. Lumix LX7 photo.Saturday, 8 August 2015, engine 8209 with the 1100 to Cork passing Islandbridge Junction. Lumix LX7 photo.
In July, Helsinki’s new circular Airport service began, including operations on stretches of newly built track.
Firstly, I’ll admit complete failure on my part to experience the train on my arrival at Helsinki Airport. I was aware of the new service, and looking forward to riding it. However, I couldn’t find the train. I was told that I needed to take a bus to the station. So I bought a two-zone ticket, and when a bus arrived with the destination board reading ‘Helsinki Railway Station’ (or something like that), I got on.
I was halfway to Helsinki before I realized my mistake! Before I knew it, I’d been deposited at the Helsinki Central Station in the city center. This was a bitter defeat.
On the plus side the bus turned out to be considerably faster than the train.
A little more than a week later, I finally had opportunities to experience the new service. This is operated with Stadler Flirt electric multiple units.
Helsinki Airport train approaches Kivisto Station on 30 July 2015. This location was recommended by Sakari K. Salo who accompanied Markku Pulkkinen and me on a tour of the new line on 30 July 2015 (and again the next day by road). FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
I made my first pass over the route on 30 July, 2015, and on the morning of 31 July 2015, Markku Pulkkinen, Sakari K. Salo, and Juhani Katajisto provided me a tour of the line by car.
Juhani Katajisto drove us to this line-side location to photograph the Airport train on 31 July 2015. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Tomorrow, I’ll explore some necessary digital manipulation of an airport train photograph to demonstrate my experiments with Adobe Lightroom as a tool for making a photograph more effective.
Tracking the Light posts new material every morning.
While in Helsinki last month, I had several opportunities to photograph Transtech’s new Artic Tram prototypes, which were working the city’s streets in revenue service.
These are state of the art Finnish trams that feature modern low-floors with advanced technologies and yet feature classic styling.
Artic Tram 401 at Helsinki Central. Exposed with a Lumix LX-7 on a rainy Wednesday morning.One of two Artic tram prototypes in Helsinki, Finland. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1.The first two times I saw an Artic Tram I missed the opportunity to board. Snooze you lose. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1.On board Artic Tram prototype 402 in Helsinki. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1.Driver’s cab on the 402. The Artic’s are single ended. One of two Artic tram prototypes in Helsinki, Finland. Exposed with my Fujifilm X-T1.Three generations of trams in Helsinki. The Artic prototype is on the left.
Transtech calls them Artics (that’s right.) I think they look pretty cool.
Every so often a train stops in a photogenic location, which provides ample opportunity to make a variety of images.
Such was the case the other day, when Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, Markku Pulkkinen were providing me tour of greater Kontiomäki.
This pair of Finnish Sr2 electrics had brought a loaded iron ore train west from the Russian-border and were waiting for a path to continue toward Oulu at the junction with the electrified line at the west leg of the Kontiomäki triangle.
While the train was stopped, I used the moment to expose photographs with three cameras. These are a few angles made digitally with my FujiFilm X-T1 mirror-less camera, and my pocket-size Lumix LX-7. The slides remain latent.
A very traditional three-quarter angle as exposed with my Lumix LX-7.A tighter three-quarter angle using my FujiFilm X-T1.Here I’ve featured a flower growing trackside. These purple flowers flourish in the Finnish countryside during the summer. Lumix LX-7 photo.How about an angle from the other side of the train? Lumix LX-7 photo.A study of Finnish Sr2 electrics nose-to-nose. FujiFilm X-T1 photo.
Since the lighting was relatively even, my goal was to obtain the most impressive angle that features the contours and colours on the Sr2s. VR is in a transition from the older white and red livery to a new white with bright green scheme.
Finland is a great place to make railway photographs. Two of my favorite features of the country are the long days of summer, (in late July the sun remains above the horizon to well after 10 pm), and the overnight sleeping car trains.
Low rich sun light and long unusual-looking consists of sleeping cars and auto-carriers make for many photographic possibilities.
During my visit three night trains served Oulu in each direction daily. These run between Helsinki and northern cities at Kemijärvi, Kolari, and Rovaniemi.
Not every evening is clear and bright. Too often it rains. But last Saturday evening the sky was free of clouds and the air was clear, making for nearly ideal conditions.
These views are of IC 266 (Rovaniemi – Helsinki) led by a pair of Soviet-built Sr1 electrics. At Oulu cars are added to the train using a Dv12 diesel, which provides ample time to make photographs of the train arriving and standing at the station.
VR overnight train IC 266 approaches Oulu, Finland on the evening of Jul 25, 2015.VR overnight train IC 266 approaches Oulu, Finland on the evening of Jul 25, 2015.
My host, Markku Pulkkinen, explained the train’s daily routine, suggested locations for photographs, and provided transportation. I made these images with my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. The challenge of working with very low sun is navigating the shadows successfully.
Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, Markku Pulkkinen and I arrived at the Finnish—Russian border just a minute before a loaded iron ore train crossed with Russian diesels.
I have to admit that 10 days of continuous travel had caught up with me and I’d fallen asleep in the car. “Hey, wake up! The train is over the frontier.”
“What? Where?”
I managed a decent image of the train. But the best was yet to come. An ominous looking sign marked the border area.
We waited for an hour while the Russian diesels were position on an eastward empty train. A thunderstorm rumbled to the south. Finnish custom agents inspect the train. The Russian diesels idled. It began to rain.
Finally, the train began to ease forward. The driver must have liked the attention and once passed the starting signal, he notched up the locomotives. It reminded me of photographing old Alcos!
Russian diesels work east toward at the Finnish-Russian border. Exposed with a FujiFilm X-T1, modified in post processing for contrast and saturation.It was unwise to consider chasing east.
Back in olden times overnight sleeping car trains were common. Today, not so much. Yet, I’ve just boarded IC 274 for Helsinki. There was a mob on the platform at Oulu. To quote the old saying, ‘There’s no one riding trains any more, they are too crowded.’
Thankfully, I’m locked away in a berth.
Lumix LX-7 photo exposed at Oulu on 29 July 2015.Lumix LX-7 photo exposed at Oulu on 29 July 2015. 11:45pm.
Back in olden times overnight sleeping car trains didn’t have WiFi!
I felt like a Victorian explorer being led through forests by expert guides. Petri and Pietu Tuovinen, and Markku Pulkinen led me a long a disused track.
“There is a locomotive turntable here.”
Indeed! Masked by trees, hidden from view, and located off the end of a lightly used branch line at Ammansaari, Finland is the old turntable once used to spin light steam locomotives.
Few visitors are afforded the privilege of seeing this relic. It was like finding a Mayan pyramid in the rain forest.
I exposed these photos digitally using my FujiFilm X-T1. For effect, I set the camera to the preset that emulates black & white film with a red filter. For posterity, I also exposed a few color slides.
My old Contax with real black & white film would have served me well here.
At dawn on June 9, 1996, I was set up near the west end of the old Kate Shelley Bridge. Mist clung to the valley floor as the sun painted the sky to the east.
Across the cornfield to the west I could hear an eastward Union Pacific freight blowing for highway crossings, the roar of its locomotives gradually getting louder.
Exposed on Fujichrome Provia 100 film using a Nikon F3T.
I opted for this semi-silhouetted view. My subject is the bridge; the train is meant to be incidental. Yet the train makes the photos more interesting, and the couple of Conrail engines in the large consist of locomotives provide added interest for the keen observer.
This was little more than a year after Union Pacific had absorbed Chicago & North Western.
A decade later, UP began construction of a new bridge here using a modern structure. I imagine that the scene is much changed today.
It was August 1992 and Southern Pacific had just recently introduced the Golden West branding on some freight cars. I was on my way back from work with a free roll of Agfachrome 50 slide film and I made these photos at SP’s South San Francisco yard.
It’s hard to resist fresh paint and so I made a variety of detail shots.
At the time I was managing an E6 color film processing machine for a photo studio nearby, so the next day I ran the film through the soup and mounted the slides at home.
Back then I only used E6 films for ‘supporting’ photographs and extra shots. Anything that I deemed really important, I exposed on Kodachrome 25.
What I recall about the Agfachrome was that it had a decidedly reddish bias as compared with K25, but was less contrasty.
Since Tracking the Light began in summer 2012, I’ve composed more than 900 individual posts. All of these may be accessed via the Tracking the Light archives listed on the homepage.
In the archives are hundreds of photos, stories and information about railway photography.
There’s about four books worth of material in the archives.
To reach the June 2013 Archive click here. Poke around and explore.
Dublin LUAS tram backlit near the Red Cow stop in April 2005. Exposed on Fujichrom Sensia 100 with a Nikon N90S fitted with a Tokina 400mm lens.Wisconsin & Southern’s westward freight L464 hits the a highway crossing near Deansville, Wisconsin on June 1,4 2013. Canon EOS 7D with 28-135mm lens.Amfleet II rolling east. Exposed with a Lumix LX-3Union Station as viewed from Roosevelt Road. Exposed with my Canon EOS 7D with a 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens at f2.8 1/40th second. Camera was firmly mounted on a tripod.
I exposed this black & white photograph on December 31, 1986. An eastward Conrail freight was rolling through Springfield (Massachusetts) Union Station.
I intentionally selected a relatively slow shutter speed to allow for motion blur.
Today, the scene has completely changed.
What to me seemed like a timeless scene back in 1986 is now a much dated image.
The buildings behind the freight cars are gone. The old 11-storey Hotel Charles was demolished decades ago, while in December 2014, the long closed baggage rooms and signal tower area of Springfield station were cleared away as part of a pending redevelopment of the facility.
Exposed on 120 size Kodak black & white negative film using a Rollei Model T with 75mm Zeiss Tessar lens. Exposure calculated with a Sekonic Studio Deluxe handheld photo-cell.
Even the old 50-foot boxcars are rapidly becoming scarce. This once standard vehicle is being supplanted by more modern cars with larger capacity. Anytime you see an old-50 foot car on the move (or waiting in the yard) it is certainly worth a photograph or two. Don’t wait.
It was back on May 23, 2007, when fellow photographer Pat Yough and I waited on the east shore of the Hudson River for the passing of this northward CP Rail freight
Pat suggested this location because it offered a nice view of the New York City skyline.
If you look carefully you can see the Empire State Building and George Washington Bridge among other landmarks.The goose on the water is an added bonus.
Exposed on Fujichrome Film.
The sunlight was waning, but we were rewarded with a pair of General Motors SD40-2/SD40 diesel-electrics roaring along the old New York Central Hudson Division in the final glow of a spring evening.
Catching the light in Ireland can be a fleeting experience. Even on a bright day, cloud often covers the sky. Yet, sometimes luck shines on me. Such was the case last week when I made this photograph of the down Dublin-Cork Mark4 passenger train led by Irish Rail 215.
A brief wink of sun graced the front of the engine just as it approached.
Irish Rail’s peak hour services on the Cork-Cobh and Cork-Midleton routes have a half hour frequency, which results in four trains an hour stopping at the Glounthaune Station.
The railway is scenically situated along an inlet and the station still features an open lattice metal footbridge, of the kind that was common all over Ireland until just a few years ago.
Fuji X-T1 photo.
Fuji X-T1 photo.
I made these images using my Fujifilm X-T1 and Lumix LX7 digital cameras. Thanks to Donncha Cronin and Irish Rail’s Ken Fox for their hospitality in Cork.
There are only a few places where the narrow gauge Bord na Mona crosses Irish Rail’s broad gauge lines.
If you ride from Dublin to Cork, you might catch a glimpse of the three-foot gauge tracks ducking under the mainline a ways west of the ‘Laoise Traincar Depot’ (where Irish Rail maintains its Intercity Railcar fleet).
Dublin bound Irish Rail ICR (Intercity Railcar) crosses the Bord na Mona 3-foot gauge near Portlaoise. Fuji X-T1 photo.Cork-bound train with a 201-class diesel crosses the Bord na Mona 3-foot gauge near Portlaoise. Fuji X-T1 photo.
Making successful photos of trains here is tricky. They sail along at 90mph and owing to the angle of the lines, there’s very little time to position the front of the train at the crossing point.
I set my Fuji X-T1 to ‘CH’ (continuous high), which automatically exposes a burst of images in rapid succession.
Owing to infrequent operations on the narrow gauge, it will be a challenge to try to score an ‘under-and-over’ image here. But at least that’s a goal for another day.
There’s an attraction to old machinery. For me it’s a mix of curiosity, nostalgia and the opportunity to get close and make photographs.
On April 19, 2015, some friends from Cork and I arrived by road at the Durrow Vintage Show in County Laois. This was held in field on the old Dublin-Cork main road. It was warm Irish morning with the promise of lots of sun.
While old cars and farm tractors represented most of the equipment on display, there were items of railway interest for the discerning eye.
Using my Fuji X-T1, I exposed dozens of images. This was a perfect opportunity to put the camera through its paces. Lots of visual interest, but not a lot of pressure on the photographer.
I’m always looking for an angle. A family outing on the Schuylkill River in September 2007 provided this opportunity. A SEPTA Silverliner IV glides across the former Pennsylvania Railroad’s Connecting Railway bridge.
In 1914, this massive arch over the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia replaced the original 1867 double-track bridge made of stone arches and a metal truss span. Today it carries Amtrak’s North East Corridor. Although it resembles the stone arches it replaced, it is actually a reinforced concrete arch faced with sandstone.
I exposed this image at dusk on Fujichrome slide film using my Nikon F3. The low angle afforded by my seat in the canoe, allowed me to make the most of the surface of the river without getting wet. Would a Brunswick green GG1 have made for a better photo?
I exposed this photograph of stored freight cars in the derelict remains of the former New York Central yards at Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 with a Leica M2 with 50mm Summicron. Exposure calculated manually using a Sekonic Studio Deluxe photocell.
The rolling gentle profile of the distant hills and the contrast between soft afternoon sun and inky shadows intrigued me. I find the hills oddly compelling, as in over the hills and far way.
This yard had been a busy place once but by the Conrail era was just the vestige of another era. There’s rusty tracks below the grass and bushes.
The tide was in. The sun was low and rich. The train was on time. I was poised at the popular overlook at Pinole, California. Dozens of scheduled Amtrak trains pass this point everyday, so on one level this was akin to ‘shooting fish in a barrel.’
Yet, the ease of photography here, facilitated by great weather, open varied scenery, and frequent operations, makes for a perfect opportunity to experiment and exposed different angles.
Exposed on Fujichrome Film.
In this case, I’ve opted to make a clean, yet dramatic vertical image. Notice how I’ve left ample room on top for a magazine title, and space all around for cover blurbs (left or right) and the requisite bar code (typically located at lower right).
When I was working at Pentrex Publishing in the 1990s, we’d often reject potential dramatic photos as not suitable because there wasn’t room for the cover blurbs. But an absolute killer (that is, no chance for cover placement) was in situations where the bar code would fall on the front of a locomotive. Bar code placement was non-negotiable.
Would this make a good cover photo? I can’t say, but I was looking to fit the format when I exposed this slide in 2008.
From my classic Kodachrome file: it was on the evening of April 19, 1995 that I made this photo of a pair of Chicago & North Western GP9s assembling their train at Jefferson Junction, Wisconsin for the run up to Clyman Junction.
I used a low angle, but using my Nikkor 35mm perspective control (pc) lens, I adjusted the front element to hold the vertical lines in parallel, thus avoiding the unnatural looking parallax effect.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 slide film using a Nikon FT3 with 35mm pc lens.
C&NW was just weeks away from being absorbed by Union Pacific. It was the end of an era. Hard to believe it was really 20 years ago!
My experience with the Brussels tram network spans nearly twenty years. This fascinating railway network involves a complex route structure with lots of track and several different types of trams.
Street photography has its fair share of challenges. Automobiles and pedestrians mingle with trams in ways that make it difficult to set up shots.
Further complicating matters is the sedate shades of silver and bronze now favoured by STIB (the transit operator), which I find difficult to photograph satisfactorily.
However, in addition to the regular tram livery are a large number of specially painted advertising trams and a handful of old PCCs in the earlier yellow livery, which certainly add a bit of colour to the fleet.
These photos were all exposed during one afternoon in late March 2015.
This year, I opted to take the DART to Bray and hike the cliff-walk around the head to make these views.
Despite clear skies and warm spring weather, wafting sea fog made for a challenging photographic conditions.
Irish Rail’s DART suburban service at Brandy Hole, Bray Head on Monday 6 April 2015. Fuji X-T1 digital photograph.
I made a point of photographing DART electric trains and Irish Rail’s intercity diesel railcars while in position for the steam special.
Shortly before locomotive 461 emerged from the tunnels near Brandy Hole, a cloud of fog rose to add a bit of atmosphere.
Sea fog made for atmospheric images.A DART electric skirts the cliffs at Bray Head. Fuji XT-1.Fog obscures the tunnels at Bray Head as the Easter Eggspress makes its way south toward Wicklow. Fuji X-T1 digital photograph.By the time engine 461 reached the optimal spot for photography it was in bright sun. Fuji XT-1 photograph. I exposed some wide-angle views on colour slide film from this spot that take in the whole scene. Steam, smoke and sea mist mark the passing of 461 at Bray Head.An Irish Rail ICR from Rosslare works toward Dublin.
In addition to these digital photographs, I exposed a series of 35mm colour slides on Provia 100F using my Canon EOS-3 with 40mm pancake lens. The mix of stunning scenery, wafting fog and bright sun made for a spectacular backdrop for the annual special.
After four years out of traffic, Irish Rail class 071 number 087 is back! A visit to Cherryville Junction resulted in these sunlit photographs of the classic locomotive leading the DFDS Liner (a container that runs from Waterford to Ballina).
I exposed this sequence of images using my Fuji Film X-T1. In addition, I made a colour slide using Fuji Provia 100F in my old Nikon F3 with 50mm.
Freshly painted Irish Rail 087 leads the container pocket wagons working as the DFDS Liner on April 3, 2015. The old signal cabin at Cherryville Junction is many years out of service.Trailing view at Cherryville Junction.The DFDS Liner with container pocket wagons represents one of the rarest revenue trains in Ireland.
It’s become a tradition to visit Kildare on Good Friday. This day has a history of seeing a good number of freights as well as passenger trains.
Kildare offers a good place to photograph freights running between Waterford and Ballina, since trains need to reverse direction here owing to the lack of a direct connection in the westward direction at Cherryville Junction.
On Good Friday, April 3, 2015, there was the added bonus of a locomotive exchange for the laden timber. Locomotive 071 (the class leader) had come down from Inchicore in Dublin and waited for the arrival of the timber from Ballina (with engine 078).
Although the weather wasn’t the best, I had ample opportunity for photographs. All of these images were exposed between 10:48 and 12:08 am using my Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.
A Dublin bound ICR takes the passing loop at Kildare at 10:48 am. A down ICR is making its station stop. Engine 071 waits on the up main.The down ICR accelerates away from Kildare.At 10:57 am Irish Rail 075 passes with the down IWT liner (Dublin to Ballina).Irish Rail 071 pulls forward to run through the crossovers at the west end of the station to allow the laden timber to pull into the station.The laden timber was holding west of the station waiting for the light engine to pull forward.Here the timber is pulling forward at 11:03 am. Locomotive 071 will couple on to the Waterford-end of the train.At 11:21 the up Mark 4 from Cork approaches Kildare.At 11:29 locomotive 221 with the 11 am Dublin-Cork Mark4 passes Kildare. The laden timber holds on the up-road waiting for a path.An up-road ICR takes the loop at 11:31 am.Telephoto view of the same up-road ICR.Finally, after the passage of several more passenger trains, the laden timber departs Kildare, taking the crossover from uproad to downroad. The time was 11:58 am.Locomotive 219 leads the up IWT liner at 12:08 pm.
Tomorrow: Good Friday highlight, a freshly painted locomotive in freight service at Cherryville Junction.
Exposed on March 31, 2015 using a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.
This juxtaposition of a French high-speed TGV against Lego-block architecture fulfills a vision of 1980s modern style. After three decades how well does it hold up?
Exposed on Fujichrome 100 with my Nikkormatt FTN with a Nikkor f4 200mm lens, then popped off a second photo with my Nikon F3T loaded with Kodachrome. Scanned with an Epson V600 at 4800 dpi, scaled in Photoshop and reduced for internet presentation.
There’s no beach here. I stood on the edge of the Badlands looking east as a violent thunderstorm raged over the Missouri Valley near Mandan, North Dakota.
The sun was near the horizon as the last of its golden rays filtered across the open landscape. Lightning flashed in the distance.
This had been Yellowstone country in Northern Pacific days: massive 2-8-8-4s were built to move freight across the difficult undulating railroad east of Glendive, Montana.
No Yellowstones for me. By 1994, they were but a distant vision, all scrapped before I was born.
A headlight appears on the horizon. What’s this? A westward empty coal train returning to Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. An unusual white-faced locomotive in the lead.
This was Burlington Northern SD60M 1991, a specially painted to commemorate Operation Desert Storm.
This is among my favorite photographs from my big 1994 trip that began in January near Rochester, New York and ended six months later at Waukesha, Wisconsin.
I’ve made good use of this photo over the years. It appeared in Pacific RailNews 1994 Annual Rails West and again in my book The American Diesel Locomotive published by MBI in 2000.
Some Irish friends and I spent a week in the Mosel and Rhein Valley regions to photograph special trips organized for the 175th anniversary of German railways.
On this day, April 7, 2010, I exposed this view of a double-headed iron ore train crossing the Mosel on the big bridge at Bullay.
Exposed at Bullay, Germany with my Lumix LX-3.
Sometimes, as photos age, the ordinary train you caught while waiting, seems more interesting than the extraordinary train that you’d set out to capture in the first place!
Among my recent book projects is an illustrated examination of railway station architecture to be published by Voyageur Press later this year. This is an excerpt of my text:
Today’s Antwerpen-Centraal is a blend of architect Louis de la Censerie’s elaborate and elegantly adorned station building and spacious balloon-style shed with two modern new levels. The lowest level provides through connections to the north. The original station opened in 1898, while the improved and expanded modern terminal reopened in 2007.
I revisited this railway wonder of the modern world at the end of March 2015. Yesterday I presented a few interpretive images, today I present an more literal collection of images.
Antwerp Central Station—Fuji X-T1 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Fuji X-T1 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Fuji X-T1 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Fuji X-T1 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Lumix LX7 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Lumix LX7 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Lumix LX7 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Lumix LX7 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Fuji X-T1 photo.Antwerp Central Station—Lumix LX7 photo.
Both in the literal and the metaphorical: these photos depict my recent visit to one of Europe’s most elegant railway terminals.
Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.Exposed in Antwerp, Belgium with a Fuji Film X-T1 digital camera.
On an evening last week, using my Lumix LX-7, I exposed this time exposure of Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges’s (Belgian National Railways or SNCB) Gare de La Hulpe.
This railway line is being transformed from double track mainline line to a quad track line to facilitate an improved suburban service akin to the Paris RER.
Exposed using a Panasonic Lumix LX7 set at ISO 80 at f1.7 for 5 seconds.
To make this image, I rested the camera on the bridge railing, exposed a pair of trial exposures to gauge the lighting conditions, then set the camera (shutter speed and aperture) manually to allow for sufficient exposure of the sky and shadow areas.
As previously mentioned on Tracking the Light, to make successful night photos it is important to give the scene sufficient exposure (usually 2/3s of a stop more than allocated by many built-in camera meter settings), while keep the camera steady for the duration of the exposure. Keeping flare to a minimum is also helpful.
I was traveling with Dean Sauvola. Just before sunrise on October 22, 1995 we paused at a favorite grade crossing near Colo, Iowa where I made this image (among others).
Rails to the horizon offer the classic textbook illustration of perspective.
Exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikkormatt FTN with 28mm Nikkor AF lens (focused manually). Exposure calculated with a hand-held Sekonic Studio Deluxe photo cell.
A vertically cropped version of this image was featured in August 2008 TRAINS Magazine, and again at the end of a special TRAINS issue commemorating photography.
Here’s another lesson in minimalism. In November 1992, while traveling from Hoboken to Pittsburgh with my father and Clark Johnson Jr., I exposed this Kodachrome slide from the rear platform of private car Caritas that was crossing the former Pennsylvania Railroad stone arched Rockville Bridge.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using a Nikon F3T with 35mm perspective control lens. I metered for the sun and glint on the side of the passenger cars and allowed the shadow areas to slip into darkness. There’s just a hint of the Susquehanna River flowing below the bridge and the silhouette of the hills on the far side of the river.
