At dusk on the evening of March 2, 2017, I exposed this view of the River Liffey in Dublin.
An Irish Rail DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) electric train is crossing the Loop Line bridge on its way to Connolly Station.
Exposed using a Lumix LX7; f2.2 at 1/5th of a second, ISO 200. Camera mounted on a Gitzo mini tripod.
The most prominent elements of the image are the Custom House, an 18th century relic of the British Imperial presence in Ireland, and coloured lights reflecting in the Liffey. The railway takes a secondary role.
When the Loop Line bridge was built in the late 19th century, pundits moaned that it spoiled the view of the Custom House. Were they lazy or just being ironic?
On 14 May 2003, I exposed this trailing view of Irish Rail’s Sligo Liner rolling west along the old Royal Canal near Enfield, Co. Meath.
The liner was hauling kegs of beer, mostly Guinness. Long after it left my view, I could here the class 071 locomotive with its EMD 12-645 diesel roaring a way in the distance.
Exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3 with 180mm Nikkor lens.
I intentionally included some foliage in this photograph. Not only do the leaves help block sun from causing flare by hitting the front element of my lens, but they add a sense of depth that would be lost without them.
Below are two views of Irish Rail’s 071 with a ballast train at the old Guinness sidings at Dublin’s Heuston Station.
This locomotive has been popular with photographers since its repainting in the 1970s heritage livery last year.
What I’m trying to demonstrate here are the various effects of lighting and technique. One view was made on black & white film in the fading daylight of early evening. The other is a digital colour photo exposed the following morning.
Which is the better photograph?
Exposed on Kodak Tri-X with a Nikon F3 with 24mm lens. Film processed using Ilford ID11 stock mixed 1 to 1 with water.Lumix LX7 photo, contrast adjusted in post processing.
Standing upon the wall of King John’s Castle in Limerick, I made this photograph looking in a northerly direction.
I found that I could just see the top of Irish Rail’s bridge on the Limerick-Ennis Line (top right). (Not to be confused with the prominent non-rail spans over the River Shannon at the top left).
I was about to consult my phone to see when the next train was scheduled, when I noticed a Ennis-Limerick railcar rolling toward Colbert Station. ‘Poor timing’ I thought, ‘I’ve just missed a train.’
No, actually the timing was perfect. So perfect in fact I didn’t even know I’d caught the train until I inspected my results later in the day.
The old castle walls offer a commanding view of the Shannon. If you look carefully immediately to the left of church, you might just notice a two-piece Irish Rail silver and green railcar crossing a green bridge.Here’s an enlargement of the image.
Wait! You don’t believe me do you? Admit it, you think I sat upon that wall in anticipation, all the while poised waiting for the train to appear!
It was here at Colbert Station Limerick that I boarded my first Irish Rail train, a two piece push-pull led by a 121 Class General Motors diesel. That was just about 19 years ago (February 1998).
The other day, I decided to travel by train to Limerick. Unfortunately on the way out I discovered that my ‘connection’ at Limerick Junction was a bus. Poor show Irish Rail. (Can I blame them for the rain too?)
On the return, my train operated (hooray!). Waiting to board, I made a few photos of the old station, which uses of the traditional terminal head-house and iron train shed arrangement.
Out front it has been cleaned up a bit, but for the most part the station looks much the way it did on my first visit all those years ago. No 121 though.
New paving stones, benches and decorative trees have improved the approach to Irish Rail’s Limerick Station. Note the big sign advertising trains.Colbert station uses a traditional arrangement with concourse and train shed.
All photos were exposed using my Lumix LX7 in February 2017.
The outward Limerick-Limerick Junction train consisted of a 3-piece Intercity Railcar. This was very well patronized.Trains operate from Limerick to several destinations, including Dublin and Galway.
Looking toward Colbert Station from a nearby road bridge.
I exposed these photos of Irish Rail’s former Midland & Great Western Railway station at Ballinsloe in January 2000. At the time, Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) was my standard colour slide film.
Crisp winter sun made for excellent lighting to feature this stone building.
So do you go out in poor light to catch something unusual? That’s your choice.
Sometimes I hold off for fine weather or good light to make images. Other times I’m faced with catching something in prevailing conditions. The railway doesn’t run for sunshine.
Once a week Irish schedules an extra IWT Liner (International Warehousing & Transport—Dublin North Wall to Ballina, Co. Mayo). In recent months, this has operated with the elusive container pocket wagons (CPWs). But it doesn’t necessarily run every week.
I have plenty of photos from Islandbridge Junction, and no shortage of images depicting the IWT Liner, and while I’ve photographed the CPWs over the years, last week I knew for certain (that’s railway certain, which is at best uncertain) that the CPWs were on due to pass.
So despite flat light, I made the effort.
Irish Rail 075 leads the IWT Liner at Island Bridge Junction, Dublin. Lumix LX7 photo.Exposed on Tri-X using a Leica IIIA with 50mm Summitar. Processed with two stage developer plus selenium toner.
Sometimes I take a haphazard approach to photography; I explore and see what I find, then run with what is handed to me. This works well some of the time.
However, I often take a more calculated approach, paying careful advanced attention to weather, lighting and train schedules/operating patterns. Obviously, this works best on railways that make an effort to operate to the schedule.
Back in autumn 2006, fellow photographer David Hegarty and I made several focused trips to Co. Mayo to photograph the Westport Line and Ballina Branch.
On Friday’s the once per week Dublin Heuston to Ballina direct passenger train was scheduled to cross the evening Westport-Dublin daily passenger at Ballyhaunis (one station east of Claremorris.) This meant that the cabin had to be staffed to work signals, points, Electric Train Staff instruments, etc.
I think we made three Friday evening visits before getting it right.
Exposed on Fujichrome Velvia 100 using a Canon EOS 3 with 200mm lens. To minimize flare, I used my handheld notebook to shade the front element of the lens. If there was one practical lesson from this exercise, that’s it!
On September 15, 2006, I exposed this trailing glint view of the down Friday Ballina train with a class 071 diesel and Mark 2 carriages meeting a class 201 locomotive leading Mark 3s on the up train to Dublin.
Soon all was to change. The signals were replaced with mini-CTC, the Mark 2s were retired, soon followed by the Mark 3s, and as a result the 071s relegated to freight/per way work.
Yet at the time the most difficult part of this photograph was the lighting! Finding a clear afternoon in Mayo isn’t an easy task.
Special thanks to Noel Enright for arranging for the sun to come out at the right moment.
Not one, not two but three cameras served as my visual capturing arsenal last Saturday.
I had so many files to download that it’s taken me a few days to finally get this selection ready for review.
Is more better?
As with my FujiFilm X-T1 photos, with my Lumix I was interested in capturing some of personalities on Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s The Western Explorer.
Getting the right angle at Connolly Station before the trip. Saturday 22 October 2016.Saturday 22 October 2016.Documenting the down run.Washboard sky at Monasterevin. Saturday 22 October 2016.Saturday 22 October 2016.Gort. Saturday 22 October 2016.Gort. Saturday 22 October 2016.Ennis, County Clare. Saturday 22 October 2016.Ennis, County Clare. Saturday 22 October 2016.Irish Rail station building at Ennis. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.Limerick. Saturday 22 October 2016.
Yesterday, I presented scaled camera JPGs of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s The Western Explorer, which operated from Dublin’s Connolly Station on 22 October 2016.
Today’s selection, are photos made using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera, but using the Camera RAW files and manipulating the data in Lightroom to present a more pleasing image.
Using contrast controls, I’ve maximized detail in highlights and shadows while adjusting colour saturation and exposure to produce more refined final images.
The day of trip featured fine weather and fluffy/lacey clouds decorated a largely blue sky. To bring in sky detail, it was necessary to locally adjust exposure and contrast using a digitally applied graduated filter.
In other instances, I manually lightened shadow areas, that without such adjustment would appear too dark and lacking in necessary detail.
I was especially impressed with the sky at Tullamore, Co. Offaly. Although I had my graduated neutral density filter kit in my camera bag, the hasty nature of photo stops was not conducive to using it. Instead, I’ve had to make due with digital adjustment in post processing.Athlone.A little contrast control goes a long way. By lowering the highlights and brightening the shadow areas, I was able to make for a much more pleasing image.
Wide angle view of RPSI’s the Western Explorer at Athenry, County Galway.Gort station features a modern footbridge that uses thick sheet-metal meshes. The effect of the holes in the mesh distorts the light resulting in some peculiar patterns. The patterns are not the result of digital image processing.Another view at Gort station.Photographers were looking for angles at Ennis, County Clare. The station shadow made for a challenging used of light.At Dromkeen, the special crossed an ICR on its way to Limerick.I made a series of views from the train windows. This one was exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.A view with the Zeiss 12mm Touit lens
Yesterday (22 October 2016) the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland in cooperation with Irish Rail operated a diesel-hauled excursion making a circle trip from Dublin’s Connolly Station.
Among the goals for the tour was a fundraising effort to help restore RPSI’s 1960-era class 121/141 General Motors diesels to traffic.
To emphasize the roll of heritage diesels, Irish Rail locomotive 071 (class leader) wearing the retro 1970s ‘Super Train’ livery worked from Dublin to Limerick, with engine 084 (in modern gray and yellow) bringing the train back up to Dublin.
My interest was in capturing the spirit of the day. In addition to photographs of the equipment, I focused on people; Irish Rail employees, RPSI volunteers and organizers, and passengers.
My cameras were busy all day. I made more than 500 digital images; so I’ll be editing my files for some hours yet.
This first round of photographs is a selection of camera-JPGs from my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera. Since the JPGs don’t require much work (except for scaling) these are easier to put up quickly. Later I’ll present a selection of images made from Camera RAW files, and finally a few views with my Lumix LX7.
As is often the case, I also exposed some 35mm slides, but those remain latent for the moment.
071 at Gort.Irish Rail 071 detailed view FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo using the Velvia colour profile.Fields of enthusiasts at Athenry.
Attymon, County Galway. Telephoto view from the road bridge.Athenry, County Galway.Tullamore. Gosh, where’s the old cement train gone?In the spirit of the day.Ennis, County Clare.Detailed view of Irish Rail class 071, a 1976 built General Motors six-motor diesel.Discussing logistics.Noel Enright poses with 071 at Athlone.
Checking the football scores.Getting the shot.Running for the train at Thurles.Happy Birthday Tina!
The old Youghal Branch is still there if you know where to look for it. It’s a vestige from another time, which makes it all the more fascinating to me.
A few years back Irish Rail rebuilt and reactivated the line from Cobh Junction to Midleton, Co. Cork, but beyond there the line is dormant. The last move east of Midleton, occurred in 1988. And prior to that trains were—at best—infrequent.
Earlier this month, Ken Fox gave me a detailed tour of the old railway, much of which is now heavily overgrown.
To the untrained eye (no pun intended) there’s little to see in most places. You could easily miss the railway altogether.
Yet, below the weeds, bushes and detritus are rails and sleepers. It more than just track; signal cabins still stand at Killeagh and Youghal, as do the old stations at Mogeely and Youghal.
Mogeely has been cleared, and there’s plenty to explore around the old station area.
The old signal cabin at Youghal is covered up and forlorn, its bells ring no more. Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.Irish Rail’s station at Youghal hasn’t seen a regularly scheduled passenger service in more than 50 years, although specials worked the line into the 1980s. Lumix LX7 photo.Ken Fox and I explored the hillside on the northeast side of the old yard at Youghal. I’d seen photos from this hillside back when the line was still active and I hoped to find this angle. Note the position of the station and signal cabin. Lumix LX7 photo.Killeagh is easily missed. The line is almost complete overgrown, yet the old cabin survives. Lumix LX7 photo.Irish Rail signal cabin at Killeagh. The line is to the left of the cabin. Believe it not, the tracks are still there! Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.An old rail serving as a post at Killeagh. Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.The area immediately around the station at Mogeely has been cleared of brush and debris. Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.Mogeely looking west toward Cork. Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.Mogul looking east. Hard to believe its been 28 years since a train last traveled these rails. Notice the old signaling rods. Exposed using a Fujifilm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit lens.I made this view at Mogeely using my Lumix LX7.
I made these photos using my Lumix LX7 and Fujifilm XT1. Any favourites?
Tracking the Light is on autopilot while Brian is traveling.
Here’s a variation on the then-and-now theme. The same rail car, with the same semaphores, on the same track, but viewed more than 17 years apart!
Irish Rail 2616 at Kent Station, Cork in August 1999. Exposed with a Nikon on Fujichrome Sensia II.Same railcar, same spot, exposed on Sunday 2 October 2016 using a Fujifilm X-T1 digital camera. Who would have thought back in 1999 that those mechanical semaphores would still be in place!
Only see one photo? Well you’ll need to visit Tracking the Light‘s original post to get the comparison. Click on the link below.
Here’s another view I made on Irish Rail’s former Great Northern line at milepost 25 near Mosney. I published a digital colour view of the Grand Hibernian the other day from this same vantage point.
Irish Rail’s 29000-series diesel rail cars are common trains on this route. They do their job well and travel up and down the line all day long. Many photographers ignore them because they are common.
Add in some dull light and tangent track, and the photography threatens to be, well, boring.
Expose on Ilford HP5 using a Nikon F3 with 24mm lens and red filter. Film processed in Kodak HC110 (Dilution B, 1:32 with water) for 3 minutes 30 seconds at 68F (20C).
Here’s what I did to make an interesting image; I worked with the texture of the scene. Rather than make a digital image, I used my old Nikon F3 fitted with a 24mm Nikkor lens and a dark red filter.
The red filter alters the way the film interprets the colours in the scene. Specifically, it allows for better detail in the sky, while darkening the greenery.
I also added a sense of depth by including the vines growing along the bridge parapet. This is a little trick I’ve used on many occasions in Ireland, and it helps to have a wide angle lens to make it work.
So while the train isn’t the most exciting on the rails in Ireland, I’ve used these old-school methods and created an interesting scene by working with the natural textures.
Tonight (Monday 3 October, 2016)- I’ll be presenting a variation of my slide program Irish Railways Looking Back Ten Years to the Cork Branch of the Irish Railway Record Society at 8pm in the Metropole Hotel in Cork City.
During 2005 and 2006, I exposed thousands of colour slides of Irish Railways. Fear not, I will not attempt to present all of these slides this evening!
Among my out-takes is this sequence exposed in summer 2006 of Irish Rail 201 diesels with passenger trains at the top of Ballybrophy Bank.
Tracking the Light Explores Photography Every Day!
Tracking the light will be on ‘Autopilot’ for the next couple of days, but will continue to display new material every morning.
I’m traveling to Cork on Irish Rail’s 0830 Dublin-Heuston to Tralee scheduled train.
Tomorrow (Monday October 3, 2016.), I’ll be presenting a variation of my slide program Irish Railways Looking Back Ten Years to the Cork Branch of the Irish Railway Record Society in the Metropole Hotel in Cork City at 8pm.
Here are a few views exposed with my Lumix LX7 at Heuston Station and on the train-posted LIVE from the train thanks to Irish Rail’s WiFi.
Sunrise at Heuston Station exposed with my Lumix LX7. Where’s John Gruber’s nun?
Exposed at Heuston Station with my Lumix LX7.Exposed with my Lumix LX7 from the train at Heuston Station.Irish Rail ICR at Heuston Station on Sunday morning.Crossing the Curragh in the fog, Lumix LX7 Photo.The Medium is the Message—My laptop on the train as I’m producing this post-the file was downloaded directly from the card to WordPress.There’s my Lumix next to the Apple. Exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 passing Templemore.10:30am: Reflections at Limerick Junction That’s the Limerick-Limerick Junction shuttle that’s parked on the adjacent platform ‘out of service’.. Lumix LX7 Photo.View near Killmallock, County Limerick. Lumix LX7 photo.
By the way, just in case anyone is curious; Irish Rail 071 in the retro ‘super train livery’ is at the yard in Portlaoise with a spoil train.
Tracking the Light is Daily!
Tracking the light will be on ‘Autopilot’ for the next couple of days, but will continue to display new material every morning.
The other day I made this sequence from the down platform at Mallow, County Cork.
What makes these photo interesting to me was the textures of the sky.
Looking toward Cork from Mallow.By introducing a digital graduated neutral density filter I was able to make the most of the texture in the sky.
In order to get the most of the sky, in post processing I worked with the camera RAW files and adjusted the contrast, colour saturation and exposure. In this situation my manipulation is a little more heavy handed than usual. I paid special attention to the highlight density.
This image was exposed just a few minutes later, notice how the sky has changed.Irish Rail 083 was running around the Railway Preservation Society Ireland’s Cravens set (working as Emerald Isle Express.) This view has the most impressive sky in my estimation. I’ve used a slightly wider focal length to make for a more dramatic view.
For the first time, Irish Rail’s Killarney simultaneously hosted passenger trains from three different operators.
In addition to its own scheduled service from Tralee to Mallow, Belmond’s Grand Hibernian, and Rail Tours Ireland’s Emerald Isle Express were in the station.
I was one of several photographers on site to capture the moment.
Belmont’s Grand Hibernian arrives at Killarney, passing the old signal cabin.Rail Tours Ireland’s Emerald Isle Express and Belmond’s Grand Hibernian occupy adjacent tracks at Killarney on 28 September 2016.Killarney, County Kerry on 28 September 2016.Three trains; three operators.
I exposed these images using my FujiFilm X-T1. To compensate for changeable lighting, I processed the camera RAW files in Lightroom, making a variety of small adjustments to exposure, contrast, and saturation to produce more effective photographs.
I arrived at Kent Station, Cork on the 0800 train from Dublin.
Irish Rail ICR at Kent Station, Cork on the morning of 28 September 2016. Exposed with a Lumix LX7.
My timing was tight; I was aiming to catch Rail Tours Ireland’s Emerald Isle Express under the curved roof.
After arriving in Cork, I had less than five minutes to get into position.
Although visually fascinating, Kent’s Victorian-era shed is a tricky place to make photos. The characteristic curvature makes selecting the best angle tough, while the lighting under the roof is limiting.
Using my Lumix LX7 at ISO 200, I was restricted to 1/15th of second at f2.2.
Sometimes limitations force me to make more interesting photos.
The characteristic roar of an EMD 645 diesel reverberates under the ancient roof.As the Emerald Isle Express approached with engine 083 in the lead I opted to slightly pan the train. This provides a sense of motion while setting the shed off in a sea of blur.
Nearly nine years ago, I made this view of an Irish Rail spoil train passing my familiar location at Islandbridge Junction.
The sun was low in the sky, which can make for nice light, but rapidly moving clouds rolling across the sky made for difficult lighting conditions. The exposure would vary by as much as two stops from one moment to the next.
Further complicating matters I gauged the exposure incorrectly and this resulted in a fairly dark slide. Sometimes, rich Novmeber sunshine isn’t as bright as it looks.
Lastly, the processing was substandard. Overall this batch of slides suffered from inadequate detail in the shadow areas and a strong red-magenta colour-cast, giving this image an unnatural appearance.
The other day I decided to see what I could do to improve this image. You might ask, “Why? Don’t you have plenty of railway photos from the this place?”
I do. Hundreds. But Irish Rail spoil trains are some of the most elusive moves on the network. Also, the equipment is this scene has all been withdrawn. The class 141 diesels no longer work on Irish Rail—although several have been preserved—and the old four-wheel spoil wagons were replaced with modern bogie wagons several years ago.
The scene itself has changed as the old Clancy Barracks to the left of the train has been developed and the area looks quite different today.
Using Lightroom, I implemented a variety of digital changes to a Hi-Res scan, which ultimately produced a far more realistic image. Below are a sequence of images that show what I’ve done.
This scan presents the slide more or less as it appears. Not only is it too dark because of underexposure, but it suffers from imperfect processing that resulted in poor shadow detail and a reddish-magenta colour cast. This is a pity, because it features a difficult train to capture and very interesting lighting conditions. I exposed the photo in November 2007 and it sat in its box for nearly nine years.I scanned the slide with my Epson V500 scanner, the using Lightroom, I was able to implement a variety of changes. I balanced the colour to appear more natural and eliminate the pink tint. Also, I manipulated the contrast control sliders (contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, blacks and clarity) to lighten the image while reducing the overall contrast and improving the appearance of the shadow areas. This screen shot shows part of what I did.This image benefits from my first round of colour and contrast corrections, yet the shadows are still muddy and the overall scene is too dark.This is my semi-final image. I’ve selective lightened some of the muddy areas, while lowering the overall contrast and tweaking the highlights to make for a more pleasing and natural looking image. The files presented here are all scaled Jpgs made from large hi-resolution TIF files.For my final adjustments, I further lightened the whole image, while manually darkening the shadow areas and further softening the contrast. This might not be perfect, but its a huge improvement over the original Fujichrome colour slide.
Too often railway photographs focus on the equipment—locomotives, railway cars, signals—and exclude the people who work on the railway.
I’ll admit I’m guilty of that sometimes. However, I’ve always made photos of railway workers, and try to include people in my photos whenever it’s practical.
That’s not always easy, especially on many modern railways that have streamlined their workforces.
These days I’ll work my personal connections and photograph railway friends when it’s appropriate.
Cork-based Irish Rail train driver Ken Fox poses for a portrait with his InterCity Railcar at Dublin’s Heuston Station. Exposed on Ilford HP5 using a Nikon F3 with Nikkor f1.8 50mm lens. Processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution D) and scanned with an Epson V500 flatbed scanner.
I like this portrait because it puts the train driver in a positive light while his train takes a supporting roll, serving as a relevant backdrop rather than primary subject.
I’ll be presenting a variation of my slide program Irish Railways Looking Back Ten Years to the Cork Branch of the Irish Railway Record Society at 8pm on Monday October 3, 2016.
The program will be held at the Metropole Hotel in Cork City.
I gave a version of this program titled ONE YEAR ON IRISH RAILWAYS; LOOKING BACK TEN YEARS on 10 March 2016 to the Dublin Branch of the Irish Railway Record Society.
While the core of the program will be similar, I’ve added a variety of new material to keep it interesting and fresh.
Irish Rail 213 at Kent Station, Cork. Exposed on Fujichrome, scanned with an Epson V500.Railway Preservation Society Ireland engine 186 arrives at Farranfore, County Kerry on 6 May 2006. Notice the effect of depth created by lining up the lighting posts on the right.Waterford-Ballina Norfolk Liner crosses the River Barrow at Monasterevin.
Sunday morning was overcast. Not the best weather for photographing Belmond’s dark blue Grand Hibernian. (Luxury cruise train).
However, since when the sun is out, the cutting at Cabra in Dublin is badly shadowed the best time to try this location is on an overcast morning.
Exploring this option, I found the most dramatic angle was the trailing view. Using a telephoto perspective, I was able to draw in the Dublin Mountains in the distance.
Waterford bound, the Grand Hibernian passes Cabra in Dublin.
Looking south, I saw that the rain was coming my way.
These images were exposed using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
I processed all three images using Lightroom.
I made nominal global adjustments to contrast and saturation and sharpened for the computer screen. Also, I used a digitally applied graduated neutral density filter to better retain detail in the sky.
There’s a certain thrill to having two trains approach simultaneously.
Saturday, Denis McCabe, David Hegarty and myself had selected a bridge near Mosney (mp25) on the old Great Northern Railway Dublin-Belfast line as a good place to catch Belmond’s Grand Hibernian cruise train.
The Belmond train departed Dublin Connolly behind an Irish Rail local passenger train and its progress was slowed when it encountered restrictive signals.
Another Irish Rail local was scheduled in the Dublin direction.
As it happened the two trains passed below us.
Belmont’s Grand Hibernian rolls northward at milepost 25. The lighting was tricky. Diffused backlit sun made for a complicated exposure calculation. I used a Lee .6 graduated neutral density filter to hold detail in the sky. In post processing I lightened shadow detail slightly while controlling highlights to reduce glare on the top of the locomotive.I turned quickly to make this grab shot of the Grand Hibernian meeting an Irish Rail 29000-series diesel railcar on the opposite main track. In retrospect, I think I’d could have made a more dramatic image if I’d used a telephoto lens setting.I moved over a few feet to get a better angle of the approaching railcar. The gray roofs on Belmond’s Mark3 carriages isn’t especially photogenic.
I saw the wonderfully textured evening sky with hints of pink and orange. But what to do with this and how to best expose for it.
Working with my Lumix LX7, I exposed for the sky, controlling exposure using the +/- dial for overall ease of operation.
My intention was to retain detail in the sky, rather than risk blowing out the highlights, and then make adjustments to lighten the shadow area in post processing to compensate for an overall dark image.
Here I’ve displayed both the uncorrected file (converted from a camera RAW to a small Jpeg necessary for internet presentation) and my manipulated image.
Irish Rail 085 with a ballast train rests in the old Guinness sidings at Heuston Station, Dublin. This Jpg was converted directly from the Lumix camera RAW file. Other than necessary scaling and watermark, I did not alter the image. Under exposure was necessary to hold detail in the sky.My modified file; using the Lumix camera RAW, I adjusted the photo in Lightroom. Specifically, I applied a digital graduated filter to the lower half of the image and used to this to locally lighten the image while manipulating contrast and color saturation. Once completed, I then made further global adjustments to contrast and exposure, focusing on lightening shadows. Despite these changes, my intent was to maintain the scene as closely as possible to how I viewed it.
A minor point: I’ve not ‘fixed’ these photos. Rather I applied a known technique to hold both sky detail and shadow areas, beyond what the in-camera Jpg is capable of delivering without adjustment. From the moment I released the shutter, I planned to make these adjustments.
The other evening, I was passing Dublin’s Heuston Station, where I noticed a heron standing on the banks of the River Liffey during relatively low-tide.
Using my Nikon F3 with f1.4 50mm lens, I made this exposure on Ilford HP5 to show the bird and the classic 1840s-built railway terminal.
On a September 2016 evening, a lone heron stands in the River Liffey near Dublin’s Heuston Station. Exposed on Ilford HP5 black & white film (rated at 400 ISO) and processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution B) for 4 minutes at 68 degrees (with a presoak water bath containing a hint of developer to help actuate initial development and improve shadow detail).
I made some nominal localized post-processing adjustments in Lightroom to help draw the eye to the bird. It’s reflection in the water helps make it more obvious.
I wonder if this effort will be obvious as the photo transcends the irregularities of the internet.
Internet imposed cropping and compression are never the friends of subtle photography. Perhaps that’s one reason that brash, bold super-saturated images prevail on the web today?
Tracking the Light posts something different every day!
Have you willingly deleted a railroad photo because of an exposure error? Or perhaps pitched an underexposed color slide? Maybe traded away a photo that you dismissed as substandard. Or maybe even dumped an entire roll into the trash because of a camera flaw?
I have.
Step back to August 1998. That wasn’t yesterday. Denis McCabe and I were photographing on the Northern Line at Balbriggan. Our aim was to catch cement trains on the move.
It was a mostly sunny afternoon with the occasional puffy cloud in the sky.
An inbound suburban train approached the platforms with Irish Rail 078 in faded orange paint leading a pair of Cravens and the requisite generator van.
Just as the train reached the optimal location for my photograph, the sun was suddenly blocked by a cloud. [Most of us familiar with making railway photographs has experienced this phenomena, and it has many names, most of them are unsuitable for reiteration here.]
Despite this setback, I released the shutter anyway, and exposed this lone 35mm black & white negative.
This is the scaled scan of the otherwise unmodified black & white negative (made positive).
After I processed the film a few days later, I made prints from the best images on the roll, then sleeved all of the negatives: good, bad, and otherwise.
I never considered printing this one. At the time, seeing an 071-class diesel leading Cravens was not unusual. It happened daily. Nor was having a cloud ruin a photo in Ireland especially unusual.
I scanned the entire roll in November 2015, not for this photo, but for the better shots either side of it. It was only on close examination on the computer that it occurred to me that now, in 2016, this image is both interesting and historic.
Its lighting/exposure defect is easy enough to compensate for using Lightroom. So I present it to you now. In retrospect it offers a better lesson and a more interesting story than the perfectly lit images of cement trains exposed on the same roll.
Irish Rail class 071 General Motors diesel number 078 leads a pair of Cravens plus gen-van at Balbriggan in August 1998. Exposed on 35mm black & white film using a Nikon F2 (on a long-term loan from Brian Jennison) and Nikkor 24mm lens with yellow filter. Film processed in ID11, and image adjusted for exposure and contrast in Lightroom.A further refinement using Lightroom.One more variation with greater contrast.
I watched as a band of high cloud inched across the morning sky.
Irish Rail class 071 diesel number 080 brought Belmond’s Grand Hibernian Mark 3 consist through the wash at Heuston Station. Interesting light with an unusual train.
To hold detail in the textured sky, I used a Lee 0.6 graduated neutral density filter with the darker portion of the filter positioned at the top of the frame.
FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens and Lee 0.6 graduated neutral density filter. Minor post-processing contrast and saturation adjustment was made using Lightroom.FujiFilm XT1 with 18-135mm lens and Lee 0.6 graduated neutral density filter. Minor post-processing contrast and saturation adjustment was made using Lightroom.
Thursday morning on my way to breakfast, I made this photo of Irish Rail’s IWT Liner (Dublin to Ballina) passing Islandbridge Junction.
I timed my visit well and so only waited a few minutes for the freight to pass.
I’ve often photographed the IWT at this location, so this was really just an exercise.
Soft morning clouds made for some pleasant lighting, but also a post-processing quandary.
My FujiFilm XT1 allows me to simultaneously expose a Camera RAW file and a camera interpreted JPG. Among the features of the Fuji cameras is the ability to select a film-like colour profile for the Jpg.
In this instance I’ve opted for the Velvia profile, which closely emulates the colour and contrast of this popular slide film.
Another colour adjustment is the white balance control. In this situation I selected ‘auto white balance’, which means the camera interprets the color temperature.
When I processed the photos, I wanted to see if I could improve upon the camera JPG by making subtle changes to the Camera RAW file (which has ten times more information imbedded in it than the Jpg, but serves in the same role as a ‘negative’ and is intended for adjustment rather than uninterpreted presentation).
Below are three images; the a JPG from the unmodified Camera RAW, Camera created JPG, and my interpretation of the Camera RAW file.
This is an uninterpreted JPG made directly from the camera RAW file. (The RAW file is way too large for presentation on Tracking the Light.) I have not made any modifications to color profile, color balance, sharpness or exposure. This file is not really intended for presentation.My in-camera JPG using the FujiFilm digitally applied Velvia colour profile with ‘auto white balance’ setting. I made no modifications to this file, except to scale it for presentation and add my watermark on the left.This is my modified JPG. Starting with the Camera RAW, I imported this into Lightroom and implemented the following adjustments: I masked the sky using a digitally applied graduated filter and custom adjusted to increase highlight saturation, decrease highlight exposure, and make for cooler colour balance. On a global level, I made minor adjustments to white balance (warmed it up) and to contrast by lightening the shadow areas, reducing highlight exposure and altering the contrast curve. I also made select exposure adjustments to the pilot area on the locomotive. To match the Camera JPG’s perceived sharpness, I applied some nominal image sharpening. (This uses edge effects to make the photo appear sharper on the computer screen.) Got all that?
Incidentally, by using Lightroom, I can make adjustments to the RAW files without permanently changing the original data. This is very important since it would be a mistake to modify the original file. That would be like adding colour dyes or bleach to your original slide to ‘improve’ the result.
Fifteen years ago, if you told me that I’d be out on a Sunday morning specifically to photograph a 201 class diesel with Mark 3 carriages on Irish Rail’s Dublin-Cork line, I wouldn’t have believed you!
This morning Colm O’Callaghan and I did just that.
The dark blue color is difficult to photograph satisfactorily though.
Irish Rail 201-class diesel (built by General Motors in Canada) number 216 is specially painted for Belmond’s Grand Hibernian cruise train. The train’s glossy dark blue represents a photographic quandary. I made this photo with my FujiFilm XT1; ISO 640, f5.6 1/500th of a second using a 18-135mm lens.
Tracking the Light is a Daily Blog on Railway Photography.
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway dates to 1834, which makes it among the earliest steam railways built outside of England.
Today the route composes a part of Irish Rail’s electrified Dublin Area Rapid Transit system. Outer suburban and Intercity trains (to Rosslare), plus occasional Railway Preservation Society Ireland steam trains also use the line.
Much of the old D&K is scenically situated along the Irish Sea, yet the electrification masts and wires, combined with sea walls, fences, graffiti and suburban growth can make it difficult to obtain a satisfactory vista with the line.
In late August, I rode the DART from Tara Street Station to Blackrock, where I exposed these views using my FujiFilm XT1.
My train accelerates away from the platform at Blackrock. The modern footbridge makes for a dominant visual element, but also offers a photo platform.A Dublin bound German-built DART train approaches Blackrock. I aimed to feature the terrace houses above the line while minimizing the visually obnoxious elements of catenary and graffiti covered seawalls.This view from the modern footbridge shows the old Blackrock Station. Here soft lighting is a real benefit.I applaud Irish Rail for installing attractive maps near the station. More of this please.
Looking toward Blackrock station and Dublin.A 29000-series diesel multiple-unit approaches Blackrock. I made this view from the public footbridge south of the station. Here the terrace houses make for added interest and a nice compositional element. The Irish Sea is on my left, but there’s a host of ugliness between the railway and the water.
Here, soft afternoon lighting helped minimize obtrusive elements, but there’s little in the photographs that convey the historic significance of the line.
The challenge continues . . .
Tracking the Light offers a daily views on railway photography.
This afternoon, after years of planning and months of preparation, high-end hotel train operator Belmond debuted its latest train; the Grand Hibernian.
This departed platform 2 at Heuston Station at 2:20pm (30 August 2016).
I made these photographs of the train and its Irish Rail crew.
For the railway enthusiast this means the return of locomotive hauled Mark3 carriages to regular traffic.
All images were exposed a little while ago using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera.
Train guards Noel and Mark at Heuston Station, Dublin.Each carriage is named for an Irish County. Sadly Mayo and Dublin were omitted.
Oy! Whosat goob?
Departing Heuston Station on the advertised.Green flag to depart.
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When I learned to use my old mechanical Leica there were three primary controls on the camera; a ring to adjust the focus (gauged with the aid of range finder using a ghost image overlaid on the main image); dials to adjust the shutter speed; and a ring on the lens to change the size of the aperture (lens hole) as indicated by a logarithmic scale with ‘f-stops/f-numbers’.
Other than merely pointing the camera, I needed to understand how these controls worked to make successful photos.
Today most imaging making devices take care of details such as exposure and focus, allowing image makers to snap away without concern for the mechanics.
In many instances this freedom facilitates the ability to make photos quickly and with relative ease. Yet, this loss of control steals from the photographer crucial tools.
I still like to set my aperture manually. This has less to do with obtaining the correct exposure (since in camera metering can quickly suggest or set appropriate shutter-speed/aperture combinations) and more to do with adjusting the depth of field to manipulate my composition.
A detailed discussion of how the f-stop (f-number) is determined on a lens and what the numbers mean can fill a textbook.
What is important here is knowing a few basics, such as; a smaller f-number represents a larger aperture size and, but more importantly, how you can use this.
As the size of aperture is increased more light is let into the camera, however with a big hole comes a decrease in depth of field (relative focus); conversely, the smaller the hole size (larger f-number), the less light and the greater the depth of field (relative sharpness between near and far objects).
By using a larger aperture (small f-number, say f1.4) the relative focus will be narrow, with those points not in focus appearing relatively soft compared with the subject in focus.
This relationship becomes exaggerated with longer focal length lenses. Where a super wide angle lens offers great depth of field even with a large aperture opening (small f-number), a long telephoto lens will offer relatively shallow depth of field even when using a small aperture (large f-number, say f16).
While the f-number may used as a constant gauging mark, what is most useful is controlling the degree of relative focus to achieve a desired effect.
Personally, I like the effect of a long lens with relatively shallow depth of field because this allows me to draw the eye of the viewer.
Full frame and uncropped; I exposed this view at Kent Station, Cork in January 2005 using a NikonF3 with 180mm lens at f2.8— its widest aperture.
As with many successful stories, it often helps to lead your audience on an unexpected path before giving them what they want. I’ll often tease a viewer by leaving some crucial element of an image just beyond the range of sharpness, while placing the focus on something else, like say a railroad signal. Or vice versa.
I can’t tell you what to look at, but I can try to draw your eye. Notice where I’ve placed the focus, but also those things I’ve allowed to be less than fully sharp. The larger this photo is viewed, the more relevant the topic of relative focus. An image viewed at 3×5 inches won’t necessarily convey the same impression when viewed much larger.
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