On Sunday morning (3 April 2016) I took a spin on the down Rosslare Europort train from Tara Street to Dún Laoghaire.
Honestly, conditions were inauspicious for photography, but I persevered none-the-less.
A low ceiling and light rain made for gloomy conditions.
I used a blend of techniques in an effort to make some visually gripping images despite the conditions.
Working with the Lee graduated neutral density filter to maintain detail in the sky, I made a series of pans at 1/60th of second using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
Railway Preservation Society Ireland had scheduled a trip to depart Connolly Station Dublin for a run out the Sligo Road to Carrick-on-Shannon and Boyle.
Where to catch it?
There’s a bit of a pull up toward Glasnevin Junction with the stiffest climb as the line passes Croke Park.
At Claude Road a pedestrian bridge over the line offers an excellent view to the east.
On a clear day this isn’t a preferred mid-morning view, because you’d be fighting the sun (to no advantage).
No chance of the sun presenting a problem yesterday morning.
I could hear number 4’s shrill whistle as the engine departed Connolly, followed by more than five minutes of stack talk as the engine worked its consist of Cravens upgrade.
Using my FujiFilm X-T1, I exposed this sequence of digital images as the train worked by me.
The Croke Park stadium looms in the distance as RSPI number 4 barks up grade.Using my 18-135mm zoom lens, I pulled back as the locomotive approached.Old number 4 is working ‘bunker first’, and that’s cool, after all its a tank engine!I had my camera in ‘turbo flutter’ and was exposing pixels at light speed.Looking toward Phibsborough.
I wonder, perhaps I’d have been better off with my old Nikon and 400mm Tokina telephoto to hone in on the working engine? That would be a slide of course. Maybe next time.
Exposed on Fuji Provia 100F using a Canon EOS-3 with 40mm pancake lens. Exposure calculated with the aid of a hand held Minolta Mark IV light meter. And yes, I hiked all the way around the head with all that equipment including my digital cameras.
Why film? A few weeks back, I posted some views I exposed digitally of locomotive 461 emerging from the sea mist at Bray Head. See: Steam, Diesel and Electric at Bray Head on Easter Monday.
This was Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s annual Dublin-Wicklow Easter Eggspress, which ran on Easter Monday, April 6, 2015.
I wrote in my earlier posting:
Despite clear skies and warm spring weather, wafting sea fog made for challenging photographic conditions.
Shortly before locomotive 461 emerged from the tunnels near Brandy Hole, a cloud of fog rose to add a bit of atmosphere.
The mix of stunning scenery, wafting fog and bright sun made for a spectacular backdrop for the annual special.
While I made a sequence of digital photos with my Fujifilm X-T1. I was also poised with my Canon EOS 3 with 40mm pancake lens loaded with Provia 100F (color slide film). I reserved film for the most dramatic angles. Last week the slides were returned from the processing lab (Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas see: www.dwaynesphoto.com/) and I’ve scanned the slides for presentation here.
As the photographer, I feel that these images are the best of my morning’s efforts.
Some people may ask, ‘If you have a digital camera, why do you still use film?’, others may inquire, ‘If you have a perfectly good film camera, why did buy an expensive new digital camera?’
Each mode of making photos has its strengths and weaknesses. I routinely exposed photos both using film cameras and digitally.
When I get a really nice scene on a bright sunny day, I often put it on film (and I may exposed a digital image as well). In that way I get the best of both worlds. I can’t think of a good reason why film and digital photograph should be mutually exclusive, especially since they complement each other nicely.
My color slides from April 6, 2015 are now also digital images, thanks to my Epson V600. If we have a slide show, I’ll project the slides the old fashioned way.
Locomotive 461 as viewed from Mullingar Cabin, 14 years Difference.
Here’s a view of steam locomotive 461 on a Railway Preservation Society Ireland trip in April 2000, compared with similar views of the same locomotive from the same cabin, in March 2014.
In the interval, the railway has changed, and Mullingar has expanded. The junction was simplified in 2003, and mini CTC signaling installed in 2005.
Locomotive 461 shunts a carriage in Mullingar on April 21 2000.Compare this view from Mullingar cabin exposed on March 25, 2014, with the above image made 14 years earlier. Both were made of the same locomotive, from the same window, at essentially the same place.An overall view of the scene at Mullingar framed by the window of the signal cabin on March 25, 2014. Exposed with a Lumix LX3. The ‘double junction’ for route diverging at the right for the Galway road were removed with the 2003 simplification. The old junction was a carry over from when Mullingar was on the main route from Dublin (Broadstone) to Galway as built by the Midland Great Western. (In modern times, trains from Dublin to Galway have run from Dublin Heuston via Portarlington to Athlone.)
