We arrived at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, Pa., a few minutes ahead of Amtrak 618.
Curiously, a film crew was in postion to make a motion picture about someone running. I got into a brief discussion about equipment with one of the tech guys, who approved of my Nikon Z6.
When Keystone 618 came into view, I exposed the burst of images at ISO 1600. There was a hint of sunset in the clouds.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
More fortuity.
Regular Tracking-the-Light readers are aware that over the last year I’ve made a project of photographing Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch in Lancaster, Co., Pa. This TTL post is more about ‘being there’ than about strategic photographic technique.
There are times when I’ve waited hours for a train that never shows. And there are times, when despite everything, I just happen to be in exactly the right place at the right time.
Toward the end of July, I was on my way over to clean our old Greenfield apartment before turning the keys back. I had late start and I got caught behind a waddling truck that further delayed me. But this delay opened opportunity! As I crossed over the former PRR Main Line at Pitney Road, near the junction with the New Holland Branch, there—Ta Da!—was the eastward NS local freight. Perfect timing, and completely by accident.
On a normal day the local would be at Pitney between about 8:45 and 8:55am, and I’d hear it sound for the Greenfield Road crossing about 9 o’clock sharp. I spotted the freight on this day nearly two hours late. Also, it had a pair of SD40Es and 26 cars, making it one of the largest freights I’d seen on the branch since moving to Lancaster.
I made a short detour to Jefferson Drive, where I caught the train curving below Hwy 30 and running near my favorite little pond, then zipped post-haste up to Willow Road to make a series of pastoral views. In no time I was back at the apartment to complete the task at hand
Sometimes that little delay in traffic is the fortuity needed to get the shot. Here’s the lesson: take advantage of the gift when it comes to you.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Last night a stormy sunset filled the western sky. Thunderstorms were raging to the North and West of Lancaster, Pa.
Kris and I drove by my standard location along Jefferson Drive. Amtrak Keystone 620 was just getting ready to depart Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
We paused so I could made a few photos using my Lumix LX7. Using the ‘Scene Mode’ feature, I selected ‘Night mode’ to make better use of the low evening light. This blends a series of images exposed during a synchronized burst.
I’ve included the camera info in the last frame which lists all the tech data imbedded in the photo.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Today the moving truck comes to get our heavy stuff—furniture and what-not— to bring to our new house.
We’ve already moved the bulk of our smaller items including more than 135,000 color slides, 15,000 B&W negatives, and hundreds of books, notebooks and related materials.
In the spirit of this transition, I thought I’d post this view I made along Jefferson Drive, near our Greenfield apartment in Lancaster, Pa.
Amtrak ACS-615 leads train 642 on its eastward journey from Harrisburg toward Philadelphia.
This was among the locations just a very short drive from the aparment. Our new house is closer to the Strasburg Rail Road and the former PRR’s Port Road Branch, and just a 15 minute drive from Amtrak’s Harrisburg line, so I still plan to post regular photos from these locations.
Tracking the Light Posts Everyday!
(even when ‘in-transition’)
For the last year, Kris and I have lived in an apartment at Greenfield in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One of the great benefits of this location has been the proximity to both Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line and Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch.
A couple of weeks ago, as I went about my Sunday errands, I made this photo of the outbound NS local freight on its way east toward New Holland. I’ve photographed this run dozens of times since moving to Greenfield.
This week Kris and I bought a house. This offers many significant improvements to our standard of living including; an enclosed garage, lots of storage and office space, and a fully finished basement (already allocated for the latest interpretation of the Reading Company in HO Scale).
The new house is only 15 minutes from Greenfield, but will no longer be within earshot of the New Holland Branch. So while I may still seek out the New Holland local, it will require a bit more effort than during our Greenfield stay.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
For the next weeks the sun will be rising and setting on the north side of Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line where it runs parallel to Jefferson Drive in Lancaster.
I’ve been making a project of working the light at this familiar location.
Amtrak Keystone train 618 is a good choice because this is scheduled to depart Lancaster at 1945 (745pm) which can result in some dramatic backlit photos.
On this occasion, Amtrak ACS-64 number 615 was leading. This elusive electric was on my list of Amtrak locomotives to photograph on the move. I guess I can tick that box!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Yesterday evening after 830pm (May 24, 2024), the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for Lancaster, PA and vicinity.
Over a span of about 15 minutes, I made this series of photographs looking northward using my Nikon Z7-II. These images were scaled from the in-camera JPG files without adjustment or modification.
The lighting (and the lightning) was very intense.
It’s never a good thing when you see a greenish colored sky.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I drive by this signal almost daily.
It’s not an easy item to represent photographically.
In light of midday, the lights are nearly lost in the inky ring.
At dusk, the lights standout, but they are are easily overexposed which has the unintended effect of desaturating the light color.
A more complicated problem is stopping a fast moving train when the light is optimal for catching the signal lights at their correct density and hue.
Focus is another issue. In this situation, I was working with an f2.8 70-200mm zoom wide open (f2.8). I set my shutter speed manually to 1/640th of a second. According to the camera meter this resulted in about 2/3s stop (-0.7) under exposure. ISO was set to 5000. My focus point was on plane with the signal. The signal and near track are sharp, but the train suffers both from motion blur and being slightly out of focus.
Not a lot of options to do better. But, I’ll keep trying.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
A few days ago I posted an evening glint photograph made with a 35mm lens of an eastward Amtrak Keystone passing Jefferson Drive, near Greenfield in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
(see: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/35mm-sunset-glint/_)
These images were made at sunrise few days later from almost the same vantage point, but using a telephoto zoom (Nikkor Z-series 70-200mm) of eastward Keystone service train 642 (led by Amtrak ACS-64 608).
I thought it would make for an interesting comparison to show how differently a location appears at different times of day and with different focal length lenses.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Working with my Z6 with AF Nikkor 35mm f2.0/D attached via a Nikon FTZ adaptor, I made this imag sequence of Amtrak Keystone 618 racing eastward at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, PA.
I timed my arrival just a minute ahead of the train.
My objective was to see how the traditional 35mm lens would handle the glinting sunset on my Z-series digital camera. I adjusted my exposure manually (aiming for overall underexposure to better capture the effects of the bright sun), then made changes to the camera’s NEF RAW files in post processing to make for overall appealing photographs.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
By the time you read this, the pink blossoming trees along Jefferson Drive in Lancaster will have leafed out in their Spring greenery.
Toward the the end of the blossoming season, Kris & I took a morning drive with our new puppy, Seamus. We paused briefly along Jefferson east of the westward signal.
Soft lighting made for a good time to catch an eastward Amtrak Keystone as it raced toward Philadelphia along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line.
I exposed a sequence of images to frame the train in the blossoms of one of the trees along the road. This was my fourth attempt in this sequence of pink tree photos.
I’ve included both a full frame and tightly cropped version of my favorite from the rapid-fire sequence of digital photos.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I made another attempt a scoring a westward Amtrak Keystone passing a blossoming tree on Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, PA.
In my first attempt at this location, my efforts were foiled by a passing pickup truck that altered my composition and confused the Nikon’s autofocusing system. See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/amtrak-pink-tree-blossoms-fail/
I did much better with my second effort, which featured Norfolk Southern’s local freight on the New Holland Branch (which is adjacent to Amtrak’s electrified line). See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/flowering-tree-part-2-crescent-cab/
For this third effort, I reduced the size of my autofocus point and relocated it so it would not be affected by road traffic.
I also adjusted the zoom outward to provide a wider angle of view.
Although a car snuck into the photo at the last moment, at least the camera remained focused on Amtrak. This was more successful than my first attempt, but not as pleasing as my second effort. Time was running out for the pink blossoms, but I wasn’t done with this project yet!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I’ll run out of intriguing titles before I get to the end of this thread.
Last week, following my compositionally challenged, autofocus mishap with the flowering tree photos, I had a second opportunity to work the pink tree into some railroad photos.
This time, I used it as a prop for some morning images of Norfolk Southern’s New Holland local approaching Jefferson Drive in Lancaster. I’d featured the reflecting pond here in an earlier post.
Bright morning sun made for nice lighting. I was impressed by the leading locomotive, which was one of Norfolk Southern’s 6900 series SD60Es featuring the so-called ‘Crescent Cab’ (the railroad’s blunt-nose variation of the safety-cab).
I was delighted to catch the local freight here, but was still hoping to work one of these colorful trees into a photo of an Amtrak Keystone, so I knew I had to try again. Although it isn’t obvious in these photos, Amtrak’s former PRR electrified line to Harrisburg passes immediately to the left of the flowering tree.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Spring is a beautiful time of year in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Beautiful blossoming trees can be seen all along the roads and highways.
Finding trees near the tracks is more of a challenge, but not far from our apartment are some of the most rail-proximate photographable specimens .
Sometimes what seems so easy, proves difficult.
Last Monday, I planned to catch a westward Amtrak Keystone passing a beautifully blossoming tree along Jefferson Drive.
I set up a few minutes ahead of the train. However just as the westward train raced into view (cabcar first, ACS-64 electric at the rear), a pickup truck entered the scene. Not only did this truck present a distracting element in my composition, but as the truck passed it threw off the autofocus on my Nikon Z7-II. It changed the center of focus from the train to an indiscriminate point.
This all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time, I recognized there was a problem, it was too late to fix it.
The resulting images were something less than satisfactory. So I knew, I’ll have to try this again . . . .
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Sunday afternoon, Kris & I went for a wee drive. This was neatly planned to coincide with the passing of a westward Amtrak Keystone at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster.
For a week, I’d been eyeing the Spring blossoms on decorative tress along Jefferson drive, but was discouraged by the ‘Irish’ weather we seem to have brought back with us.
Since Sunday was bright and clear, I recognized the time was ripe to make the most of the light and the trees.
Photos were exposed of Amtrak Keystone 665 on its approach to Lancaster, PA.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I was running errands. On my way back to the apartment, I found that Greenfield Road under Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line was closed—likely as result of flooding from the recent rains—so I detoured around via Willow Road. On my way, I heard Norfolk Southern’s New Holland local sounding for a crossing.
I approached Willow Road (in greater Lancaster) with haste. With my Lumix LX7 in hand, I pulled over in time to see theNS local freight approaching. I didn’t have much time to set the camera. So, I zoomed in, framed up my photo and exposed a series of digital images.
The first two were the best.
When I got home I discovered that the camera was set to record in JPG rather than RAW. That’s not the end of the world, but not having a RAW file greatly limits the ability to make adjustments.
In this case, it doesn’t matter much, December morning sun produces excellent lighting conditions with very good contrast and color.
I’ve scaled the best of the sequence for presentation here, but the photo is otherwise unaltered, and appears basically as it looked right out of the camera.
I was home about 5 minutes after I made this photo.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Clear autumn mornings are one of my favorite times to make photographs.
The other day, everything came together: the weather was perfect, and Norfolk Southern’s New Holland Branch local was right on time. This featured classic EMD diesels back to back, and I had just enough time to get into position at Jefferson Drive to catch the train in lush setting.
I made this sequence of photos as the train squealed through the curve on its way toward New Holland, Pennsylvania.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
In late July 2020, Kris Sabbatino and I were returning from a wander around far northern Vermont, when we paused at Lancaster, New Hampshire.
This was shortly before sunset. I had HP5 loaded into a Nikkormat FTN.
I made these images using ambient light, then processed the film using a custom tailored two stage development recipe:
Before primary processing, I presoaked the film in HC110 diluted 1-300 for 6 minutes; then for primary development I used Ilford ID11 1-1 at 70F for 7 minutes, followed by ‘stop’, ‘first fix’ ‘2nd fix,’ 1st rinse, Permawash, 2nd rinse and final wash.
I scanned these negatives using an Epson V600 flatbed scanner.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
