Tag Archives: #Night photo

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Another Nocturnal View at Rattenberg

My post ‘I’m Uncertain about this One . . .‘ (from Sunday, February 1), resulted in considerable feedback! Several readers wrote to me with cropping suggestions that improved the overall appearance of the image. (Thank you!).

Below is another view from Rattenburg, exposed a few minutes earlier on the same evening (12 January 2007). This is a long time exposure looking back toward my vantage point (by the lamp to the left of the tracks) from Sunday’s post. In this photo, I like the effect of the train streaking into the tunnel at Rattenberg, Austria.

My shutter was opened for about 30 seconds to allow the train lights to streak. The headlight streak was the result of a locomotive at the rear of the train. The unusually long exposure allow the sky to fill in a bit, despite the winter darkness.

Fujichrome slide exposed for about 30 seconds at Rattenberg, Austria, 12 January 2007.

Just a reminder:

This evening (Wednesday, Feb 4, 2026) is my next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and details night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., from 5 pm to 7 pm EST). See: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/night-photography-at-the-museum-with-brian-solomon-tickets-1980583252825?aff=erelexpmlt

Tracking the Light Examines Night Photography!

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Rainy Night at Gap

As Amtrak Keystone 667 glided through Gap, I made a series of night photos aiming to stop the action and capture the pouring rain.

To do this, I used my Nikon Z6-III with ‘Fast Fifty’ and the ISO sensitivity racked up to 64,000. This resulted in a very noisy NEF RAW file. I imported the NEF file into PureRaw and processed the image to reduce noise and correct for other lens defects before converting the image into DNG file for final cosmetic adjustment using Lightroom.

The sequence below shows the series of changes during this transformation, including the final processed image.

This is scaled image was made directly from the original NEF RAW file without noise reduction or cosmetic processing.
Computer screen shot of the PureRaw review window; the original NEF RAW image is at the left, the PureRaw conversion is at the right.
Full frame image following PureRaw corrections and noise reduction before cosmetic adjustments.
Lightroom work window showing correction sliders affecting contrast and exposure.
Final scaled image following PureRaw and Lightroom adjustments. Notice that the noise in the sky has been minimized while retaining the effect of the falling raindrops.

Tracking the Light Shares Night Photography Technique!

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Not Quick Enough: How I Went Wrong!

I was aiming to make another photo of Amtrak at Hoover Road in Gap.

We were ahead of the train, but not by much.

I had just a few moments to get set up, and set up my 3Pod tripod. Complicating matters, based on the results of my earlier evening attempt at this location, I wanted to try my f2.0 135mm Nikkor lens that offers a slightly telephoto view.

I quickly took my Nikon Z6-III out of the bag and in near total darkness I began to change lenses. Unfortunately, the tripod plate for the 3Pod head blocked me from attaching the 135mm lens because of the lens’s protruding tripod foot. So, I needed to remove the plate from the camera, attach the lens, then attach and tighten the tripod plate to the foot on the 135mm. By this time there was an audible ‘grouch!’

Then, I started to attach the camera to the tripod, but I saw the bluish glare of the headlights of the rapidly approaching train, so I decided to abandon my tripod, and attempt to make the photo handheld. My ISO was set to 400! I needed 64000, so I quickly dialed in the higher sensitivity. However, I still needed to set the lens aperature ring to f16 in order to control the lens aperture using the camera controls. My shutter speed was too slow, and my aperture was set to f5.6, worse, I still needed to focus manually. The train was nearly full frame!

I focused, and released the shutter. The resulting exposure was too hot. I’d run out of time. . . damn . . .my shot was ruined! And then the tripod collapsed!

In my haste, I failed to properly tighten the legs. Fortunately, the camera wasn’t on the tripod, it was around my neck. I was saved by my haste to make the photo!

Below are versions of the failed image, showing it with and without PureRaw processing.

Over-exposed NEF RAW file without processing; ISO 64000.
Over-exposed NEF RAW file following Lightroom corrections, but without PureRaw processing to reduce noise and correct lens defects.
Over-exposed NEF RAW file following PureRaw processing to reduce noise and correct lens defects and Lightroom adjustments to exposure and contrast.

Tracking the Light saved by a fail.

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Viennese Night Photos-Revisited

I was searching through my hard drives for some photos when I came across a large batch of unidentified images from a trip to Austria in October 2016.

This was a very productive adventure, but I never properly sorted my photos.

I made these on a rainy night using my Fuji X-T1 with 28mm pancake lens with the camera set to 1600 ISO—which was just about as fast as I’d push the camera.

I imported the original RAF Raw file into PureRaw to denoise the photo and correct for lens imperfections. I was extremely impressed with the results, which are so much better than I could have anticipated at the time I exposed the photos. For presentation here, I made a variety of color and contrast corrections to the final image using Adobe Lightroom.

For me these images nicely translate the nocturnal urban environment of the cosmopolitan Austrian capital.

Tracking the Light explores the night!

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Night Before Christmas at Paradise Lane

Strasburg Rail Road’s Night Before Christmas excursion was working upgrade from the East Strasburg, Pa., station with engine 90 leading tender first.

This offered another great opportunity to test the limits of Nikon’s Z6-III with the ‘fast fifty’ (f1.4 50mm).

This sequence was exposed hand held, which allowed me to pan the train as it passed. I had the ISO set to 64000 and this enabled a shutter speed of 1/100th of second at f1.4.

Not bad for hand held at night! A nearly full moon augmented street lights and Christmas lighting near the tracks.

My next Railroad Photography 101 Class will be held on Saturday Dec 13, 2025 from 9 to 11am at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The theme to this class will be working with holiday settings, including techniques on how to make better night train photographs.

See: https://www.eventbrite.com/…/railroad-photography-101…

Tracking the Light walks the night.

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Eastbound on a Hazy Evening

The other night, Kris and I paid a sponaneous visit to my old stomping grounds at Palmer, Mass.

While the New England Central was switching the former Central Vermont Railway yard, we could hear an approaching eastbound freight on CSX’s former Boston & Albany.

I set up my 3pod tripod on the platform of the old Union Station (now Palmer’s popular Steaming Tender restaurant), and exposed a sequence of photos of the passing train using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.

These images were made at 1/15 second at ISO 1000. NEF Faw files were converted to DNG format pins DxO PureRaw software and then adjusted in Lightroom to alter color, contrast and exposure.

Wildfires in Canada contributed to haze that made for some interesting visual effects.

CSX M436 (Selkirk to Framingham) approaches Palmer, Massachusetts. Lights on the station helped illuminate the train.

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Valley Flyer

Amtrak’s Valley Flyer connects Greenfield, Mass., with New Haven, Conn. by way of Springfield, Mass.

A couple of weeks ago, Kris and I rolled the train by at its Windsor, Conn., station stop.

Working with my FujiFilm XT1, I made this handheld at ISO 3200—’look ma, no 3Pod (clip)!’

This gave me enough shutterspeed to stop the arriving train.

In the lead was former Metroliner cab control car 9638.

FujiFilm RAF Raw file processed using DxO PureRaw and color corrected in Adobe Lightroom.
FujiFilm RAF Raw file processed using DxO PureRaw and color corrected in Adobe Lightroom.

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Evening Station Stop Parkesburg, PA.

An eastward Amtrak Keystone paused briefly on the platform at Parkesburg, Pennsylvania for its scheduled station stop. I was poised in position with my Nikon Z7-II and f2.8 70-200mm lens mounted on a 3Pod tripod.

The tripod’s ball head and the camera’s built-in level made it comparatively easy to set up.

Working with the a 2-second self-timer, I was able to minimize vibration as the result of pressing the shutter release.

I exposed using the NEF RAW format, then converted the file to PNG format using DXO PureRaw, and made corrections to color, contrast and exposure in Adobe Lightroom.

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Winterfest 2024—Festival of Lights

For decades, I’ve paid visits to the Connecticut Trolley Museum (at East Windsor) during their Festival of Lights, when they operate vintage trolley cars at night under a tunnel of electric lights.

In 1983, the museum used one of my Ektachrome slides for a postcard.

The other day, Kris and I paid a brief visit to the museum, where I made a few digital photos, as well as an Ektachrome slide or two for posterity.

The photos below were exposed digitally using my Nikon Z7-II (with 24-70mm lens) mounted on a 3Pod tripod. I still have another 31 slides to expose on the Ektachrome before I’ll send the film for processing.

Z7-II with 24-70mm lens at 24mm, f4.0, 3 sec, ISO 64
Z7-II with 24-70mm lens at 52mm, f4.0, 4 sec, ISO 64

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Little Island, Revisited

On our nocturnal tour of Irish Rail’s Cobh Branch with our friend Will, Kris and I paused at the station at Little Island, where we photographed the 2100 (9pm) Cork to Cobh train making its scheduled station stop.

Since my last vist to this suburban railway station, Irish Rail has erected a huge modern footbridge over the tracks. This was not yet open to the public, so we made our photographs from the old iron footbridge.

I had my Nikon Z7-II mounted on a mini-Gitzo tripod to allow for a slower shutter speed with relatively low ISO.

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Manheim, Pennsylvania

In the gloom of a cold winter night, we followed the old Reading Company tracks to the station at Manheim, Pa..

This preserved building is now maintained by the Manheim Historical Society. A few restored freight cars are displayed outside along with a Pennsylvania Railroad caboose, plus railroad artifacts such as historic baggage carts.

The tracks are operated by Norfolk Southern.

I exposed these photos with my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens mounted on a tripod. In post processing I adjusted the NEF RAW files to adjust color temperature, lighten shadows, control highlights and reduce contrast.

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Nocturnal Views at Lititz, Pa.

During our visit to Lititz, Pa., I made these photos along the old Reading Company tracks that bisect the town.

The caboose on display was once operated by Central Railroad of New Jersey and has been convincingly dressed to resemble similar cars that had been operated by the Reading.

Nearby is the replica passenger station, a structure that during daylight hours serves as a welcome center.

Although the end of track is about a block away, Norfolk Southern still serves this route. We caught a glimpse of a railroad HyRail truck and a rail-defect detection vehicle on the night of our most recent trip. However, we were unable to make a photo of these vehicles at work.

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Christiana Station at Night

On our evening drive, we called into the former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Christiana, Pa.

With my Nikon Z7-II firmly mounted on my old Bogen tripod, and working with available light I made these photos using time exposures. Details below:

Nikkor 24-70mm lens at 70mm, 1 second exposure at f4.0, ISO 200.
Nikkor 24-70mm lens at 28mm, 3 second exposure at f4.0, ISO 200.
Nikkor 24-70mm lens at 29mm, 6 second exposure at f4.0, ISO 200.

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Holiday Lights at Strasburg

I mounted my Nikon Z7-II firmly on my old Bogen tripod to allow for slow ISO and long exposures to make these night photos of the holiday lights at the Strasburg Rail Road.

I played with the color temperature presets to find the best combination for capturing the hues of the colored lights. The setting shown in each caption is that calculated by Adobe Lightroom using the Kelvin scale.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set to 41mm, color temperature setting = 3,450 degrees Kelvin; exposure f4, 10 seconds, ISO 200.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set to 41mm, color temperature setting = 5,300 degrees Kelvin; exposure f4, 8 seconds, ISO 200.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set to 41mm, color temperature setting = 6,000 degrees Kelvin; exposure f4, 10 seconds, ISO 200.

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