Tag Archives: #Nikon

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Nocturnal Musings and Bridge Shadows

I didn’t think we could do it, but we did!

In recent months, we often rolled by nocturnal freights at Columbia or Washington Boro, Pa. Likewise, I’ve made numerous trips to the bridges at Safe Harbor, but rarely caught a train on the move.

If only we could just chase a train and beat it to the bridges.

After I made my exposures of Norfolk Southern unit coal train 632, we decided to follow it. It had a good roll-on and was making a steady 30 mph. By the park in Washington Boro, we were even with the locomotives, and with a clear road ahead of us, I zipped southward to Safe Harbor.

We arrived in time for me to set up my tripod, expose a few test photos and set my camera to catch NS 632 framed up beneath the enormous trestle that once carried Pennsylvania Railroad’s Atgen & Susquehanna Branch—a busy double track freight route in its heyday.

To stop the train, I set my Z6-III to ISO 64000, and adjusted my ‘Fast Fifty’ to its widest aperature (f1.4).

Afterwards, I processed the NEF Raw using PureRaw to minimize image noise. For point of comparison, I’ve displayed both the unprocessed NEF RAW file (with detail enlargement) and the post processed image (with enlargement).

I’m 89 percent satisfied with my results, but will need to try this again!

My next class at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania covers night photography techniques. This will be held at the museum in Strasburg, Pa., on Wednesday, Feb 4 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

NEF RAW file before processing, displaying the effects of high-noise which is a function of using high-iso settings. (ISO 64000, f1.4 and 1/100 second shutter speed)
Greatly enlarged portion of the unmodified NEF RAW image.
NEF RAW file following processing with PureRaw to minimize noise and with Lightroom to adjust contrast, exposure and color.
Enlarged version of the image following post-processing

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Nocturnal Passage; Amtrak Keystone 645

In the dark of a winter’s evening, I worked with my Nikon Z6-III fitted to a 3pod tripod to compose a scene near Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line—the former PRR electrified route connecting Philadelphia with the state capital.

Amtrak Keystone 645 had departed Parkesburg, Pa., and was only minutes away.

My challenge was trying to focus the camera in the inky blackness. I don’t trust the camera’s autofocus system in extremely low light, because I’ve found it has a tendency to ‘hunt’ if the the light changes suddenly, which can result in a photo that is completely out of focus.

Luckily, one of the features of the Nikon Z cameras is the ability to enlarge the scene in the view finder which makes it easier to focus manually.

By the time the headlights of the westward train began to illuminate the scene I was all set. As the train approach and passed me, I made this sequence of trailing images (the train was moving away from me) with the camera set to ISO 64000. I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw to eliminate noise and correct for lens imperfections.

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Seamus Enjoys the passing Steam at Esbenshade Road.

Last Saturday, Kris, Seamus-the-dog and I caught up with our friend and fellow photographer Pat Yough at Esbenshade Road in Strasburg to watch and photograph the railroad’s Santa Paradise Express trains.

Seamus enjoyed watching the trains pass from the safety of our car as we made photographs.

Clear winter sun and brisk conditions made for stunning displays of steam and smoke. I exposed these photos with my Nikon Z7-II, but also made images with my Z6-III and my dad’s old Leica M4 (loaded with Kodak Ektachrome). Kris worked with her FujiFilm X-T4 digital camera.

After a little while we moved on to another location to make productive use of the light and intensive railroad action.

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ISO 6400 Action at Dusk

It was a full moon. The sun had just set. I heard a distant whistle at Willow Road on the New Holland Branch. This was Norfolk Southern’s New Holland local returning west. So, with little time to squander I made my way to the familiar grade crossing at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, Pa.

As the 25-car freight approached the crossing, I made this series of images handheld, while gently panning the lead locomotive. My Nikon Z6 was set to ISO 6400. To minimize noise, I processed the NEF RAW files with DxO PureRaw, then implemented cosmetic refinement in Lightroom.

Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens; ISO 6400, 1/20th sec at f4.0.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens; ISO 6400, 1/15th sec at f4.0.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens; ISO 6400, 1/40th sec at f4.0.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens; ISO 6400, 1/6th sec at f4.0.

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Lunch at Tamaqua Station

On our way to Scranton, Kris and I stopped at Tamaqua, Pa., for lunch at the Tamaqua Station Restaurant.

I was pleased to see that the article I wrote for Trains Magazine last year that features the restaurant had been laminated and displayed for visitors to enjoy.

This former Reading Company station has great atmosphere and offers a great menu selection. Kris didn’t have the opportunity to sample the desserts on this visit, so we agreed to return soon.

Photos exposed using my Nikon Z7-II.

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Horseshoe Curve—Film & Digital

I’ve often carried multiple cameras.

In the mid-1980s, I’d have a Leica rangefinder loaded with Kodachrome and my father’s Rolleiflex Model T with 120-size Verichrome Pan black & white negative film.

In the 1990s, it was multiple Nikons with slide film with various ISO sensitivity.

During the early 2000s, I worked with a Contax G2 rangefinder for wideangle photos and Nikons for telephoto views—all loaded with 100 speed Fujichrome.

Today, I carry Nikon mirrorless digital cameras, and occasionally a Lumix or Fujifilm digital camera, while once in while bringing out one of my 1990s-era Nikon F3s loaded with Ektachrome.

Such was the situation at Horseshoe Curve last October.

Here I’ve made two photos of the same westward Norfolk Southern hopper train. The first photo was exposed on E100 Ektachrome using the F3 with f2.0 35mm lens; the second is a digital photograph made with my Nikon Z7-II.

This comparison is about style, rather than image quality. I make different kinds of photos using different equipment and materials. There’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. I have both images and they both work for different reasons.

E100 Ektachrome with a Nikon F3 SLR with Nikkor AF f2.0 35mm lens
Nikon Z7-II mirror-less digital camera with 24-70mm lens. The image has been slightly cropped.

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Tyrone—Ektachrome-1

Last October, Kris, Seamus and I chased a westward Norfolk Southern freight on the former Pennsylvania Railroad Middle Division from Huntingdon to Tyrone, Pa.

Although I exposed a few digital photos, I’ve been waiting for this image for months.

Yes, I still occasionally expose color slides. However, where I once would shoot several rolls a day, these days it took me almost eight months to work through four rolls of Kodak Ektachrome. Finally, I boxed these up and sent them off to AgX Imaging in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan for E6 processing. https://www.agximaging.com

On Monday, my four boxes of slides were returned to me in good order.

Owing to exceptional selectivity, I had a high ratio of success with the processed photos. A few were disappointing (mostly as the result of underexposure), but there are many very satisfying photos in the selection.

I made this image from the station platform at Tyrone of the NS westward train as it reached the apex of the curve. I was working with a vintage Nikon F3 with f2.0 135mm lens loaded with Ektachrome E100. I scanned the slide using a Nikon LS-5000 slide scanner.

Below are two versions of the scan. The first is the unmodified scan, more or less the way it looked right out of the scanner (converted to JPG and scaled for internet presentation). The second is after some nominal post-processing. More slides to follow!

unmodified scan
Adjusted scan.

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Mogul on a Bright May Morning

It was a clear morning last Saturday and I was aiming to try something a little different. Over the last couple of years, I’ve made countless photos of Strasburg Rail Road number 89 (a former Canadian National 2-6-0 Mogul type) crossing the pastoral fields in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Working with the contrast of mid-morning, I exposed this view of 89 on its return run from Leaman Place. By including a small tree, I’ve provided a visual balance to the locomotive.

The result is a scene that could have been a century ago.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom lens. NEF RAW file adjusted using Lightroom.

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Active D-Lighting

I’ve continued to experiment with my Nikon Z’s ‘Active D-Lighting’ contrast reduction feature.

In this example, I photographed an Indiana & Ohio C40-8CW in the New England Central yard at Palmer, Mass.

This was a perfect opportunity to see how the Active D-Lighting feature would accommodate high-contrast midday sun.

Since the ADL feature only affects the in-camera JPG, I opted to craft a comparison image working from a PureRaw converted RAW file that I manually adjusted using Adobe Lightroom.

The Jpg is right out of the camera and scaled for internet; the converted RAW file required a host of manually implemented color, contrast, and exposure corrections to make the most of the image.

Any thoughts?

In-Camera JPG with Active D-Lighting feature. Other than size scaling, this is free from adjustment.
Nikon NEF RAW file adjusted manually. Consider the difference in truck detail between this photo and the In-camera JPG.

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Nikon Active D-Lighting

It’s been nearly five years since I bought my first Nikon Z-series mirrorless camera and I’m still exploring the camera’s features.

Normally when working with the Nikon Z, I exposed photos simulataneously in NEF Raw and JPG. Typically, I only use the JPGs as back up and to quickly review images (because it is easier and faster to open the JPG files). I work with the NEF files using Lightroom and other software to make the most of images in post processing.

One of the advantages of my FujiFilm X-Series cameras is that the photos come right out of the camera with excellent color. I can select from a variety of color profile presents that emulate Fuji’s popular film color palates. Not only are the JPGs typically ‘ready to go’, but I can easily apply the present color profiles to the Fuji RAW (RAF) files and use the Fuji color profiles as a starting point when refining RAW images in post processing.

My Nikon Z cameras offer a feature called ‘Active D-Lighting’ that can be applied in-camera to the JPG files as a tool to reduce contrast and make the most of high-contrast situations.

The other day, Seamus-the-Dog and I were driving around. I planned to intercept the 11am Strasburg Rail Road excursion to Leaman Place. It was intermittently raining and the sky was bright with laden clouds. I felt this would be a grand opportunity to try the Active D-Lighting feature. I selected one of the intermediate ADL settings.

Below are my scaled, but otherwise unaltered JPGs. This reflects the color and contrast as preserved in the original file.

More exploration of this feature is necessary. Stay tuned.

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Milk, Honey & Easter Bunny

The Middletown & Hummelstown advertises itself as The Milk & Honey Line. Last sunday, Kris, Seamus & I, called in to Middletown, Pa., to see the railroad’s annual Easter Bunny Express.

This consisted of center-cab GE 65-ton diesel number 2 hauling a pair of former Lackawanna multiple unit trailers. This certainly made for a colorful consist.

It had been an overcast morning, but at about 1145 the sun peaked through the clouds. I made this view using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens. This was set to 36mm, f8.0 at 1/640th of a second at 100 ISO.

The Middletown & Hummelstown has Easter Bunny Expresses scheduled for next weekend too, with trains on Friday April 18th and Saturday April 19th. https://www.mhrailroad.com/special-event-schedule/

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Red Leaves at Hoover Road

This season has seen some glorious sunny weather and brilliant foliage.

I’ve been aiming to make the most of it!

Last week, I exposed these views of Amtrak Keystone 643 at Hoover Road west of Gap, Pa., The flaming red sumac leaves in the foreground are key part of my compositions.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set at 32mm, 1/1000th of a sec, f4.0 100 ISO.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set at 39mm, 1/800th of a sec, f4.0 100 ISO.

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Sunset Pan of Amtrak 618

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.

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Subtlety of Steam on Soft Evening

We were on our way to the Fox Meadows Creamery for ice cream and coffee. I made a slight detour via Strasburg, thinking we might just catch the 5pm train returning.

As we approached Paradise Lane, we saw the train coming aross the cornfields. I pulled in and reached for my Nikon Z6.

Since the weather had been very warm and humid, we were running the air-conditioning in the car. When I stepped outside my lens immediately frosted over. So before I could make an exposure, I had to wipe the front element clean. Then I exposed this sequence of photos.

I’m pleased; these turned out well for hastily composed photos on a soft summer evening.

Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 200mm, f4.5 1/640 second, ISO 200. Image adjusted during post-processing for exposure, contrast and saturation using Adobe Lightroom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 95mm, f4.5 1/800 second, ISO 200. Image adjusted during post-processing for exposure, contrast and saturation using Adobe Lightroom.
Focus set on the tabacco leaves in the foreground. Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom set to 140mm, f14 1/60 second, ISO 200. Image adjusted during post-processing for exposure, contrast and saturation using Adobe Lightroom.

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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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Classic Kodachrome—Conrail 6717 leads TV9 at milepost 123.

If I wrote: ‘6717 WB w TV9 mp123 11-13-92’ would it mean anything to anyone but me?

It was a clear morning in November 1992. I’d set up west of Huntington, Massachusetts on Conrail’s Boston Line—the former Boston & Albany mainline grade over Washington Hill.

At that time, intermodal freight TV9 (Beacon Park, Boston to Chicago) routinely made its westward passage through the Berkshires in the morning.

On this particular day, the train was led by SD50 6717. While not unheard of, this was uncommon power for TV9, as in the early 1990s Conrail typically assigned sets of three and four GE C30-7A, C32-8 and C36-7 diesels to most of its Boston Line road freights.

Kodachrome 25 was my standard film. This traditional emulsion made it possible to expose dramatic backlit photos such this one. The nature of the grain structure and Kodachrome process, allowed the film to retain a degree of highlight detail while maintaining a clean edge between light and dark, even in high contrast situations such as this one.

Working with the locomotive exhaust and headlight, I made this dramatic silhouette of the train ascending the grade against a stark autumnal background.

I was working with my Nikon F3T with Nikkor 200mm lens set to f5.6 at 1/125th of second. To minimize flare, I shaded the front element of the lens with my notebook.

Today, the lack of ditchlights really dates the image. By the mid-1990s, ditch lights were standard on most locomotives.

The time was 8:10am. Conrail’s westbound TV9 met the eastbound SEFR near CP123 (just around the bend from my location). The eastbound passed me nine minutes later.

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Reflections at Delanson

March 19, 2005: CP Rail freight 412 roars through Delanson, New York on the Delaware & Hudson’s Albany & Susquehanna route.

I was traveling with fellow photographers Tim Doherty and Pat Yough.

We’d strayed off course, having started the morning on the west end of CSX’s old Boston & Albany, and kept pushing west.

I made this image on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3 with Nikkor 180mm telephoto lens.

To make the most of the puddle in the foreground, I took the prism of the camera and held the body close to the water level, while looking down through the fresnel focusing glass. The challenge of this unusual technique is composing the photo in reverse, since without the prism the fresnel projects a mirror image.

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Slowing for the Curve at Gap

Amtrak Keystone 666 was slowing for the restrictive curve at Gap, Pa.

Siemens ACS-64 electrics were fore and aft. White lights forward, red at a rear.

Working with my Nikon Z mirrorless cameras, I exposded this coming and going sequence as the train glided east toward Philadelphia.

Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm zoom.

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Details on the Middletown & Hummelstown

On a July evening, we paused for a few minutes as a rosy sun set over Middletown, Pennsylvania.

I made this sequence of photos using my Nikon Z6 fitted with a 1980s-era Nikkor f2.8 ED 180mm telephoto.

I’ve found that when shooting in raw with this old lens, the contrast and color more closely resembles photos that I made in the early 2000s on Fujichrome slide film.

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Meet near Cove, PA.

A slow moving westward Norfolk Southern freight had crossed the former Pennsylvania Railroad Rockville Bridge in the evening light. After Kris and I made our images of the train on great span, we motored west on Highway 15 to catch it again.

Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.

A few miles west of Marysville, near Cove, PA, we spotted a stopped eastward train, and set up up to catch the two trains passing in the evening light.

Imagine if it were 1953, and these were trains led by Pennsylvania’s impressive M1 4-8-2 Mountains types.

Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.

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Buffalo & Pittsburgh GP38-2 at White River Junction

Yesterday, Kris & I visited White River Junction, Vermont, where I photographed a pair of EMD diesels on Genesee & Wyoming’s New England Central, including Buffalo & PIttsburgh GP38-2 No. 3511.

To emulate an image I made here in the 1980s of a Boston & Maine GP7, I framed B&P 3511 in the station canopy using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.

Below are two versions of the NEF file. The top version is scaled but otherwise unaltered. The bottom version has been adjusted with changes to shadow and highlight density, color temperature, and contrast, with nominal sharpening.

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MBTA Norfolk-Trailing View

On our return from Cape Cod last month, we paused at Norfolk, Massachusetts for lunch and to roll by MBTA Train 2706 on its way to Boston, South Station.

During an earlier visit to Norfolk two years ago, Kris and I noted that MBTA/Keolis was working to install two-main track (signaled in both directions on both tracks) on this portion of the Franklin Line—a former New Haven Railroad route that was at one time graded for directional- double track, but in my lifetime has been a single track railroad. 

Some progress was made and on this visit I noted that new signals and crossovers were in place on both sides of Norfolk, however the track through the station has not yet been completed, and the signal heads turned away, indicating they were not yet in use.

Using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens, I made these trailing views of train 2706 looking toward Walpole and Boston.

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Sugarbeet Crossing at Carrick-on-Suir

Late October traditionally represented the start of Irish Rail’s sugarbeet season. This was among the most intensive freight operations in Ireland and saw up to seven laden trains daily operated from the beet loading point at Wellingtonbridge, Co. Wexford to the processing factory near Mallow in Co. Cork.

In November 2005 halfway through the final sugarbeet season, I made this photo of laden and empty trains crossing at Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary.

Standing on the footbridge in the station, I working with a Nikon F3 loaded with Fujichrome. One of my favorite lenses at this time was a manual focus Nikkor f2.8 180mm, which saw good use during beet season.

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Brussels PCC Tram-1996

I exposed this color slide on a visit to Brussels with my father in May 1996.

I carried two cameras on that trip. My primary body was a Nikon F3T that I bought new from Nikon in 1990. My secondary camera was second hand Nikkormat FTN with an outer covering of red leather. I called it ‘my red Nikkormat’.

Back then, I’d usually load Kodachrome 25 in the F3T, and Fujichrome 100 in the Nikormat. I exposed film in both cameras manually using a handheld Sekonic Studio Deluxe light meter to calculate exposure.

I carried two cameras on that trip. My primary body was a Nikon F3T that I bought new from Nikon in 1990. My secondary camera was second hand Nikkormat FTN with an outer covering of red leather. I called it 'my red Nikkormat'.
K25 color slide exposed using a Nikon F3T with f1.8 105mm lens. Slide scanned digitally and adjusted in Lightroom. May 1996.

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Shinkansen on Frame 39.

Working with slide film had its perils. Normally, I used 36 exposure roles.

However, I’d carefully load my manual cameras and try to squeeze as many photos out of each rolls as possible.

This was risky, because often the last frame would get ruined in processing. So, I typically save that final frame for something less important, but still interesting.

On April 23, 1997, my father and I waited on a Shinkansen platform at Nishi Akashi west of Osaka. I made a few photos of this passing Series 300 Series highspeed train as it blasted by at approximately 186mph.

Working with my old Nikon F3T, I exposed this final frame on a roll of Fuji Provia 100 as the train passed me at speed. In processing, Fuji cut the last little bit of the slide (to the left of the train). 

For years this slide sat in a box, unworthy of slide shows. I scanned it yesterday. Below are two versions. One is full frame, the other is cropped.

Full-rame JPG scan of frame 39 showing the effect of the cut. Nishi Akashi, Japan.
Cropped scan of the same slide.

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BRNO, Czech Republic.

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In April 2005, I visited the Czech city of Brno with Denis McCabe and the late Norman McAdams.

Working with a Nikon N90S with f2.8 180mm Nikkor lens, I exposed this Fujichrome Sensia II (ISO 100) slide of a tram as it approached the stop near the main railway station.

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