Just a few minutes after the westward freight pictured in yesterday’s TTL post passed Underpass Road in Mexico, Pa., when my Sixth Sense (common to veteran rail-photographers) tingled.
“There’s an eastbound.”
I walked across the crossing with my Z6 with 70-200mm in hand and ample time before this approaching train came around the bend. I set up from a safe distance while, Kris made photos from the south side of the tracks.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
September Sunset at Esbenshade Road in Strasburg. Filtered late summer sun made for classic golden glint light.
Years ago, I made a project of captureing trains in the glint light on Kodachrome. This film had a wonderful ability to render glint that made for many stunning slides.
The other night I used my Nikon Z7-II to capture the fading summer sun.
To make the most of the scene, I set the camera to ‘M’ (manual) and dialed in my shutter speed and aperture by using the in-camera histogram to get the most effective pixel distribution from dark to-light . This resulted in about a stop darker than the in-camera meter was suggesting in ‘A’ mode (automatic).
After exposure, I balanced the image with post processing controls using Adobe Lightroom. In this way I was able to maintain detail in the sky and on the side of the train, while keeping the shadows from becoming opaque.
Tracking the Light Catches the Golden Glint!
The evening began with dissipating fluffy clouds. As the sun sunk in the western sky, I anticipated a colorful late summer sunset.
We drove to Strasburg, where I made this sequence of photos of Strasburg Rail Road’s J tower, and various equipment on dispay at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and in the Strasburg Rail Road’s yard using my Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series lens.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
I routinely work with two or more cameras.
The other day, photographer Mike Gardner (and TTL reader) sent me a photo he made of me on a trip back in October 2004. “I think you had two Nikon F3s and a Contax G2 around your neck.” That sounds about right.
So, when photographing Reading & Northern’s 2102 with Dan Cupper on July 1st, I worked with my two Nikon Z-mirrorless cameras in tandem.
As previously described on TTL, I have my Z6 set up with a Nikkor Z-series 70-200mm zoom, and I made the following photos using this combination.
These are all relative long-telephoto views, and offer a contrast to the more traditional approach presented on my earlier TTL posts of R&N 4-8-4 2102 in action.
Among the challenges of the July 1st chase with 2102 was haze and smoke stemming from Canadian wildfires—conditions that had affected eastern Pennsyvlania for days. This produces some unusual color temperature and made for some unusal lighting conditions.
Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Yesterday morning, Kris and I got take-away breakfast from the Spreckled Hen in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. We drove over to Cherry Hill Road to roll by the 11am train to Leaman Place and enjoy our food.
I was delighted that former Canadian National Railways 2-6-0 number 89 was leading the seven-car excursion. (The 2-6-0 wheel arrangement is known as the Mogul Type.)
Rain was closing in from the west as I made these images using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens. Kris made a video with her iPhone 13 that she posted to Facebook.
As we waited for 89’s return trip we had a pleasant surprise . . . Stay tuned for the details and more photos!
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
