On September 30, 1988, I was pacing westward Conrail freight OIBU-9 between Swain and Dalton, New York on the former Erie Railroad route from Hornell to Buffalo.
From the window of my Dodge Dart, I used my Leica M2 to make this grab shot as I reached the head end of the train.
My notes from the day indicate my exposure was equivalent to f4 at 1/250th of a second with Kodachrome 25; however I probably exposed this slide at f8 1/60th of second to enhance the effect of motion. The train had three EMD locomotives (at least one Norfolk Southern behind the leader) followed by 141 cars. 8:36 AM on September 30, 1988.
For more than 30 years this Kodachrome slide sat in my file. I reviewed it the other day while searching for Conrail photos for an upcoming book tentatively titled ‘Conrail and its Predecessors.’
Brian is Traveling and Tracking the Light’s daily posts are on ‘Auto Pilot’
The fine art of the pacing shot was perfected many years ago. In the steam era, Jim Shaughnessy and others paced big steam across the prairies and grasslands in a quest for dramatic images.
I was traveling along the west bank of the Rhein a couple of days ago with Denis McCabe, Stephen Hirsch and Gerry Conmy.
The railway here is exceptionally busy. The sun was bright and we were searching for photographic locations.
‘Green signal. Southbound.’
A minute later, ‘there’s a train overtaking us!’
I unrolled the window, switched my Lumix on, set it to ISO 80 at f8 and used the ‘A’ (aperture priority) mode, and exposed this series of images in rapid succession.
Lumix LX7 photo, south of Boppard, Germany on September 10, 2015.
Lumix LX7 photo, south of Boppard, Germany on September 10, 2015.
By using the settings described above, I allowed the camera meter to adjust the exposure to compensate for changing lighting conditions, while insuring the slowest possible shutter speed to maximize the effect of background blur.
Complicating the exposure was the reflective silver paint.
Other than scaling for internet presentation, I have not altered these images in post processing.
