Tag Archives: #Pan photo

Fast Pan—ACS64 644 on No. 654

I like to convey motion.

Over the years, I’ve made hundreds of pan photos—where the camera moves along with the subject to set the background off in a see of motion-blur.

For slow moving trains, I’ve typically panned at 1/30th or 1/60th of a second, and sometimes a slow as 1/2 second.

The other day at Greenfield in Lancaster, I panned Amtrak ACS64 644 trailing on train 654 at 1/400th of a second. Since the train was accelerating to a speed of just over 100mph, even this relative short shutter speed still allowed for a successful pan.

Exposed using a Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm zoom set at 70mm, f5.0 1/400. NEF RAW file processed using DxO PureRaw to create a DNG file. This was adjusted for color, contrast and exposure in Adobe Lightroom.

4449 Rods Down—Ooops . . .

On September 2, 1991, at Dunsmuir, California, I made a series of pan photos of the famous Southern Pacific streamlined ‘Daylight’ 4-8-4, engine 4449.

In this image, I was attempting to catch a broadside view of the engine in motion with the driving rods down. While, I captured the rods down, I managed to clip the front of the locomotive and was a bit over enthusiastic pressing the shutter release, so the whole photo suffers from motion blur.

My exposure was f13 (recorded as ‘11.5’) at 1/30th of second. Kodachrome 25 slide film.

Not ever photo wins the prize. This is a qualified ‘fail’. Live and learn.

Steam Pan at Paradise Lane

Strasburg Rail Road’s Mogul No. 89 was sprinting toward the East Strasburg station near the grade crossing with Paradise Lane.

I wanted to capture the spirit of the moment and the motion of the engine. The backdrop of Red Caboose Motel and flags flapping in the wind was a bonus.

I like the burst of steam from the whistle.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm set at 70mm, f10 1/40th of second, ISO 100.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Nine Years Ago-Irish Rail Pan in Blue Light

On the evening of February 25, 2013, I was walking along the wall on the St. Johns Road in Dublin. There’s a low spot where a few stones have been dislodged, and it was here I peered over the wall.

A Cork train was heading down road behind 201-class 219. Working with my old Lumix LX3, I exposed this pan photo.

Irish Rail 219 departs Dublin Heuston Station on February 25, 2013.

The original file was a bit dark, so I lightened the camera-RAW file using Lightroom and scaled it for presentation here.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!