Last week, I made this view of Strasburg 475 at Cherry Hill road in Strasburg, PA.
High thermal clouds softened the midday summer sun.
There was a time in my Kodachrome days that I would have cursed the puffy clouds if they so much filtered the midday sun. However, I’ve found that in several ways slightly filtered sun, especially during the highlight of midday, leads to better photos.
With my digital cameras and post processing, I make the most of shadowed light, while the softened sun offers better contrast on the locomotive.
I made this view using my Nikon Z7-II, and I adjusted my NEF RAW files with Adobe Lightroom.
On directional double track, trains proceed on signal indication in the current of traffic. On Two Main track, both tracks are signaled in both directions, which allows trains to proceed on either track in either direction on signal indication.
Last week, I made these views of the westward Amtrak Keystone train 647 on the close track at Leaman Place, PA. From what I could ascertain, it had run around another train on the far track near Parkesburg.
While this move was fully signaled, I thought it was comparatively unusual in that it was the first time I’d seen a regularly scheduled Amtrak westbound using the near track at this location. This made for photo opportunities that I might not have considered if the train was on the far track.
I made this motor drive sequence using my Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens.
An article by By Patricia Harris and David Lyon in the Boston Globe Magazine features one of my photos of Conway Scenic’s Mountaineer ascending Crawford Notch near the Arethusa Falls grade crossing.
This image has been part of my autumn Mountaineer repertoire for a while and is among photos I made of the train in autumn 2021.
I exposed it with my Canon EOS7D with 100mm prime Canon telephoto.
Here’s a wee secret: part of the visual success of this photo is that the nose of the engine is not the focal point. This a counter-intuitive trick I learned many years ago when exposing Kodachrome, and where many photographers miss the mark. By placing the focus on something other than the main subject you can make a more inviting image.
My photo of Conway Scenic Railroad’s Mountaineer graces the cover of September/October 2023 Bus Tours Magazine.
For this post I thought it would be nice to say something useful about the photo.
Finding it proved challenging. It’s not like I have one photo of the Mountaineer on Crawford Notch. More like one-thousand. I’m not bragging. It made finding this one a real challenge.
The image was not in the usual Mountaineer selections. An image from the same location has appeared a number of places in recent months, and that photo was made with my Canon EOS7D. But this photo was a puzzle. It wasn’t made with the Canon, but rather with my Nikon Z6. Once I found the correct day in October 2021, I reviewed several sequences looking for a vertical wide-angle.
I was coming up with a goose-egg. Finally after some searching, I started reviewing my original NEF RAW files and found the image I was looking for. This was exposed as a horizontal and cropped vertical!
Below are three versions. The cover of Bus Tours Magazine; the original un-modified NEF RAW file, and an approximation of the modified and cropped file.
Nikon Z6 with 24-70mm lens; set to 30mm, ISO 200 f8.0 1/320Cropped and adjusted version of the above file.
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light Posts Every Day!
Here’s a few views from my old Canon EOS7D from ten years ago.
I’ve Imported the old Canon CR2 (RAW) files into Lightroom (version 5.5) to make a host of minor adjustments that were not available to me at the time of exposure.
Although this older Canon digital camera didn’t capture as much data as my modern Nikons, it still did a wonderful job of preserving the scenes.
It’s been a long time since the 071s wore the black and silver livery.
Irish Rail 074 leads an empty ballast train down road near Hazelhatch. This is the ‘HOBS’ (High Output Ballast System).A 200mm view near Clondalkin in West Dublin of a down ICR on the quad track section.Up IWT liner approaching the Memorial Road Bridge with 071 class locomotive 083.The Up-Cork rolls through ‘the Gullet’ on the last leg of its run to Dublin’s Heuston Station. I made this view from Memorial Drive. 28 August 2013.
On our visit to Rockville Bridge last weekend, a few minutes after we caught a westward autorack train, we heard an eastward train approaching.
By this time, I’d swapped lenses and had my Z7-II set up with the 70-200mm zoom that I normally use with my Z6.
From our position near the boat launch on the west bank of the Susquehanna, I made this sequence of the second freight crossing Pennsyvlania Railroad’s iconic bridge—the third bridge at the this location.
Having lived in northern New Hampshire for several years, where freight trains are as rare as hens teeth, it was thrilling to see freights with almost no waiting time.
Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series-zoom set at 70mm; f4.5 1/800, ISO 100. RAW file adjusted in Lightroom.Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series-zoom set at 70mm; f4.5 1/800, ISO 100. RAW file adjusted in Lightroom.Nikon Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series-zoom set at 125mm; f4.5 1/500, ISO 100. RAW file adjusted in Lightroom.
The ONE boxes on this double stack train reminded me of a day in Dublin about five years ago when I’d walked up to Cabra to catch the outbound IWT Liner that was carrying several of these hot-pink containers. That seems like a world away and a long time ago.
This is a variation on yesterday’s theme, but on a different day with a different Keystone, and another road.
I’d made a sunset silhouette of the on-coming train; then turned around to make this going away view of Amtrak Keystone 618.
Gap, PA: ACS-64 626 is powering the train from the back. Kris is filming the passing train from her silver Tiguan using her iPhone 13. While, the empty lanes of Strasburg Road on the left.
We got a friendly toot toot from the headend as the train passed.
Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens. RAW file cropped in post processing for lateral emphasis.
On our way home, we paused along Jefferson Drive in Greenfield, Lancaster, PA, to roll by Amtrak Keystone 620 on its run from Harrisburg to Philadelphia.
The sun had dropped under a textured evening sky, making for a stunning display of natural color.
Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom set to 50mm; f4.5 at 1/800th of second at ISO 2000.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom set to 50mm; f4.5 at 1/250th of a second at ISO 2000.Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm zoom set to 50mm; f4.5 at 1/160th ofa second at ISO 2000.
Last weekend, Kris, Boomer-the-dog and I, timed our arrival at Blackhorse Road in Strasburg to catch the 1900 (7pm) evening train that only runs relatively infrequently.
I like the evening run because it is relatively quiet and the light tends to be better. Midday sun in July is a bit harsh and rarely results in optimal photographic conditions. Although it was partially cloudy, the softer light allowed good photos in both directions without harse contrast.
I made these views with my Nikon Z digital cameras of the evening train coming and going on its way to and from Leaman Place where it runs around to change directions. There’s no wye on the Strasburg Rail Road so the engines face westward.
A few days ago, a storm had cleared away the hazy dust and for once there was some sweet evening light at Gap, Pennsylvania along the old Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line.
We’d stopped at a nearby Rita’sIce to get a treat for Kris and pulled up to a park-like setting in view of the famous clock tower. I was tracking Amtrak Keystone train 669 and knew it was close.
When Amtrak Siemen’s ACS-64 663 rounded the bend with train 669, I exposed a sequence of photos with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm lens then raised my Lumix LX-7 for coming and going wide angle views, followed by another sequence with the Nikon. Kris made a phone video of me taking photos.
I’d just sat back in the car, when Kris said, ‘Look! Another train,’ as an eastward Amtrak train squealed into view. My Lumix was still in my hand and ready to go, so I made a couple of grab shots. I assume this was a deadhead move, as it hadn’t appeared on the tracker. The engineer gave us a friendly toot! as the train passed.
I love bonus trains that I wasn’t expecting!
Keystone train 669 led by ACS-64 663 catches the light at Gap, PA. Nikon Z6 with Nikkor Z-series f2.8 70-200mm.Lumix LX7 view of Amtrak Keystone train 669 westbound at Gap. This was the first time I’d seen ACS-64 #663 in motion and so I was delighted to catch it in such nice evening light.My Lumix LX7 is a wonderful camera. However, one of it’s limitations is a comparatively narrow dynamic range. In this instance the sun has completely washed out.Trailing view of Keystone train 669 at Gap.A Lumix LX7 grab shot of an unexpected dead-head move eastbound at Gap, just a minute after westward 669 had passed. The best camera is the one you have with you and ready!Lumix LX7 trailing view at Gap, Pennsylvania.
The old Pennsylvania Railroad station at Christiana is a neat place to catch Amtrak’s Keystone trains. Over the last few months I’ve visited this location several times.
Saturday evening Kris and I stopped by Christiana to make a few photos an approaching eastward Keystone.
I track Amtrak’s trains on my phone using the ASM.transitdoc.com app, which updates about every 5-6 minutes and shows the train’s last reported location, operating speed, and indicates if it is on-time or runnng behind, while providing a full schedule of station stops.
This is often more useful than either Amtrak’s own website, which can be difficult to navigate quickly, and more up to date than 3rd party printed schedules.
We wanted to photograph Keystone Train 674. As it turned out this was operating on a special schedule owing to track work. I only discovered the train’s schedule alteration after the fact when researching the timetable for this Tracking the Light post.
However, since we used transitdoc App, the on-line interactive map provided all the information we needed and was up to date and literally at our finger tips!
So, despite the schedule alteration, we only had a short wait at Christiana and made some neat photos of the train coming and going at speed.
After Plymouth, we drove south along the old Boston, Concord & Montreal route to Ashland, New Hampshire, where I photographed the restored Boston & Maine station there.
We had visited this location a couple years earlier. So far as I could tell, very little had changed since our previous visit.
I made these photos with Nikon Z7, and few supplemental images with my Lumix LX7. All were processed using Adobe Lightroom.
Next stop was the White Mountain College for Pets in Holderness to collect Boomer-the-Dog.
Nikon Z7 photo.Historic Ashland station photo on display in front of the station museum (copied using a Lumix LX7).Historic Ashland station photo on display in front of the station museum (copied using a Lumix LX7).Nikon Z7 photo.Nikon Z7 photo.Nikon Z7 photo.Nikon Z7 photo.Nikon Z7 photo and self portrait.Nikon Z7Lumix LX7 photo.
Saturday, on the final stage of our move from the White Mountains to Pennsylvania Dutch Country, we drove to the White Mountain College for Pets in Holderness, NH to collect Boomer the Dog from his training.
It’s a long drive and we budgeted plenty of time to get there. I used the padding in our schedule to explore a few places on the old B&M Boston, Concord & Montreal route, including the station at Plymouth, NH.
It has been an age since Plymouth was an important place on the old B&M, but the rails, albeit rarely traveled, remain in place. The station building is now occupied by the local seniors center.
The sky was swollen and spitting rain, when I made these photos using my Lumix LX7. (RAW files adjusted in Lightroom)
Strangely, while this was the first time I’d photographed at the Plymouth Station, I had a distinct sense of de ja vu. I can’t explain why.
I made this pastoral scene ten years ago on a visit to Wisconsin with John and Dick Gruber.
We had been photographing former Milwaukee Road lines in the central part of the state and were making our way to Waukesha to visit our friends at Kalmbach.
Near Pewaukee Lake, we heard the blast of an approaching eastbound freight on Canadian Pacific. With little time to spare, I made this hastily composed grab shot of the train running along the north shore of the lake. In the lead was a former BC Rail locomotive. High contrast made for a challenging scene.
The sun was nearly 180 degrees from the camera, yet my lens was shaded by the trees in the park. While the lighting was harsh the photo conveys the spirit of a sunny summer evening in Wisconsin.
Last night, I made a series of adjustements using Lightroom to improve the presentation of this image.
Scaled but otherwise Unmodified Canon CR2 RAW file exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 28-135mm lens set to 28mmScreen shot of Adobe Lightroom work window showing the ‘Select Sky’ mask and my adjustments to the highlight and color temperature sliders. By using the mask my adjustments only affect the selected areas. Photo exposed in June 2013.Adobe Lightroom work window with a semi-final image. This shows the positions of slider controls as applied to the overall image including the previously adjusted sky.Final output of the CR2 RAW file. In the final corrections, I lowered overall contrast while increasing the white level. Note the detail in the bark of the trees.
There was a heavy sky at sunset last night, grey with particulates and low cloud. Kris and I turned down North Star Road to make photos of the red globe in the sky.
Below are the NEF RAW file (scaled), my adjusted file, and the Lightroom work window showing the position of adjustment sliders.
It took less than a minute for me to implement my adjustments.
This is the unadjusted NEF RAW file from my Nikon Z6. This is same file following adjustment to increase saturation and alter exposure and contrast.Lightroom work window showing the position of adjustment sliders.
My photography for Conway Scenic Railroad often focuses on the people.
The train crew are the faces of the railroad and are often featured in the company’s social media and advertising. Not everyone likes to be pictured, so I tend to focus on those who don’t mind my camera.
Last week, fine Spring weather made for some great light to photograph railroaders at work.
I often use short telephoto lenses and wide f-stops for shallow focus to better set the people apart from the background. In post processing I soften contrast and lighten shadows to make for more flattering images.
Monday’s Mountaineer Social was the first passenger excursion over Crawford Notch since November.
This famous view has been popular with photographers for generations.
I was standing on the side of Route 302 looking across the chasm toward ‘The Girders.’ Lighting here can be a challenge. Normally when the train reaches Crawford this bridge would be in shadow . On Monday, bright hazy light made for excellent conditions to capture a train in this stunning vista.
To give the passengers a good view of the scenery, Conway Scenic’s trains take easy when approaching the Gateway at Crawford Notch.
The train’s slow speed and a handy telephoto zoom lens allowed me to make several compositions of the train on the bridge by adjusting focal length and framing as the train climbed through the Notch.
Nikon Z-6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-Series zoom set to 135mm, f4.5 1/640 sec, ISO 200.Nikon Z-6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-Series zoom set to 70mm, f4.5 1/640 sec, ISO 200.Nikon Z-6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-Series zoom set to 90mm, f4.5 1/640 sec, ISO 200.Nikon Z-6 with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-Series zoom set to 200mm, f4.5 1/400 sec, ISO 200.
It was a beautiful morning in North Conway the other day. I arrived just as a switch crew was working the yard. They were moving equipment to suit the needs of the roundhouse crew.
I spent a few minutes with my Nikon Z7-II and 24-70 zoom to make the best use of the rich morning sun.
I found that it helps to chat with the crew, so I could anticipate each move and be in position to make the most of the situation.
In recent weeks, Conway Scenic’s work train crew have made great use of the railroad’s century-old wooden bodied caboose.
Although it is Spring, a chill has remained in the air in New Hampshire’s Mount Washington Valley. So, several days ago the crew improved the car’s coal stove in the car and put it to use.
Using my Nikon Z7-II (with 24-70mm Nikkor lens), I made these photos at North Conway of the caboose and its classic coal stove To make the most of the large NEF RAW files, I processed them using Adobe Lightroom, reducing highlight density to improve detail, while lightening shadows.
Although, I have described these techniques in previous Tracking the Light posts, in this post, I’ve pushed the effect to a greater degree, which makes the alterations more evident.
It was a typical Irish overcast day on 3 May 2014. Using my Canon 7D, I made this selction photos of Irish Rail.
Last night, I imported my nine year old Canon CR2 RAW files into Lightroom and re-profiled them as an exercise.
Three of the four photos below were adjusted for color, contrast, and exposure. One of the images was the in-camera JPG.
One of the great advantages of working with digital RAW files in post processing is the ability to lighten the shadow areas. This small adjustment can significanly improve the appearance of photos made in dull overcast lighting.
Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens. Adjusted CR RAW file.Irish Rail ad on a Dublin Bus. Canon EOS 7D with 100mm f2.0 lens. Canon JPG.Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens. Adjusted CR RAW file.Canon EOS 7D with 100mm telephoto lens. Adjusted CR RAW file.
Last night Kris and I watched a Sci-Fi film about time travel.
Afterwards, I thought about how each of my slide binders offers a form of time travel.
Lately on Tracking the Light, I’ve been offering windows in time. Each that looks back through my photographs; one week, five years, etc.
I look at this photo and I think how much has changed since I exposed this frame of Fujichrome.
I was standing at ‘the box’ at the St John’s Road in Dublin on the evening of 29 April 2007. I made the image with a Nikon F3 with 24mm Nikkor lens.
Much of these scene has changed in the intervening years. The old baracks behind the train was demolished and replace by an upscale housing complex. The view of the tracks looking west has been obscured by brush and bushes (don’t ask which is which). And, these days I rarely exposed Fujichrome in Dublin with a Nikon F3.
Irish Rail’s Mark4 sets still work the Dublin-Cork run though. So that’s something.
Tracking the Light Looks Back—Daily!
Full frame scan of a 35mm slide exposed on Fujichrome using a Nikon F3 with 24mm Nikkor lens. 29 April 2007
It was the second day of a two-day Irish Railway Record Society diesel tour on Irish Rail.
After the first day, the train had laid over at Killarney where a bunch of us made the most of this famous tourist town.
On that morning, I arrived back at the station in time to catch the tour for its run to Tralee and back to Killarney (before continuing via Mallow, Limerick Junction and Waterford on its circuitous return trip to Dublin). Some of the tour passengers opted to rest a little longer a Killarney and so skipped the excursion to Tralee. Understandable (After all it was a soft day).
Approaching Farranfore on the return run to Killarney, the rain turned to snow. While waiting for the signal to clear, I made this sequence of photos from the vestibule of the train using my FujiFilm XT-1 digital camera.
On the evening of 15 March 2013, I walked around Dublin making photos of civic structures that had been lit with green-tinted light to celebrate the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday.
To hold my cameras steady, I worked with a mini Gitzo tripod with adjustible ball head.
Dublin’s Heuston Station, lit green for St. Patrick’s Day. Time exposure with a Lumix LX3. Lumix RAW file adjusted using Adobe Lightroom to obtain better color balance and improve shadow detail.The Wellington Testimonial in Dublin’s Phoenix Park had a hint of green light reflecting of its eastern flank. Exposed digitally using a Canon 7D.
This is a good exercise in seeing, and a great way to preserve the effects of change (or not, as the case may be).
Below are two views of Irish Rail’s tracks as seen from atop the Phoenix Park Tunnel off the Conyngham Road in Dublin. These images were exposed exactly one year apart.
In both situations, I was walking back to my old apartment at Islandbridge in Dublin and made a photo of the tracks with a Lumix.
The March 1st, 2014 view was made with an LX3 and exposed as a RAW File; the March 1st, 2015 photo was a JPG made with a Lumix LX7.
The vantage point was nearly identical, although the focal length and framing was slightly different.
Last night I found a box of Kodachrome 25 slides from January 1998 exposed using my original Nikon N90s of trains in New England and Quebec. These were in order of exposure having never been labeled or projected.
The film was processed by A&I Lab in Los Angeles.
I made this view from the South Street bridge in West Warren, Massachusetts of Conrail light engines running west on the Boston Line. To the right of the train is the Quaboag River.
The photo was made in the late light of the day and the shadow from the bridge can be seen in the foreground.
Scan made using a Nikon LS-5000 Scanner driven by VueScan software.
Exposed on Kodachrome 25 using an Nikon N90S with 50mm Nikkor lens. January 1998.
Tuesday morning in Strasburg was cloudy and dull. I made my way over to Leaman Place where Strasburg Rail Road’s line connects with Amtrak’s former Pennsylvania Railroad Main Line to Harrisburg.
I made these photos of westward and eastward Keystone trains zipping along under wire. The typical operation has an Siemens ACS64 electric at one end and a Budd-built former Metroliner cab control car at the other.
Both images were adjusted for color temperature, shadow and highlight detail and contrast in post processing.
Amtrak Keystone train No.646 eastbound at Leaman Place. Exposed using a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens at 74mm. ISO 800, 1/4000th sec f2.8.Amtrak Keystone train No.641 westbound at Leaman Place. Exposed using a Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens set at 200mm. ISO 800 1/2000th sec at f2.8.
Yesterday, I brought my new Z7-II to work and made a few photos around the Conway Scenic Railroad and on my way home in the evening.
These images are all adjusted and scaled from the Camera NEF (RAW) files.
Now to set the date on the camera to 2023!
NX Studio work window of the above image.Conway Scenic Railroad former Maine Central GP38 255.NX Studio work window of the above image.NX Studio work window of the above image.NEF file adjusted for high impact with altered contrast and inceased saturation.NX Studio work window of the above image.
I exposed a variety of slides during our visit to Maam Cross in October.
Jim Deegan and company were hard at work on the on their Midland Great Western restoration project when Kris and I arrived by coach.
Working with a 30-year old Nikon F3 loaded with Fujichrome Provia 100F, I made these slides of the lads.
The film was processed and mounted by AgX Imaging in Sault Saint Marie, Michigan. I scanned the slides with a Nikon LS5000 slide scanner powered by VueScan 9.7.08 software and processed the TIF files in Adobe Lightroom for presentation here.
In mid-October, I traveled the length of the old Dublin and Kingstown route to meet with my friends in Dun Laoghaire.
The Dublin and Kingstown Railway was opened in 1834 between Westland Row (today Pearse Station) and the harbour in Kingstown (now called Dun Laoghaire).
It was the first railway in Ireland and often claimed as the world’s first suburban railway.
Today, this route is operated as a portion of Irish Rail’s Dublin Area Rapid Transit electric service and hosts InterCity services to/from Rosslare Europort.
I had excellent autumn sun for my spin to Dun Laoghaire and stopped off at a couple of stations to make photos using my Nikon Z6 digital camera.
