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.
Approaching Seapoint.Seapoint station stop.DART interior.Dun Laoghaire .Dun Laoghaire .
A few weeks ago, I accompanied the Conway Scenic Railroad ballast train on its journey up the Mountain.
I had multiple things on my agenda: we needed a accurate accessment of where ballast was needed for future trips; I wanted to inspect the limits of some recent slow orders; I’m looking to rework the company Timetable and was checking various aspects of the right-of-way; and I wanted to photograph the ballast train crew at work.
Many years ago, I traveled with a branch line ballast train in Ireland, where the locomotive driver said to me, “My crew, they’re allergic to work!”
Nothing could further from the truth with Conway Scenic’s work train crew. Dumping stone is a physically taxing job and not for the faint of heart. Our guys put 110 percent of effort into the job and earn every dime of their pay.
By contrast, all I had to do was run along with the train, make notes and expose digital photos—a few of which I’ve posted here.
Eleven years ago, I made this end of daylight view on the longest day of the year at CP83 in Palmer, Massachusetts.
CSX’s westward freight Q423 had stopped to change crews. In those days, Q423 ran from Worcester, Mass., to Selkirk, NY. I cannot recall why the crew was on short time.
I made the exposure using my Canon EOS-7D at 6400 ISO at 1/3 second, f3.5 using a prime 28mm lens.
The Canon 7D is an excellent camera. I’ve had mine for a dozen years and exposed thousands of digital photos with it. It’s higher ISO settings are weak compared with modern cameras. Here the 6400 ISO setting appears relatively pixelated. Yet at the time I was delighted to the ability to use such a fast ISO setting at the twist of a dial.
File adjusted in Lightroom from the Canon 7D camera RAW file. Color, contrast and exposure were modified during post processing.
On May 11, 2012, I made this digital photo with my Lumix LX3 of a LUAS Tram (dressed in Emirates advertising) passing Arnotts department store on Abbey Street in Dublin.
Less than two weeks ago we visited Arnotts on a shopping trip.
Now back in New Hampshire Arnotts just seems like a dream.
I first visited Irish Rail’s Connolly Station in February 1998.
That seems like a lifetime ago and the station facilities have been greatly altered since my early visits.
On Monday, 25 April , 2022, we transfered from the LUAS to Irish Rail’s DART at Dublin’s Connolly Station and on the way between the tram and the train, I exposed this Lumix LX7 photo 29000 and 22K series railcars under the old roof.
Although these are common varieties of trains in Ireland, there’s a certain thril of seeing them again in an historic setting, which reminds me that the common today will someday seem captivating. Everything changes and it helps to have been away for spell to better appreciate the effects of change.
An open eye can produce creative vision and a record for history.
1) Use your foreground. Unless you’re a ballast enthusiast, avoid emphasizing the ballast. Too many railroad photographs suffer from excessive foreground clutter and other distracting elements, so when you’re composing an image pay attention to the bottom of your frame.
2) Watch your focus. Although most modern cameras have auto focus systems, too many use center-weighted auto-focusing sensors. These produce an unfortunate side-effect of encouraging novice photographers to center their subject, which tends towards bland and ineffective composition. More advanced cameras have tools such as variable focus points and focus locks that help you get around the centering problem.
Although an imperfect image, take notice the focus: A center weighted autofocus system may have resulted in the front of the locomotive appearing soft, while the hoppers at the center of the image being tack sharp. Alternatively, I may have had to alter the composition to suit the failings of the auto focus system, which would have produced a compromised photo.
3) Avoid Flare. One of the reasons traditional photography technique stressed over the shoulder lighting was to avoid the unpleasant effects of lens flare. This is caused when the primary light source hits the front element of your lens and cause streaks and patterns across your image while lowering overall contrast. You can make successful backlit photographs by finding ways to minimize direct sun or other primary light sources; stand in the shadow of a tree, building or other object; no shadows available? Make your own with a flat piece of cardboard, book, or spare copy of TRAINS magazine. One last point: while you should avoid flare, this doesn’t necessarily mean you should eliminate it entirely. In certain circumstances, a little flare can improve a photo. Watch the way Hollywood uses flare for dramatic effect.
To make this backlit shot work, I used a 28mm wide-angle lens and shaded the front element with my left hand to avoid unwanted lens flare. Notice how the clouds and foreground elements frame the primary subject, adding interest and balance without becoming overly distracting. Also, would a dark colored locomotive have produced an equally effective photo? The effect of slight backlighting on a silver train can result in a dramatic effect.
I made this view of disused narrow-gauge industrial tracks imbedded between the cobbles on Rainsford Street near Dublin’s Guinness Brewery to demonstrate the effects of shallow depth of field.
Exposed on Kodak Tri-X using my battle-worn Nikon F3 with Nikkor 50mm f1.4 lens.
Too often I hear veteran photographers provide excuses for why they haven’t made photos in a long time. Here’s a tip for YOU in 2018, ditch the excuses and find the time to make photographs.
Here are ten reasons why I will be making railway photographs in 2018. Maybe you can come up with you own list:
10) It’s a great excuse to travel.
Milano Centrale. Exposed with my Lumix LX7.
9) It’s a great motivation to get out of bed.
I don’t want to miss the morning liner! Exposed with my FujiFilm XT1.
8) I might need new material to keep Tracking the Light fresh?
New England Central on the move.
7) I want to revisit old places to look for new angles.
I’ve made hundreds of photos at Dublin’s Connolly Station, but I’m always trying to find something a little different.
6) I want to revisit old places to make dramatic then and now comparisons.
Back in the 1980s, I made a lot of photos at the Palmer Diamond. I made this one in December 2017. I’m using a composite feature on the camera to simulate the effect of a model railroad.
5) I like to experiment with equipment, photographic techniques, lighting conditions, and new locations.
In April 2017, I made my first trip to Lake Geneva.
4) Things are on the cusp of change (really) and there’s no better time than now to photograph.
Just because a railroad has been around for more than 20 years, doesn’t mean it will be around forever. Get your photos before it’s too late.
3) It allows me to explore history.
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania allows you to step back in time. Lumix LX7 photo.
2) It gives me great opportunities to spend time with my friends.
I took lots of railway trips with my friends in 2017. This is a view on Northern Irish Railways.
1) I like being around railways and their inherent sense of motion and commerce.
Using my Nikon N90S with a Nikkor AF 35mm lens, I exposed these Provia 100F slides at Rome’s Porta Maggiore in September 2017.
I often expose color slides in addition to digital images.
I scanned the slides using a Nikon scanner with VueScan software. My initial scans are made at very high resolution (4000 dots per inch or higher) and then using Lightroom I scaled these for internet presentation.
Are these photos better than the digital images? I don’t know. My film photos have different characteristics than the digital images. Also, I like to give slide shows and I find it’s much easier and more satisfying to project original color slides than put together digital presentations.
Slide film works well in certain contrasty situations such as this one.
An antique narrow gauge tram makes a station stop near a centuries old Roman wall at Porta Maggiore.
The November 2017 issue of Trains Magazine, pages 16 and 17, features my column with suggestions for improving your photography.
I offer some simple and obvious suggestions, but more importantly I challenge some common assumptions and provide some valuable counter-intuitive advice.
The nice thing about advice is that if you don’t like it, you can ignore it.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Oh, and by the way, in case you were wondering the photograph used to illustrate the article was exposed with my FujiFilm XT1 with the Zeiss 12mm lens often mentioned in this blog.
Ok, how about then and when? (click on the link to Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light to see the modern view).
These photos were exposed 28 years apart from essentially the same place in West Warren, Massachusetts.
One view was made of an eastward Conrail freight in March of 1984; the other of an CSX freight at almost the same spot on November 15, 2012.
In both situations I opted to leave the train in the distance and take in the scene.
Conrail eastward freight grinds upgrade on a dull March 1984 morning. Exposed on black & white film using a Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar lens.
CSX Q264 (carrying auto racks for delivery in East Brookfield, Massachusetts). Exposed on the morning of November 15, 2012 using a Lumix LX3 with Leica Vario-Summicron lens.
Over the years I’ve worked this vantage point with a variety of lenses, but I’ve chosen to display these two images to show how the scene has changed over the years.
In the 1984 view notice the code lines (the ‘telegraph poles’) to the left of the train and the scruffy trees between the railroad and the road. Also in 1984, the line was 251-territory (directional double track).
Would you believe that 35 of 38 frames of this roll of 35mm film were exposed of the Köln Haubtbahnhof?
Back in August 1998, I was working with an old Nikon F2 and three lenses, I wandered the platforms of this great station to preserve it on black & white film.
I processed my film at the Gallery of Photography in Dublin and made a few proof prints at the time.
Köln Hbf in August 1998, exposed on Ilford HP5. Looming beyond the station is the famous Dom, Köln’s massive gothic cathedral.
Köln Hbf in August 1998, exposed on Ilford HP5.
Köln Hbf in August 1998, exposed on Ilford HP5.
The images presented here were scanned digitally from my original negatives using an Epson Prefection V600 flatbed scanner and adjusted in post processing using Lightroom.
Metro-North and the State of Connecticut have received 405 M8 electric cars from Kawasaki. These now dominate commuter operations on the New Haven Line.
On Sunday November 8, 2015, I spent the day making photos underwire, and exposed many detailed digital photos of the new electrics using my FujiFilm X-T1.
These cars are unique to Metro-North’s electrified New Haven Line suburban trains. Yet, after a few hours, they can get a bit repetitive.
My challenge was remaining interested in the subject, while searching from new angles and new ways to portray the cars on the move.
Which of these photographs is your favorite?
Milford, Connecticut.
M8s at Milford.
Metro-North train 6524 from Grand Central at Westport, Connecticut.
M8s crossing the Westport drawbridge.
M8s glint nicely.
Metro-North Railroad logo.
Third rail shoe for working to Grand Central.
Faiveley pantographs for high-voltage AC overhead.
Conductor gives train 6538 the highball at Green’s Farms.
Sunset on a westward train heading for New York City. It will be dark by the time it reaches the Park Avenue tunnels.
On the afternoon of July 1, 2011, I heard a heavy westward freight ascending Washington Hill near the old Middlefield, Station.
It’s been a long time since there was a station here, but the site remains a dramatic place to photograph the old Boston & Albany line. I got into position for some photography. Nice afternoon sun and inky shadows; what’s the best way to work this?
Canon EOS 7D with 28-135mm lens set to 135mm; 200 ISO, f7.1 at 1/500th of a second. I set the exposure manually, using a meter reading off the ballast. If I’d let the camera program select the exposure, it would have likely over-exposed the front of the locomotive (in other words the front of the engine would appear too light.) The reason for this is simple; the camera meter program would have tried to balance the scene for the dark shadows. Here experience with the equipment, knowledge of the location and an appreciation for light and shade allowed for correct exposure of the scene.
To accentuate the effect of the grade, I used a telephoto perspective, while setting my focus on the front of the locomotive. I waited for the right moment when it was in full sun.
I made a sequence of images, but for me this one best captures the drama of the scene.
A westward freight catches the glint of the morning sun. Would the photo be improved, if let the train come closer? I like the inky gloom on the right side of the image.
Working with my old Leica 3A —a camera I’ve been using on and off for some thirty-odd years—I made this image of CSX’s westward Q293 at Palmer, Massachusetts on the morning of October 5, 2011.
My lens of choice was a 21mm Super Angulon, which tends to vignette a little in the corners. I processed the film using my customized chemical formula that makes the negatives easy to scan. This image received virtually no post-processing after scanning, except to remove a few dust specs and to scale for internet presentation.
Sometimes the old cameras yield the most satisfying results. Some of my earliest photos were made with this same camera-lens combination.
Tracking the Light presents: Palmer, Massachusetts February 24, 1988.
In keeping with the spirit of Otto Vondrak’s Facebook challenge, I’ve dug into my scanned black & white negative file and found this old black & white photograph from the days or yore.
I exposed this using my father’s Rolleiflex Model T that was fitted with a ‘super slide’ 645 insert. I processed the film in Kodak D76 at the Rochester Institute of technology. Back in 1988, I made prints from the negative back, but the full-frame image presented here is from a scan of the negative made in more recent times.
Chicago & North Western 411 and friends. Canon EOS 7D photo.
For me, the Streamliners at Spencer event was a great opportunity to meet friends, old and new. In addition photographing the equipment, I photographed the photographers.
Below is a small selection. I’ll post more tomorrow!
