Tag Archives: #rail photography

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Too Much Corn, Too Little Train

It seemed like a great idea for a textured composition: wavy rows of corn illuminated by the late afternoon sun. I set up my Nikon Z6 with a 24–70mm lens on a tripod and framed the scene.

Strasburg Rail Road’s 4 p.m. train was returning from Leaman Place, working up the short grade from Cherry Hill toward Esbenshade Road.

Sometimes the engine crew makes a bit of smoke while climbing the grade. Not today, though. The engineer kept a clean stack—great for efficiency, but I was hoping for a little smoke to help tie the scene together.

Instead, the train is almost lost amid the waves of corn and scruffy trees.

Nice try; no prize…

However, I had a second camera fitted with a long telephoto lens…

Tracking the Light Critically Examines Railroad Photography!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Lunar aspect-Full Moon 11 Years Ago

On July 13, 2014, I visited Palmer, Massachusetts to try to make photos with trains and the rising full moon.

At the time I was working with my Canon EOS7D and a 100-400mm Canon zoom lens.

With the camera firmly mounted on a tripod, I exposed this photograph near milepost 83. It was a relatively long exposure (2/5ths of a second) using ISO1000 and a 190mm focal length.

This image vexed me. It is nearly there, but the moon is overexposed and the headlight is too bright.

Last night, I imported the Canon CR-2 RAW file into PureRaw for correction and conversion into DNG format. Then I imported the DNG into Lightroom for adjustment.

The processed photo is better than the unconverted image, but it’s still lacking. I wonder if using my modern Nikon Z cameras and PureRaw processing if I could have overcome some of the flaws inherent with this photo?

Canon CR-2 RAW file following correction and conversion and the first round of image adjustement using Lightroom
Lightroom work window reflecting the first round of corrections and original metadata.
Canon CR-2 RAW file following correction and conversion and the second round of corrections.
Adobe Lightroom workwindow showing the changes to create the PureRaw converted image with second round of corrections

Tracking the Light examines the process of Railroad Photography Daily!

Tips and Technique

Pacing the New England Central.

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We were trying to overtake the New England Central ballast train extra

(see: Extra train on New England Central. https://wp.me/p2BVuC-5yy).

I rolled down the passenger-side window of my friend’s Golf, and exposed a series of photos with my Lumix.

Lumix LX7 RAW file adjusted for color, contrast, and exposure in post processing.

I’ve described this technique previously; I adjusted the f-stop (aperture control) manually to its smallest opening (f8), my ISO was at its slowest setting (80), and I put the camera to aperture priority.

I intended this combination of settings to automatically select the appropriate shutter speed for ideal exposure, while using the slowest setting to allow for the effect of motion blur.

Lumix LX7 RAW file adjusted for color, contrast, and exposure in post processing.

I kept the camera aimed at the locomotive while allowing for ample foreground to blur by for the effect of speed.

This works especially well to show the large diesel working long-hood forward, which is not its usual position.

Lumix LX7 RAW file adjusted for color, contrast, and exposure in post processing.

Lumix LX7 RAW file adjusted for color, contrast, and exposure in post processing.

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