Must all railroad photos focus on trains?
Is there a place for the elusive?
Over the last few weeks, I’ve made a great many photos of steam locomotives at work in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. This selection hints at what lies beyond. Subtle rather than obvious.
Follow the smoke.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
It was a dark rainy afternoon.
Kris and I wandered over to the Strasburg Rail Road to watch steam in action.
Engine No. 90, a 2-10-0, leading a Santa’s Paradise Express excursion had met another excursion at Groffs and was accelerating upgrade toward the East Strasburg station.
My handy Lumix LX7 was my camera of choice.
I expose this photo as color RAW image.
In post processing, I converted the photo to monochrome using the saturation slider control, then made a variety of adjustments to contrast and exposure to manipulate appearance.
Below are the original file, a basic black & white conversion, and my final adjusted photograph.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
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.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Last week on the Strasburg I made this wideangle view with my Nikon Z7-II of former Canadian National 2-6-0 No. 89 rods down at Esbenshade Road.
Soft sun, slightly backlit; stubbled corn stalks in an unplowed field, with the locomotive whistling for the crossing.
A timeless scene.
So, which do you prefer? The color digital capture; or my alterations to the that I file converted to black & white (with some clever contrast adjustments for period effect.)
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Last weekend the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum in conjunction with Portland’s Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad Company & Museum invited me to a magical event featuring three steam locomotives under steam.
Arctic conditions were tough on fingers and toes, but made for spectacular displays of steam and condensation.
Among the stars of the event was former Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington number 9, a legendary machine that had been saved from scrapping many years ago and then stored for decades in a Connecticut barn.
This was my first visit with old number 9.
I exposed these photos digitally but I also made use of an old Nikon F3 to exposed both black& white and color film so that future generations may be able to appreciate the cosmic even of January 18-19, 2020.
More photos soon!
Special Thanks to Wayne Duffett and Ed Lecuyer.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
Click on Tracking the Light for the full view.
A bright morning at North Conway, New Hampshire.
Locomotive 7470 simmers on the turntable.
Using my FujiFIlm XT1 with Zeiss 12mm Touit, I exposed this atmospheric silhouette.
Tracking the Light Posts Daily!
