Tag Archives: #steam locomoitve

photography

Severn Valley at Bewdley

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In 2004, I paid a visit to the Severn Valley Railway while photographing for a calendar on British Steam Railways.

Of the preserved railways in the UK, the Severn Valley is among my favorites and one of the most photogenic.

Finding this slide in my collection reminded me that I’m long overdue for another visit.

I made this photo of Erlestoke Manor leading a southward train toward Kidderminster using a Nikon loaded with Fujichrome Sensia II (100 ISO) slide film.

To make the most of this vintage slide, I made a multiple-pass scan with a Nikon Super Cooolscan500 slide scanner powered by VueScan software then imported the hi-res scan into Lightroom where I adjusted contrast, color balance, color temperature, saturation and the exposure of the sky.

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photography

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington on Film.

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Here’s some nice cool photos from January.

I’d exposed a single roll of Provia 100F with a Nikon F3 on January 18, 2020, during the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington’s “Grand Reunion” event that I attended with Wayne Duffett.

I’ll admit; I wasn’t rushed to get my film processed.

To reduce the cost of shipping, normally I batch process film, by sending in five or more rolls at time to my lab of choice. These days I’ve been using Richard’s Lab in California, which has been giving me good results with their E6 processing.

This particular roll was stranded in Massachusetts, partially because of the Covid-19 outbreak & travel restrictions etc, and partially because I’ve been focused on North Conway, New Hampshire, where the Conway Scenic Railroad has occupied much of my working time.

Finally, I got the film back yesterday! I scanned a few of the images for display here using a Nikon Super Coolscan5000 slide scanner powered by VueScan software. I scanned these at 4000 dpi and made multi-pass scans to extract the maximum amount of date from each image and thus make the most of the film’s high dynamic range.

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photography, Tips and Technique

Great Northern Railway Compound at Laytown Viaduct.

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Saturday, 26 October 2019, Railway Preservation Society of Ireland ran a series of trips using Great Northern Railway (Ireland) compound 4-4-0 number 85. on old home rails.

This presented ideal opportunities for photography.

Too often steam locomotives are operated mid-day in high light, which present poor conditions for photography. Saturday’s trips benefitted from low late October sun and cool conditions.

I set up at Laytown where late afternoon sun illuminated the viaduct over an Irish Sea estuary.

The clouds were a nuisance, with dark shadows covering the scene until moments before the locomotive charged northward across the bridge toward Drogheda.

I exposed this view using my FujiFilm XT1 with 27mm pancake lens.

Thanks to everyone at Irish Rail and RPSI for making Saturday’s steam trips a success!

See: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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photography, Tips and Technique

Steam and Diesels at Connolly Station Dublin-7 photos!

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After photographing Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s private charter crossing the Liffey in Dublin, and catching the train with the TESCO painted Red Line tram at Gardiner Street, I walked briskly to make more photos of the train arriving at Connolly station.

Steam locomotive number 4 was unhooked and sent to Connolly shed, while Irish Rail 082 took its place to bring the RSPI Cravens across to Inchicore Works.

I made these photos using my FujiFilm XT1.

Nothing sweeter than a wink of sun. A colourful collection of Irish Rail EMDs at Connolly.
Just a few frames remaining on my card, so make each one count!

The camera battery was flashing red and my storage card was alarmingly low on pixels. Where were my film cameras? Not with me at Connolly.

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photography

Merlin Under Steam

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Main line steam continues to be a feature of Irish railway operations.

Friday, 6 September 2019, I made photographs of Railway Preservation Society of Ireland’s compound 4-4-0 under steam on its journey from Dublin Connolly to Killarney, County Kerry with the annual Steam Dreams rail tour.

This selection was exposed using my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera. I also made photos with my Lumix LX7 and a Nikon F3HP loaded with Kodak Tri-X.

Thanks to everyone at Irish Rail, RPSI and Steam Dreams for keeping steam alive in Ireland.

See: https://www.steamtrainsireland.com

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photography, Tips and Technique

1385 Cylinder—Is this Art?

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The driving cylinder is a crucial component of a reciprocating locomotive, yet the inside of this equipment is rarely pictured.

The other day, Richard Gruber organized a tour of locomotive 1385, a former Chicago & Northwestern class R-1 4-6-0—an old Alco steam locomotive that is undergoing a thorough restoration in Wisconsin.

Working with my Lumix LX7, I made a selection of digital images depicting the engine’s running gear and cylinders.

Placing the camera inside the fireman’s-side driving cylinder, I exposed this view as Scott Lothes—Director of the Center of Photography and Art in Madison—peered into the other end.

Exposing this photo was tricky. The need for a long exposure required me to balance the Lumix LX7 inside the cylinder and release the shutter using the camera’s self timer. To select the two – second self timer interval, I had to scroll through a series of menus fairly quickly. Further complicating matters was the extreme exposure difference between the inside of the cylinder and the shop environment. I dialed in an exposure compensation then selected ‘A’ for aperture priority. This is the camera-produced JPG without adjustment to contrast, exposure or color balance.

I was delighted with the photo, as was Scott.

So, does this photo-abstraction of 1385’s cylinder qualify as art? I only make the images. What do you think?

This image is a tribute to my late friend John Gruber, who organized it on more levels than we have space to describe here.

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