Tag Archives: #Sunset

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Raspberry Sunset at Safe Harbor.

The cold evening air was thick with particulates which made for a rosy red sunset.

Kris, Seamus & I drove west toward Safe Harbor, since I thought there might be some opporunties to silhouette the former Pennsylvania Railroad trestles against the raspberry sky. On the way we passed some deer by the side of the road.

I was in luck and the sky was lit with shades of magenta and violet when we arrived. To make the most of the light, I set my white balance to ‘daylight’ rather than ‘auto’, since the latter has the tendency to neutralize the reddish tones of sunset, which would have countered the effect I was trying to capture.

In addition to a selection of digital photos, I also exposed a few Ektachrome slides.

I kept wondering what it would have been like to catch a pair of PRR P5 electrics grinding across the bridge in silhouette with a heavy freight. Perhaps, someone, somewhere had the same idea as me, but back in the day when P5s ruled the line!

No P5s for me; not even a couple of ten-speed bicycles—which about as good as it gets on the Low-Grade these days!

Tracking the Light chases Sunsets!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Sunburst & 89—Rods Down

Some photos preserve an instant. Such is the case with this photo that I made of Strasburg 89 at Esbenshade Road. By selecting the smallest aperture (f22), I captured the sunburst effect of the setting sun. Careful attention to the drivers enable me to catch them ‘rods down’ as the engine passed my position. The wafting engine exhaust leads the eye from the locomotive to the setting sun. The juxtoposition of components contributed to this successful composition.

Nikon Z7-II with 24-70mm lens at 24mm; f22, 1/100th of second, 100 ISO.
Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Glint Season at Jefferson Drive

It’s that time of year again. The setting sun is at a nice angle for reflective glint at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, Pa. With the smoke from Canadian wildfires continuing to tint the setting sun, I thought I’d try a 200mm view of Amtrak Keystone 658 on its eastward journey.

In post processing, I made a variety of minor adjustments to shadows, highlights, saturation and contrast to improve the overall appearance of the photo.

Below are two images in my sequence. Both received the same adjustments.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Orange Sky at Esbenshade

Sunday evening, we waited out the sunset at Esbenshade Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.

Strasburg Rail Road had scheduled a seasonally themed late-departure. I figured this would be an ideal opportunity to make some sunset views of the train.

The orange globe of the sun was nearly at the horizon by the time old 89 worked up the grade toward Paradise Lane.

To make the most of the sky, I exposed this sequence manually rather than relying on the in-camera meter to intrepret what I was tying to preserve digitally. Key to my exposure was the desire to capture the defining shape of the sun and not merely as a fuzzy blob.

I needed to make a variety of changes to the RAW files in post processing, and I think the final results speak of success.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Amtrak Keystone 618

For the next weeks the sun will be rising and setting on the north side of Amtrak’s Harrisburg Line where it runs parallel to Jefferson Drive in Lancaster.

I’ve been making a project of working the light at this familiar location.

Amtrak Keystone train 618 is a good choice because this is scheduled to depart Lancaster at 1945 (745pm) which can result in some dramatic backlit photos.

On this occasion, Amtrak ACS-64 number 615 was leading. This elusive electric was on my list of Amtrak locomotives to photograph on the move. I guess I can tick that box!

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

35mm Sunset Glint

Working with my Z6 with AF Nikkor 35mm f2.0/D attached via a Nikon FTZ adaptor, I made this imag sequence of Amtrak Keystone 618 racing eastward at Jefferson Drive in Lancaster, PA.

I timed my arrival just a minute ahead of the train.

My objective was to see how the traditional 35mm lens would handle the glinting sunset on my Z-series digital camera. I adjusted my exposure manually (aiming for overall underexposure to better capture the effects of the bright sun), then made changes to the camera’s NEF RAW files in post processing to make for overall appealing photographs.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Gorgeous Evening Light

The evening began with dissipating fluffy clouds. As the sun sunk in the western sky, I anticipated a colorful late summer sunset.

We drove to Strasburg, where I made this sequence of photos of Strasburg Rail Road’s J tower, and various equipment on dispay at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania and in the Strasburg Rail Road’s yard using my Z7-II with 70-200mm Nikkor Z-series lens.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

Announcements, photography, Rail transit marathon, Tips and Technique

Strasburg’s Surreal Smoky Sunset

Yesterday evening the air and sky were thick with particulates. The landscape took on a surreal unworldly appearance.

As Kris and I drove around Strasburg, Pennsylvania, I made a few photos with my Nikon Z6 and 70-200mm lens.

The lighting was about as strange as anything I’ve worked with naturally.

The sun looked like a floating glob in a lava lamp. The sky was a pasty gray-lavender while wafting clouds of thick green-gray haze filled the air near the ground.

The sun didn’t so much set as it melted into the haze.

I exposed these images of Strasburg Rail Road’s preserved J-Tower and the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania’s former Reading Crusader tail-end observation car, and the nearby farm.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

photography

Sunset at North Star Road

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.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

photography, Tips and Technique

Hobo Sunset—Lincoln, NH

Kris and I paused at Lincoln, New Hampshire last week to get some dinner. As the sun set I made a few photos of the Hobo Railroad using my Lumix LX7.

There was wonderful color in the evening sky and my wee Lumix did a reasonable job of capturing the scene. I exposed my photos in RAW, which allowed me some latitude while editing in the images to make the most of the high-contrast situation.

I had the camera set to ISO200 with ‘daylight white balance’. This is another situation where I fin that I get more pleasing color by using a white balance preset-mode, rather than ‘auto white balance,’ setting because the ‘auto ‘setting would have neutralized some of the rich color of sunset that made the scene appealing.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!

photography, Tips and Technique

Red Sun in the Evening.

Last week smoke and ash from fires in western Canada made for some very unusual lighting conditions.

Driving around Strasburg, Pennsylvania, Kris and I observed the sun as red globe descending into a greyish evening sky. This seemed unworldly.

I wanted to capture this effect, and selected a location off Blackhorse Road, near where I’d photographed trains a couple of days earlier. This provided enough elevation to allow for a good view of the horizon.

To better capture the definition of the sun, I selected a small aperture (large ‘f’ number), and intentionally under exposed by about 2/3s of a stop.

To retain the reddish color, I set my white balance to ‘daylight’, otherwise the camera’s software would attempt to ‘balance’ the color and neutralize the unusual color created by refraction of the light in the atmosphere (the very effect I was hoping to capture).

Althought, this might seem contrary, I also, made a couple of photos using my Nikon Z6’s black & white modes.

Below are several examples . If you look closely at the englarged image of the sun you’ll see a sun spot.

Tracking the Light Looks Skyward!

Uncategorized

Sunset with a Truck in a Meadow.

So what would you title this evening image sequence?

Last night Kris and I paused at an overlook off Route 16 in North Conway, where I made these drop-under sunset views looking across the Saco River toward the Moat Mountains.

Both photos were exposed as NEF RAW files using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless digital camera and processed using Adobe Lightroom.

Saco RIver sunset on September 1, 2021.

Tracking the Light Posts Daily