{"id":43385,"date":"2026-01-19T06:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T11:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=43385"},"modified":"2026-01-16T21:45:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:45:01","slug":"coal-train-on-the-move-a-process-comparison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/coal-train-on-the-move-a-process-comparison\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal Train on the Move: A Process Comparison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At Washington Boro, the signals were lined up for an eastward train, so we drove west to intercept it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Cola interlocking in Columbia, Pa., we waited. As the tell-tale distant roar of a heavy freight warned me of its pending approach, I made adjustments to my Z6-III fitted with 50mm f1.4 lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Soon, I heard symbol freight 632 call a clear signal over the railroad radio. This was an unit coal train originating in central Pennsylvania destined for Baltimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My exposure was set at 1\/200th of second with 64,000 ISO. As the headlights came into view, I adjusted the aperture to f1.6 (from f1.4) to better capture the the detail of the lights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an experiment, in post post processing, I used two different systems to produce a comparison of noise suppression systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below are three variations of the same NEF RAW file (all scaled for internet). The top is the un-processed RAW file that shows the  high degree of noise of the photo right out of the camera. The second was processed with Lightroom&#8217;s &#8216;Raw Details&#8217; and &#8216;Denoise&#8217; options checked to reduce the effects noise. The third view was processed using DxO PureRaw4. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this selection, I refrained from making cosmetic adjustments to the files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"43386\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/coal-train-on-the-move-a-process-comparison\/raw_ns_632_coal_loads_cola_columbia_pa_briansolomon_dsc_0747\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1365\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z6_3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1768356639&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=709%2C473\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=474%2C316\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=474%2C316&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=709%2C473 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=1022%2C681 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/RAW_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">NEF RAW file without noise suppression.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"316\" data-attachment-id=\"43387\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/coal-train-on-the-move-a-process-comparison\/lightroom_denoise_ns_632_coal_loads_cola_columbia_pa_briansolomon_dsc_0747-copy\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1365\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z6_3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1768356639&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?fit=709%2C473\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?fit=474%2C316\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?resize=474%2C316&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?resize=709%2C473 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?resize=1022%2C681 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">NEF RAW File following processing with Lightroom&#8217;s &#8216;Raw Details&#8217; and &#8216;Denoise&#8217; options.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"474\" height=\"317\" data-attachment-id=\"43388\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/coal-train-on-the-move-a-process-comparison\/20260113-ns_632_coal_loads_cola_columbia_pa_briansolomon_dsc_0747\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=2048%2C1369\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1369\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z6_3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1768356639&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;64000&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=709%2C474\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?fit=474%2C317\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=474%2C317&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-43388\" style=\"width:810px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=2048 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=709%2C474 709w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=1022%2C683 1022w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=205%2C137 205w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?resize=1536%2C1027 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=948 948w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20260113-NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747.jpg?w=1422 1422w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 474px) 100vw, 474px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">NEF file processed using PureRaw4 to minimize noise and correct for lens defects.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Tracking the Light Posts Daily!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As an experiment, in post post processing, I used two different systems to produce a comparison of noise suppression systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6060,10,6108,48],"tags":[8496,8497,8169,5423,8173],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lightroom_Denoise_NS_632_coal_loads_Cola_Columbia_PA_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_0747-copy.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-bhL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43385"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43419,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43385\/revisions\/43419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}