Tag Archives: #MARC

photography

A More Traditional Approach to Railroad Night Photography

Yesterday on Tracking the Light, I posted high-ISO action photos of MARC train 544 rolling into the former Pennsylvania Railroad station at Perryville, Maryland. Those photos were made handheld at ISO 20,000.

After the train came to a full stop, I returned to our car to retrieve my 3Pod tripod and swapped lenses, exchanging my “fast 50” for the slower, but more versatile, 24–70mm Nikkor Z-series zoom.

With ample time to set up, I exposed a series of static, long-exposure, relatively low-ISO images with the camera solidly fixed on the tripod.

This is among my favorites. It was made from a low angle with the zoom set to 33mm. I processed the RAW file using PureRAW and made contrast adjustments in Lightroom. On the big screen, you can see stars in the sky.

Nikon Z6-III with Nikkor Z 24-70mm f4.0 S  Zoom, set at ISO 500, f4, 1.6 seconds.

Tracking the Light Examines Night Photography!

photography

MARC on a Buggy Night

Last week, Kris and I called into the MARC station at Perryville, Maryland. We hoped to catch NS freight 36A, which was holding on the Port Road at Ostego Street, but we were distracted by passenger action on the Northeast Corridor.

I saw the headlights of an eastward train crossing the bridge over the Susquehanna River. This was MARC train 544, consisting of an MP36PH-3C diesel leading a double-deck push-pull set that was terminating at Perryville.

I took a position on the platform to make the most of the station lights. The evening was unseasonably warm, and insects were swarming around the lights. This made for an unexpected effect, appearing something like snow in my photos. Kris opted to keep the car windows rolled up.

I was working handheld with the Nikon Z6-III and 50mm f/1.4 lens. The camera was set at ISO 20,000, which allowed me a shutter speed of 1/125 second—just fast enough to stop the action.

MARC MP36PH-3 11, leads train 544 at Perryville, Maryland. It was about 75F. That’s not snow falling.

Tracking the Light Catches Bugs!