Back in black (and white)

Nice in B an W. I have a thing for trains, thanks, tg

Well done

Fantastic shot. Yes it does look like a vintage one. That's some head of steam there!
Best wishes
Ian

Thank you Tony, Giulio and Ian for looking in and leaving your kind comments.

I was quite pleased with this shot, for a number of reasons.

i. Location - it is nice and open with a good angle to the side of passing trains. It was also one of few places around Chesterfield/Sheffield where the sun would be on the correct side of the train at that time of day. It was 12 miles from home so required a 0645 start on my push-bike to get there in time.

ii. Lens - I had forgotten to pick up any of my telephoto lenses so the longest focal length I had was on my FA50/1.4, which is an excellent performer.

iii. Focus - I rarely trust to tracking focus, so I pre-focussed with the AF whilst the Shutter button focus was disabled.

iv. Exposure - I deliberately under-exposed by half-to-one stop and then lightened shadows/darkened highlights in PSE to preserve the detail in the steam.

v. Weather - it was cold that morning with little wind, so the steam condensed nicely and hung in the air without obscuring the train.

vi. Loco - An unscheduled stop had been made a couple of miles earlier so the loco was working hard to pick up speed again.

'I do love it when a plan comes together' as George Peppard used to say.

+1

I like the black and white treatment here. I don't take train photographs. Tried the Rheiddol Valley small train once and it was pants. I know how difficult it is to create good images of these splendid subjects. Looked at your collection and you have it down to a fine art. Good fortune.

Works well in Black & White - A Good capture.