love your work. would like to read more stories to go with the pictures. would like to read a rant on equipment, how you choose the set of the day and what you do like about the cameras and lenses you use...
Sure thing.
Gear. I don't really have an all in one lens for my micro four thirds gear. Having never been on a train like this before, I was not sure of the space I would have for gear and such. I didn't want to have to swap lenses, so I started looking at my Nikon kit. For the Df, I have a 28-105/3.5-4.5D that I like to use. For the D500, I have the 18-140/3.5-5.6VR that has served me well. For interior shots, I thought the VR to be useful given the fact that the cars are known to list quite a bit while in motion. Although I'm sure the high ISO performance of the Df would still give me good enough IQ with the potential shutter speeds I'd need to use.
D500 wins for the one body, one lens solution on this day. The VR worked as I needed it, the body responsive. I do also appreciate the dampened shutter of the D500 as compared to the D700 or the D850.
I ran these shots through onOne Effects 2017. My favorite presets to start with are "Panatomic 32" or "City Street". From there I tweak the color curves to my liking for the B/W conversion process, contrast, etc. Why B/W? Well, as stated previously this time of year is normally on fire with colors from bright yellows to crimson reds and sometimes marbled mixed of reds, yellows and oranges depending on the trees. This years lower than average rainfall basically robbed us of a colorful autumn season. The trees either still had their green leaves on them, or they had crispy, dead, brown leaves on the ground....there really was no in between.
The Shots:
The first shot above I got while the wife and I were waiting in line to board the train. The platform was wall to wall people. No assigned seating. We had gotten there a bit late, so getting our tickets from will call took a bit and I had to go through the hundred some people to get to the station desk. By the time I got back out, there was no good view of the train itself, I was getting bumped and boarding was ongoing. Perhaps I can go back another time when it is not so crowded and get some more hero shots of the train.
As I was about 2 or 3 people from boarding, I looked to my left and saw this lady just take her seat. There was a small break in the crowd - I had the D500 in hand, pulled the camera up, twisted the zoom ring while simultaneously hitting the focus. Rattled off 2 shots before the natives got restless and I had to move on.
Shot 2 - I was talking with my wife, who was sitting in the aisle seat about the last time she had been on a train like this. You see, she has always loved trains and when she was just 10, sh rode a train very similar. I look to my right and see this couple. He was for the most part looking forward while his wife rest her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. I was able to get a good series of them. This shot was my favorite.
Shot 3 - There was a family just behind us and across the aisle. They had 3 kids in total, the other 2 being approximately between the ages of 6 and 10. This youngster was full of energy during the beginning of the trip, but by the 1 hour 30 mark, he was getting tired and just wanted to rest his head on mama. Pulling 2 good shots from a very twisted position, a wider shot and this closer shot, the face and eyes here made all the difference.
Shot 4 - There was a brief stop 2 hours into the trip at a local college along the track route. A non profit had acquired a bunch of old 1700 and 1800 American pioneer age cabins and houses. They brought them here and re-created a village. Stretching our legs for a minute, the conductor blew the whistle for everyone to re-board. After getting back to the train, I turned around to see this guy sitting on an old grist mill gear stone. Not sure who or what he was looking at but I liked his gesture.
