Rockville Bridge at Night

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I drove to Rockville, PA, yesterday
for my first night shooting
from the mountain side.

My goal was to capture an
eastbound train after dark.

At 18:11, an eastbound appeared
from the Pittsburgh line followed
immediately by a light power move
from Enola.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=163623

I really think I should have used a wider aperture
for this four minute exposure @ f18. I had assumed an
exposure of that length would have picked up more
ambient light. I’m hoping my three slide shots
turned out better.

By the way, I had the tripod tied to tent
stakes I had placed in the ground and also looped
some rope around it and a nearby tree to
keep it secure. It wasn’t fun climbing up the
steep slope in the dark when I left at 20:00,
even though I had a caver’s headlamp.

Dave

2

Absolutely a great shot Dave. Of course I really like a good night shot myself.

3

Thank you very much, Chad.

Here is a shot from the same location in

daylight:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=82514

Dave

4

…Well Dave, I’d say you must think your climb up the hill side was worth it after seeing the results.

I think it’s a beautiful shot…You mention of amb light might have been better with different aperture setting but perhaps the aperture setting contributed to a good solid sharp photo…{I’m assuming that is still true with digital}.

I too love night shots and this is a great one in my eyes.

5

I was just up there a couple weeks ago for the third time…albeit in daylight…Three of us went up together and we encountered two other railfans from England up there that day…A nice spot to spend a day and watch trains…my avatar pic, albeit blurry, is a daylight shot from the same spot. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown

6

Great photos of the bridge and the rail traffic. I especially like the daylight one with the fog cover.

7

A very cool photo from a very cool spot! Thanks for sharing it!

8

Dave,

Great shot! A little more ambient light might have helped a little bit, but it’s definately better to err on the dark side rather than risk losing detail by blowing out highlights.

Just for curiosity, what setting were you using on your camera? If you were using an Auto-aperture, the camera may have been fooled by the headlights, and given you a shorter exposure, resulting in the somewhat dark shot. Night shots are tough, no matter what you do, so I think you’ve come out ahead.

BTW, one other tip, if you want a night shot that is really balanced, try shooting during the “Blue Hour” (the hour right after sunset when the sky turns a deep rich blue color. The natural and artificial lighting balances out very well because they are of similar intensities.

That being said, I also like shots well after dark like this, too, because it just seems like night time.

Thanks for sharing!

9

Thanks, Chris, et al.

I took the photo in Manual mode, Raw at

IS0 100. The Focal length of the

lens was 34mm. I wish there had been

an eastbound during the blue hour but,

alas, this one arrived about 25 minutes

too late.

I also wanted to capture a train going through Marysville but
the distractions of highway traffic below, a
snorting buck which I saw behind me, and the
challenge of not sliding down the slope kept
me pre-occupied until I saw the trains at CP
Mary at the west end of the bridge.

Dave