The Author – Bart Busschots
Creative Commons
Unless otherwise stated, the content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivative Works 3.0 License
Mar
1
Photo of the Week 159 – A Galway Evening
Filed Under Photography on March 1, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Something I’ve not really mastered is minimalist shots – this is very much the exception that proves the rule. This wonderful view is out across Lough Atalia in Galway, Ireland taken from in front of the Radisson Hotel where I was staying for a conference. The entire massive sweeping bank on the far side is artificial, built by the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) to allow their main line from Dublin to cross the lake and enter Galway city. In the distance you can see the last train of the evening from Dublin to Galway crossing the embankment. The train is an Irish Rail Class 22000 six-car diesel multiple unit (DMU).
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/125 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
- Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the resulting image in Aperture 3
Nov
11
Photo of the Week 143 – Autumn Boat Train
Filed Under Photography on November 11, 2010 | 1 Comment
With this long-drawn out illness the past few months I’ve literally missed all the Autumn colour this year. So, since I got no new autumnal pictures this year, I thought I’d share of of my favourites from last year.
Here we see an evening train service from Maynooth to the port in Rosslare as it rounds the fairly sharp turn on the approach to the new Matt Goff Bridge just in Leixlip. This shot has been quite heavily tonemapped to bring out the best of the colours, I have a feeling some people may find the processing a little too extreme, but I like it, and since it’s my photo that’s all that matters 😉
For the train spotters among you, this is an Irish Rail Class 29000 railcar set, number 29018 to be precise. If you have good eyesight you can probably read the number on the front of the train which reads 29418, it will read 29118 on the other side, and the middle two carriages will have the numbers 29218 and 29318, hence the whole unit is referred to as 29018. These units come in blocks of 4, but can be joined together to make larger trains of 8 or even 12 carriages. The 29000s are very much the work horses for Irish Rail’s commuter and local services, though you do sometimes see them on longer national routes too. From a passenger comfort point of view, they’re fine for short services, but I’m not along in groaning when I see one pull up to the platform when I’m travelling InterCity.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/200 sec
- Focal Length: 30mm
- Focal Ratio: f/3.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: created by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the resulting image with Aperture’s built-in Dodge & Burn plugin
Sep
5
Photo of the Week 132 & 133 – The Royal Canal
Filed Under Photography on September 5, 2010 | 3 Comments
There’s been a lot of double posts of late, and this week is no exception. Last week I happily entertaining Allison & Steve from the Nosillacast on the Irish leg of their European tour, so I didn’t get a chance to post. As always with double posts, I’ve chosen two related photos, in this case both of the Royal Canal. The vast majority of my insect and flower shots, as well as many of my train shots, are taken along a 10 mile stretch of this canal from Leixlip to Maynooth to Kilcock. Despite sharing lots of shots taken along the canal, I hardly ever share any shots of the canal, so I thought I’d correct that oversight this week.
The first shot I’ve chosen is taken from Chamber’s Bridge just east of the 15th lock looking east towards Dublin. In the foreground you can see the jetty where boats can tie up while waiting to pass the lock which is directly behind us. The boat tied up at the jetty is a very special boat used by Waterways Ireland to keep the canal clear of too much plant growth. You can also see a guy fishing from the boat, and an evening express train to Sligo passing by on an embankment above the canal.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/800 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: This image was tweaked a little using the Topaz Adjust 4 plugin in Photoshop Elements 8.
The second shot was taken on the other side of the 15th lock, also looking east. Although the canal has been fully restored around the Dublin area, it’s still a work in progress further west, which means there isn’t much tourism on the canal yet. One of the few places you do see signs of tourism is here at the mooring place just west of the 15th lock. Lets hope views like this become more common all along the Royal Canal.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/500 sec
- Focal Length: 55mm
- Focal Ratio: f/11
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3ev
- Processing: Generated by tonemapping a single RAW image with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the result with the Topaz Adjust 4 plugin in Photoshop Elements 8
Apr
4
Photo of the Week 111 – A Winter Evening Commute
Filed Under Photography on April 4, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I’ve taken shots of quite a few special trains recently, but somehow I still prefer this one, even if it is of just a plain ordinary commuter train. I really love this spot because it allows for a big sweeping composition which I really like. It helps give a nice sense of depth, and strangely also speed. I also really like the warm evening light which this shot was taken in.
The processing here is quite complicated. The first step was to take the original RAW image and tonemap it with Photomatix Pro. Secondly the RAW image was loaded into Aperture and tweaked to correct the exposure a little and to boost the colour a bit. This second version of the image was then exported to Photoshop Elements and the Topaz Adjust filter was applied to produce an alternative tonemapped version. The version from Topaz did a better job on the train and the trees in the background while the version from Photomatix was better for all the rest. This final image was generated by using Layer masks in Pixelmator to blend the two versions of the image into a third version with the best elements from each of the two other versions. This third blended version was then taken back into Aperture, given a few minor tweaks and then sent to the Dodge & Burn plugin in Aperture to do a few minor localised teaks.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/400 sec
- Focal Length: 26mm
- Focal Ratio: f/4
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: see above.
Jan
3
Photo of the Week 98 – An Autumn Evening Commute
Filed Under Photography on January 3, 2010 | 1 Comment
One of my favourite places for photographing trains is Jackson’s Bridge, it’s one bridge west of Maynooth along the Dublin to Sligo mainline towards Killcock. Jackson’s bridge actually crosses both the Royal Canal and the railway line, since the two run parallel most of the way between Dublin and Mullingar. When you look East from Jackson’s Bridge towards Maynooth and Dublin you get a great view of the the track, the canal, the towpath, and a row of trees all running parallel next to each other almost as far as the eye can see.
This is normally a very quiet stretch of line with very little traffic on it, but twice a day the level of traffic really picks up. During the day most commuter trains terminate in Maynooth, but during the morning and evening rush some commuter trains now run all the way out to Longford. The number of InterCity services also increases at rush hour so you get a few trains an hour instead of a train every few hours!
I took this shot in mid-October when the trees have their nice autumnal colours, and when the evening rush-hour over-laps with the Golden Hour. I really like how the soft golden evening light interacts with the subtle autumnal tones of the trees.
Here we see an evening commuter train, consisting of two Class 29001 four-carriage diesel railcar sets joined together, making it’s way from Dublin to Longford. The front-most of the two railcar sets is number 29415.
I think one of the reasons I like this shot so much is that the composition feels both strong and natural to me. I think the strength comes from the strong diagonal of the railway line, canal, towpath & trees, and I think it feels natural because the vanishing point is at one of the magical “rule of thirds” regions (one third down from the top and one third in from the right).
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/200 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/3.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.7ev
- Processing: Single RAW image first tonemapped with Photomatix Pro, then tweaked with the Dodge & Burn plugin in Apple’s Aperture
Aug
24
Photo of the Week 79 – Pike Bridge Re-Visited
Filed Under Photography on August 24, 2009 | 1 Comment
If this week’s instalment reminds you a lot of last week’s, that’s no coincidence, this week’s shot is also of Pike’s Brige, and also shot at the same time of day, the so-called golden hour around sunset. There are some marked differences though, last week’s shot was taken into the sun, this week’s is taken with the sun directly behind the camera – meaning this is the opposite side of the bridge. Although the conditions look identical, the shots were actually taken two days apart.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/500 sec
- Focal Length: 42mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3EV
- Processing: Generated by tonemapping a single RAW file in Photomatix Pro
Aug
16
Photo of the Week 78 – Evening at Pike Bridge
Filed Under Photography on August 16, 2009 | 3 Comments
Photography is all about light, and you get some of the nicest light each day in the hours around sunrise and sunset, or the so-called ‘golden hours’. I’m not a fan of early mornings, so, for me, there is only one golden hour each day, but some of my very favourite pictures are taken during that hour, including this one.
I got this photo on an evening when I wasn’t really planning to shoot, I was out getting some much-needed exercise, and brought the camera along ‘just in case’. I’m certainly glad I did. The light was superb, and it’s very rare that the water is this still under the bridge. The dynamic range was very large in this shot so I tonemapped the RAW file in Photomatix Pro to recover both the shadows and the highlights. I have also edited this image for use as a desktop wallpaper on either a standard (4:3) or widescreen (16:10) monitor.
This is Pike Bridge between Maynooth and Leixlip in Co. Kildare, Ireland. It has two arches, one crossing the Dublin to Sligo railway line, and this one crossing the Royal Canal.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/80 sec
- Focal Length: 20mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -1.0EV
- Processing: Generated by tonemapping a single RAW file in Photomatix Pro