The Author – Bart Busschots
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Mar
28
Photo of the Week 108, 109 & 110 – The Big Freeze
Filed Under Photography on March 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Due to a few busy weekends in a row I’ve gotten very behind again, so I have a triple post this weekend to get caught up. As usual when I do a multi-week Photo of the Week, I’ve picked a theme that relates the photos to each other. In this case, they were all taken during the abnormally long and harsh cold spell at the start of January this year (you can see all my best shots in a Set on my Flickr stream).
The first shot I’ve chosen is of the College Cemetery in St. Patrick’s College Maynooth (SPCM). This cemetery is almost like a secret garden, hidden away behind some lovely old trees near the back of the grounds. It’s always a wonderfully peaceful place, especially in the snow. Fr. Nicolas Callan is buried here. He was a great scientists who worked in SPCM and is most famous for having invented the induction coil.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/60 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +0.7ev.
The second shot I’ve chosen was taken on a ground of Carton Estate just outside Maynooth village. I’d been cycling along the Royal Canal where the sun was beaming down and it was just a truly beautiful clear day. Then, the moment I left the canal and entered into Carton estate it was like I’d beamed to another world. There was this thin later of dense mist hovering just above the ground. Above that layer it was still a beautiful day, though clouds were starting to roll in. The layer of mist gave the whole place an ethereal feel. I’d honestly never seen anything like it. To be honest none of my shots did the scene justice, but I still really like this one.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/60 sec
- Focal Length: 19mm
- Focal Ratio: f/8
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: +1.0ev
- Processing: This shot was generated by first applying the Topaz Adjust 4 filter to effectively tonemap the image, and then tweaking the result a little in Photoshop Elements 8 to selectively brighten just the snow.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, I’ve also chosen one of my train shots as one of my favorites. This shot was taken as the day was ending and the sun was getting very low in the sky. It shows an Irish Rail InterCity services making it’s way from Dublin to Sligo as it approaches Jackson’s Bridge just beyond Maynooth. From Jackson’s bridge you get a view of both the railway and the Royal Canal which runs next to the track for most of the way between Dublin and Mullingar.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/3.5
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Full Manual
- Processing: This shot was generated by tonemapping the original RAW file with Photomatix Pro, and then tweaking the results a little using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin.
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
Jul
19
Photo of the Week 74 – Commuter Reflections
Filed Under Photography on July 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
This week’s photo of the week came close to being binned. It really didn’t look like much before tonemapping, and even then, it’s technically imperfect. ‘Pixel Peepers’ would be horrified by the noise down in the bowls of this image, they’d also notice that the focus on the nose of the train is a little soft. Also, anyone can see that the motion blur is not as strong as it could be, and indeed, probably should be. Even after tonemapping, cropping, and quite a few tweaks in Aperture, I initially gave this image a low rating, three out of five to be precise. But, each time I scanned back through the project, the image kept jumping out at me. It kept grabbing my eye. First I increased it to 4 stars. Then, recently, 5 – my threshold for consideration for Photo of the Week.
I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the image to figure out why it kept catching my eye. I’ve figured out at least some of the things I like about it. The most obvious one being, it has a train in it! I also love reflections, so that’s a definite second reason. I also love the soft evening light, it really makes for great photos, but in this case it took tonemapping to bring out that wonderful light. Finally, I’ve always had a thing for panoramic crops.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/50 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/18
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Shutter Priority
- Processing: Generated by tonemapping a single RAW file in Photomatix Pro.
Jun
25
Photo of the Week 70 – Speeding to Dublin
Filed Under Photography on June 25, 2009 | 1 Comment
It seems like just far too long ago that I did a single Photo of the week post. sure, it’s late, but not so late as to need combining with next week’s post!
This is a fairly recent shot, and one that demonstrates the results of some recent experiments to spice up my train photos by creating motion blur in-camera. The idea is quite simple, set your camera to exposure priority mode, dial in the lowest exposure you can hand-hold and keep sharp, then shoot a moving object while panning with it. To give you a better chance of success, I also set the camera to burst mode and pan with the train while constantly shooting. Not every shot will be sharp, but by shooting a burst of 10 or so you have way more chance of getting a good shot!
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/60 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: f/22
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -0.3EV
- Processing: Used Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin to darken the sky a little, lighten the foreground a little, and lighten the train a little more.
May
20
Photo of the Week 65 & 66 – Transportation in Duffel, Belgium
Filed Under Photography on May 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Since I’m going to be away next weekend I’m combining this week’s photo of the week with next week’s to give yet another double-installment. As always when I combine two weeks into one, I’ve chosen a theme to unite both shots, in this case, transportation in the Belgian village of Duffel (my birthplace). In some ways these images span centuries. The first is of a heavily laden barge powering down the navigable river that passes through the village, the Nete. The Nete was the best transport link to the village for centuries, if not millennia! The second shows a train on the main line between Brussels and Antwerp which passes through Duffel. This is not the very oldest railway line in continental Europe, but it’s very close, being an extension of the very first one which ran from Brussels to Mechelen. That historic first section of what is now the line form Brussels to Antwerp opened on the 5th of May in 1835, while the remainder of the line, including this section in Duffel, opened a little less than a year later, on the 3rd of May in 1836.
Although Duffel is about 100km from the sea, Belgium is so flat that the Nete is still a tidal river as it passes through Duffel. In fact, at high tide many parts of the village are below the level of the river! For this reason the river is bordered by large dikes on both sides. These dikes are now paved, and serve the local communities as cycle and walking routes. It’s just north of Duffel that the river Nete now connects to the Nete Canal which brings shipping traffic up to the Albert Canal. Because of low bridges and the tidal nature of the river in Duffel, larger boats can only navigate the river at some times of the day, the water being too shallow at low tide, and the bridges too low at high tide. Smaller barges can navigate the river at any time without fear of running aground or crashing into bridges. In this shot we see a barge called Despatch making its way down-stream towards the village of Duffel at the very peak of high tide. As you can see by how low the barge is in the water, she’s clearly fully loaded, probably with coal, sand, or gravel. This kind of barge is low enough to pass under the bridges even at high tide.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/320 sec
- Focal Length: 40mm
- Focal Ratio: f/5
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Processing: lightly tonemapped in Photomatic Pro, then the barge was lightened slightly using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin
My second chosen shot is of an evening express service from Antwerp to Brussels crossing the rail bridge over the Nete a little down-stream of Duffel village. This train is making its way along the same track bed that the first train between these two cities ran on way back in 1836. To put that into context, trains have been running here since 60 years after the (US) declaration of Independence. This train is made up of the best coaching stock the NMBS (Belgium’s national railway company, also know as the SNCB) has to offer. These M6 carriages give travellers two decks full of creature comforts on their short and speedy journey between Belgium’s two largest cities. The locomotive pulling the train is an NMBS Class 27 electric locomotive. Although these locomotives are approaching 30 years of age, they are still in fine condition and more than up to the task of whisking passengers between Belgian cities at speeds of up to 160km/h.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/500 sec
- Focal Length: 55mm
- Focal Ratio: f/5.6
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Processing: lightened the train a little using Aperture’s Dodge & Burn plugin
Apr
7
Photo of the Week 59 – Last Train from Galway
Filed Under Photography on April 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Following on from last week I’ve chosen another image generated by tonemapping a single RAW file. This is an example of a shot that’s not possible with traditional HDR techniques because the train is moving. Normally HDRs are built by combining multiple separate exposures, but since the train is moving, it would appear in a different place in each exposure, resulting in a great big mess!
I took this shot while I was in Galway for a few days for a conference. The weather was mostly terrible, and there were very few trains per day, but I managed to find a moment when the weather was good, I was free from conference duties, and there was a train due none-the-less. The sky also really co-operated, putting on a spectacular show.
The train is the last InterCity service of the day from Galway to Dublin-Heuston. In this case it was made up of a single six-car Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) set. Irish Rail only have a few of these Class 22031 DMUs, which are the big brothers of the much more common Class 22001 three-car DMUs that run many InterCity services. I quite like these modern looking trains, though I do miss the old days when InterCity services were made of up regular railway coaches pulled by locomotives. I prefer the sound of the big powerful locomotives, though I think the locals prefer these near-silent DMUs 🙂
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 48mm
- Focal Ratio: F8
- ISO: 400
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Post Processing: Single RAW file tonemapped with Photomatix Pro
Feb
25
Photo of the Week 53 – Rounding the Corner
Filed Under Photography on February 25, 2009 | 2 Comments
This is a photo I shot a while ago, but I re-visited it recently and tweaked the crop and the processing and now I’m much happier with it, happy enough to use it as a photo of the week in fact!
This is an Irish Rail class 22001 Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) rounding the sharp corner on the approach to Maynooth from the Dublin side. The shot was taken from the towpath of the Royal Canal which runs next to the track for much of the line’s length. Because the canal is lower than the tracks, and because the vegetation along the canal and the tack was in full summer growth, you can’t see the tracks at all, giving the image a rather strange feel. I also quite like these new modern InterCity trains. As well as being much quieter and more comfortable than their predecessors, these new trains also look quite stylish and modern.
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 55-200mm
- Exposure: 1/1600 sec
- Focal Length: 200mm
- Focal Ratio: F11
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Bias: -1.0EV
Nov
30
Photo of the Week 41 – Homeward Bound
Filed Under Photography on November 30, 2008 | 2 Comments
This is one of those photos that I just love but I have no idea why. I’m not even sure it’s actually a good photo, but it’s one of my favourites all the same. What makes my love of it even stranger is that it’s of what I consider to be the ugliest class of train the NMBS (Belgian national rail company) ever brought into service! A real low-point in Belgian train design! Maybe there’s some kind of sub-concious bond because these trains are the same age as me, we both date from 1980.
For those of you interested in such things, here are the technical details of this shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/160 sec
- Focal Length: 55mm
- Focal Ratio: F6.3
- ISO: 200
- Camera Mode: Auto
Aug
12
Photo of the Week 25 – Commuter Reflection
Filed Under Photography on August 12, 2008 | 3 Comments
I really don’t know why this is one of my very favourite images but it is. Maybe it’s the colours, maybe it’s the reflection. I do have a thing for reflections in photographs. This is just an ordinary Irish commuter train making it’s way from Maynooth in to Dublin along the Royal Canal on a summer evening at rush hour. For my fellow train spotters this is an Iarnród Éireann Class 29001 Diesel Multiple Unit.
For those of you interested in such things here are some of the technical details of the original shot:
- Camera: Nikon D40
- Lens: Nikon DX AFS 18-55mm (D40 kit lens)
- Exposure: 1/1000 sec
- Focal Length: 18mm
- Focal Ratio: F10
- ISO: 800
- Camera Mode: Aperture Priority
- Exposure Compensation: -0.67
[tags]train, canal, Royal Canal, Maynooth, Kidlare, Ireland, photography[/tags]