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09-29-2020, 07:46 PM - 1 Like   #15106
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ed Hurst Quote
No. 3801 is Australia's most famous steam locomotive. Built in 1943, it's streamlined shape just oozes the glamour and style of its era. Despite having lived in Australia since 2010 (barring 18 months back in England), I contrived never to see her running (its recent restoration is quite a saga - let's say it's complicated!).

Anyway, in recent months, she has finally run again and over the last week, ran some test/training runs to make sure the loco. crews are suitably skilled to operate her. I took the opportunity to slip out and get a few pictures.

645Z with 28-45mm lens (@29mm)
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645Z with 120mm A lens
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---------- Post added 09-28-20 at 10:28 PM ----------



Hello there,

The answer is by shooting a VERY large number of relatively short exposures. The brightness of the stars is largely determined by the ISO and aperture; the brightness of the scene also by the shutter speed. All you have to do is choose an ISO and aperture that makes the stars show up, then exposure lengths that produce the scene brightness you want (and hope that the resultant shutter speed is something the camera can continuously shoot). In this case, the exposures were 2 seconds long, for perhaps 90 minutes. If you're willing to shoot that many files (and process them), the results can be achieved :-)
QuoteOriginally posted by Ed Hurst Quote
No. 3801 is Australia's most famous steam locomotive. Built in 1943, it's streamlined shape just oozes the glamour and style of its era. Despite having lived in Australia since 2010 (barring 18 months back in England), I contrived never to see her running (its recent restoration is quite a saga - let's say it's complicated!).

Anyway, in recent months, she has finally run again and over the last week, ran some test/training runs to make sure the loco. crews are suitably skilled to operate her. I took the opportunity to slip out and get a few pictures.

645Z with 28-45mm lens (@29mm)
Thanks for posting the train pictures, awesome! It's really a treat to see these old locomotives running again.

09-30-2020, 04:05 PM - 4 Likes   #15107
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QuoteOriginally posted by PhilRich Quote
Thanks for posting the train pictures, awesome! It's really a treat to see these old locomotives running again.
Thanks so much, my friend. For many years, steam railway photography was my main obsession. All this landscape stuff that rules my life now really only took over about a decade ago! But it was nice to dip my toe back in the steamy water :-)


QuoteOriginally posted by barondla Quote
Superb train images. Always great to see something like this brought to life. Well done!

A star trail question. 2000 - 4000 shots are a lot of wear on a camera shutter. Have you considered taking the stars with a K-1, the landscape with the 645Z, and combining them in post production? It would require more processing, but you are already doing a lot anyway. Would save wear and tear on the much more expensive Z.

Thanks,
barondla
Thanks! Appreciated!
As for star trails, I fully understand what you mean. But there are several reasons why I don't think I would do that:
1) The desire to get the whole shot at the best possible quality (this silly, obsessive reason is probably the main one!)
2) The 645Z has the best high ISO, low noise, high resolution performance of any camera I have seen (this probably just explains point 1 above!)
3) Different aspect ratios
I realise this is making very hard use of the camera, but this is one of the main things I have it for, I guess.


QuoteOriginally posted by kaseki Quote
Nice shots. Are AU tracks typical width? The images suggest a slightly narrow gauge to my untrained eye.
Thanks!
The topic of Australian track gauges is a complex one. The short answer (relevant to these pictures) is that main lines in New South Wales are 'standard gauge' (i.e. 4 feet 8.5 inches). So any impression given otherwise in these shots is some sort of illusion.

As for the wider story, allow me to quote from an article I wrote for Steam Railway magazine eight years ago:
"It seems strange now, but when the railways were being built, the vastness of Australia meant that most things, famously including track gauges, were decided on locally rather than nationally. Each state was, to all intents and purposes, an independent colony. It didn’t occur to anyone that there was much need for these things to work together; certainly there was no immediate prospect of the railway systems being connected to one another or resources being pooled. This meant that New South Wales chose standard gauge for its main line railways, whilst Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland went for 3’6” and Victoria adopted the rather grander 5’3”; South Australia had a mixture of gauges from quite an early stage."
There were also many narrow gauge lines, but that's another story.
Hope that helps!


Ed
09-30-2020, 07:17 PM - 1 Like   #15108
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ed Hurst Quote
...
The topic of Australian track gauges is a complex one. <snip>
Thank you for this interesting information.
09-30-2020, 07:45 PM   #15109
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QuoteOriginally posted by kaseki Quote
Thank you for this interesting information.
My pleasure!
By the way, there has been much regauging of lines (and building of new standard gauge lines) in recent decades to permit through working. So you can travel from Sydney to Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth on standard gauge throughout now... But areas of the other gauges persist.


Last edited by Ed Hurst; 10-01-2020 at 03:52 PM.
10-01-2020, 04:40 AM - 14 Likes   #15110
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A couple from this morning at misty Waterhead

FA 45 - 85



FA 80 - 160

10-01-2020, 06:14 AM - 1 Like   #15111
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ed Hurst Quote
Thanks so much, my friend. For many years, steam railway photography was my main obsession. All this landscape stuff that rules my life now really only took over about a decade ago! But it was nice to dip my toe back in the steamy water :-)




Thanks! Appreciated!
As for star trails, I fully understand what you mean. But there are several reasons why I don't think I would do that:
1) The desire to get the whole shot at the best possible quality (this silly, obsessive reason is probably the main one!)
2) The 645Z has the best high ISO, low noise, high resolution performance of any camera I have seen (this probably just explains point 1 above!)
3) Different aspect ratios
I realise this is making very hard use of the camera, but this is one of the main things I have it for, I guess.




Thanks!
The topic of Australian track gauges is a complex one. The short answer (relevant to these pictures) is that main lines in New South Wales are 'standard gauge' (i.e. 4 feet 8.5 inches). So any impression given otherwise in these shots is some sort of illusion.

As for the wider story, allow me to quote from an article I wrote for Steam Railway magazine eight years ago:
"It seems strange now, but when the railways were being built, the vastness of Australia meant that most things, famously including track gauges, were decided on locally rather than nationally. Each state was, to all intents and purposes, an independent colony. It didn’t occur to anyone that there was much need for these things to work together; certainly there was no immediate prospect of the railway systems being connected to one another or resources being pooled. This meant that New South Wales chose standard gauge for its main line railways, whilst Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Queensland went for 3’6” and Victoria adopted the rather grander 5’3”; South Australia had a mixture of gauges from quite an early stage."
There were also many narrow gauge lines, but that's another story.
Hope that helps!


Ed
Hi,

Yeah, when the time came, they just put two stations next to each other and unloaded one train into its' station, then carted the stuff across to the other where they put it onto the other train. Passengers, of course, could just hoof it.

Even with the same gauge, this happens between two different rail lines. The little town in New York State (USA) I grew up in had such for quite a while. Two short lines into the town, and two stations next to each other. They went bankrupt during the Great Depression and the tracks taken up during WWII for the steel. So, I knew the two stations as (1) my Uncle's John Deere dealership and (2) the local Farm Supply Store.

But, it was always odd how the roadway went, and how the buildings were constructed. Then, when I was about 10 or 11, I found this old stairway to upstairs. Up there was a unused, as far as my Uncle went, business office for that Short Line RR. All the desks and filing cabinets and paperwork still in place. After that, I understood.

There were a couple oddball silos nearby. Huge ones made of concrete. This being a farm town, they made zero sense. I figured out that they were coal silos, or what was left of them. They offloaded the coal from the trains and had an elevator (gone by the time I showed up) to fill them. The unloaded into wagons. So, the local coal supply company.

And, all that right next to our school, which came in the 20s as well, and all this rather out of place in the early 1970s. I have a picture from Back When showing the stuff when it was still in use. But, where do I have it? It isn't a shot of mine, so not in the usual places. I might be with the data I have on my Great Grandfather's work on the stiffening up of the Poughkeepsie railroad bridge. That fed one of the lines. He was a bridge engineer and the work was needed for WWI. I'll dig up that CD and look.

Anyway, the two lines came into town from different directions and left in different directions. They met up only at the one spot. I imagine this happened in many places. And it would work just as well for different gauge lines

There is some sort of a old running steam train near me here in North Carolina. The end of the American Tobacco Trail. This ran from New Hope to Durham and was a major item in our old tobacco operations. Gone now. Most of the line is a hiking and biking path. But, there is something about the New Hope and and a running museum. I need to get over there and do some shooting, I think.

Stan
10-01-2020, 07:39 AM   #15112
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QuoteOriginally posted by itshimitis Quote
A couple from this morning at misty Waterhead


FA 45 - 85



FA 80 - 160

Beautiful images. The sailboats are beyond superb. Love the minimalist look.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla

10-01-2020, 09:53 AM - 9 Likes   #15113
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QuoteOriginally posted by barondla Quote
Beautiful images. The sailboats are beyond superb. Love the minimalist look.
Thanks for sharing,
barondla
Thank you!

A different edit and crop to the barn shot...


Last edited by itshimitis; 10-01-2020 at 10:01 AM.
10-01-2020, 03:51 PM   #15114
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QuoteOriginally posted by itshimitis Quote
Thank you!

A different edit and crop to the barn shot...


That's the one, Paul. Love it!
10-02-2020, 07:26 AM   #15115
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QuoteOriginally posted by itshimitis Quote
A couple from this morning at misty Waterhead
Great pictures, thanks for sharing. The boats are exceptional, love it.
10-02-2020, 09:16 AM - 3 Likes   #15116
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This morning we planned a sunrise hike but at 4:00am the soft feather arms of the bed convinced me that there way too many clouds and the sunrise would be blocked. We ended up on a late morning hike instead.

Once at the top of the mountain a couple of butterflies entertained us with what looked like a mating dance. They were flying around with fast irregular motions and I thought it impossible to get a shot of that. I pulled out all my tricks I could think of and I think I got at least one in focus and a couple more nearly in focus, but enough to see the delicate aerial dance they perform.

Hope the pictures do justice to the performance.

645z with 6x7 55-100mm with most shots at f 4.5. The last butterfly picture was with the 6x7 2x TC. Lastly a pano composite with the 55-100 lens of the mountain ridge on a very hazy day in Hong Kong.
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10-02-2020, 09:13 PM   #15117
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QuoteOriginally posted by TDvN57 Quote
This morning we planned a sunrise hike but at 4:00am the soft feather arms of the bed convinced me that there way too many clouds and the sunrise would be blocked. We ended up on a late morning hike instead.

Once at the top of the mountain a couple of butterflies entertained us with what looked like a mating dance. They were flying around with fast irregular motions and I thought it impossible to get a shot of that. I pulled out all my tricks I could think of and I think I got at least one in focus and a couple more nearly in focus, but enough to see the delicate aerial dance they perform.

Hope the pictures do justice to the performance.

645z with 6x7 55-100mm with most shots at f 4.5. The last butterfly picture was with the 6x7 2x TC. Lastly a pano composite with the 55-100 lens of the mountain ridge on a very hazy day in Hong Kong.
The butterfly shots are special. Don't recall ever seeing this captured with medium format before. Couldn't have been easy with a 67 manual focus lens.

Thanks for sharing,
barondla
10-03-2020, 02:59 AM   #15118
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Hello Theuns,

How do you like your 67 M 55-100 mm f/4.5 zoom ? Heft, ease of focusing, focal range, sharpness ?

Regards
10-03-2020, 01:01 PM - 1 Like   #15119
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CROP OF THE DAY (October 3rd, 2020). North of Quebec City.

Images of the day. All taken with a 645Z + FA 33-55 mm f/4.5 zoom.

1) Black River trout pools. 45 mm FL, 1/400 sec f/11
2) Serene Lake Simon. 36 mm FL, 1/250 sec f/11
3) Lake Simon in fall garb. 33 mm FL, 1/60 sec f/22
4) Cherrywood with fall foliage. 55 mm FL, 1/80 sec f/11
5) Cropped fields with fall manure. 33 mm FL, 1/400 sec f/13.
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Last edited by RICHARD L.; 10-03-2020 at 01:14 PM.
10-03-2020, 09:04 PM - 3 Likes   #15120
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Catching up on my Yellowstone-area mini-project from 2015, pre-645z. On that trip (I just had a day--the last day the park was open before winter, and cold, snowy, and rainy, depending on elevation), I use the 67 some and my Canon 5D quite a bit (mostly because it could deal with the moisture). I won't show the latter, of course--this is a Pentax forum.

I showed an image from this series a couple of years ago, but these four are new. Film was Kodak Extar 100, scanned in a Nikon 9000ED using Vuescan. The skies were heavy and dark, and the shutter times long. But I have a robust tripod. I worked on them with Photoshop 5.5 back then, but now went back over them with the current version, and really do appreciate a better range of tools in the current version, particularly access to the Camera Raw filter from within Photoshop.


Early Snow at Craters of the Moon NM, 2015.




Snow on Fall Colors, Craters of the Moon NM, 2015.



Isa Lake Mostly Frozen, Yellowstone 2015.



Smoke Mountain, Yellowstone, 2015


Rick "who had to change his P67 battery with freezing fingers and snow blowing into the car at Craters of the Moon" Denney
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