Laughing Frog Images

The B&A Turkey Train

Posted on February 8, 2015February 8, 2015 by Kurt

Holiday traditions aren’t all what they used to be, especially in the corporate world.

Parties during the holidays are now all “Holiday Parties”, regardless of their timing and which holiday they’re really celebrating. That is, if your company still has a party.

Acknowledging the employees with “something” isn’t what it used to be.

Change is what this image speaks to.

It’s December 11, 1994. I’m at the north end of Brownville, Maine along the main line of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad waiting for a train. My Canon T-70 and Sigma 28-70mm lens are around my neck. There’s K64 in the camera. And, it’s a tad cold… But I’m not waiting for just any train… I’m waiting for the Turkey Train!

It was kind of what it sounds like – a train carrying turkeys. Not live ones mind you, but fresh turkeys. For the employees. As part of the railroad’s tradition that was as much a part of the holidays for B&A (that’s how the road was known to many – and not to be confused with the Boston and Albany Railroad either!) employees as was cutting down a Christmas tree. A train. Carrying turkeys. The Turkey Train.

So, I’ve got a borrowed Digital 8 camcorder set up on a tripod. My camera is around my neck. I’m getting cold. And, it seems like the only thing moving is the clouds. They’re moving slowly – but they’re moving. I really wanted to sit in the car and wait – but I had never shot a train here, so I didn’t know how far out I’d hear it – or if I’d even hear it, before it got to me. So, I waited. In the cold. And got colder. And waited (you get the point).

Finally… the blat of an air horn punctures the silence as the train approaches the bridge. The Turkey Train is here! Press “start” on the camcorder, pop the lens cap off and shoot.

A GP-38 passes by with a boxcar full of turkeys and the road’s business cars. Wheels click on the rail joints, and get quieter as the train continues south. It’s all over in a minute or so. The quiet returns. It’s broken again when at the train whistles for crossings south of Brownville.

The moment is over.

As far as I know, this was the last Turkey Train. The decline of paper and allied industries had been affecting the B&A for years. Potato traffic had almost entirely been taken over by trucks (some attribute this to the poor connecting service provided by the Penn Central Railroad in the late 1960s and early 1970s). Maine’s economy was in transition – and it wasn’t kind to the railroads. The B&A was purchased in early 1995 and became part of the Canadian American Railroad (CDAC). The CDAC was not long lived – it later became the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad under new ownership who tried to make a go of things as the traffic continued to wane. The MMA had a tragic incident in Megantic, PQ in 2013, and it too is gone.

But I have this image. And the memories of that day.

I’ve got some video of the Turkey Train to post on the Frog’s YouTube channel of this train as soon as I master some degree of proficiency with video editing. It’s not the greatest, but then again – what most people could afford in the way of video equipment in 1994 was vastly different from the quality that you can get these days in your smartphone.

There will be a B&A gallery up on Laughing Frog Images as scanning progresses.

Thanks for taking a trip back to 1994 and better days for the B&A and its’ employees.

What does the Frog process with?

Posted on February 6, 2015February 1, 2015 by Kurt

Another recent question was “what software do you use to process your images?”

My current image processing software is ACDSee Pro 8 available from ACD Systems.

I also have Corel Paint Shop Pro (came with the computer), Microsoft Photo Gallery (free for Windows 7 & 8 users), Picasa (free, from Google), an older version of Adobe Photoshop Elements, and Nikon’s View NX2 that came with my cameras. Each of these is good – I’m not slighting any of them. But I’m currently using ACDSee Pro 8.

Why?

I’m simply not that good at post-processing. I can’t process an image file and take a cloudy sky and make it blue, or swap out a foreground, or anything like that. I process very simply (for the most part) and stick to the basics, and they do the basics very well.

Disclosure: occasionally, I do find that I can pull off a mini-miracle with this software and salvage a slide or botched exposure. These are adventures in trial and error, and always involve working with a copy of the image file and not the original file. Sometimes, it can take hours to save an old slide – but it’s the only way. It’s much simpler on most digital images.

Three key things that I really, really like about this software:

The Light EQ tool is absolutely fantastic when working with an image – you can set up to nine (9) individual tone bands when adjusting the lighting on an image. When you’re working with old Kodachromes, that means you can bring out shadow detail very discretely, as well as tone down clouds and the sky.

I find the Hybrid tool for noise removal to be (1) fantastic and (2) equally effective with scans and RAW files.

And, the Sharpening tool is intuitive and easy to use.

Overall, the software is very easy to use as an image organizer and as an editing software. And, it’s intuitive. Very intuitive. I find myself looking at the manual every so often, but you can be up and running in a short time without reading the manual. One of the hardest things for me is establishing a consistent workflow, as I only seem to work on images on the weekends, and then, not every weekend. I tend to forget workflows and processes once in a while. I guess I could take notes…

So, if I sound like a commercial for ACD Systems, I guess I am. If anyone knows anyone there who can hook me up with a sponsorship deal… If anyone has any questions about how I got to ACDSee among all the other programs, please ask! If you’re considering (new) processing software, it’s definitely worth a look.

Oh, before I wrap this post up, there’s one very, very, very important thing – you need a good mouse.

There’s a companion post to follow on what I call finishing software (a program that does not cease to amaze me).

Happy shooting / scanning and processing!

It only took 32 years to get this shot!

Posted on February 4, 2015January 25, 2015 by Kurt

I was in Port Huron, MI for the December 2014 meeting of the Port Huron and Detroit Railroad Historical Society that commemorated the 30th anniversary of the end of the railroad.

Anyway, as I was checking out of my hotel and loading the car for the trip to the Detroit airport, I was proud of myself as I was actually 15 minutes early.

And, then I heard a horn that didn’t sound like it was on modern power that would be heading into/out of the tunnel….

I thought to myself that hey, I AM a little early… and maybe, just maybe, they’re going to switch the paper mill that’s on the waterfront by the Bluewater Bridge. So…, east on Water Street I went! When I got the to the drawbridge over the Black River and looked east, I saw a headlight! And then, I saw the headlight move away from me… The low speed chase was on!

I arrived at Dunn Paper to see GTW 4909 (ex-MP) switching the mill. I got the obligatory shots with Lake Huron in the background, and also of the Bluewater Bridge in the background as the 4929 worked. And, I was dragging my feet to leave, as I’d been trying for 32 years to get a shot of a train and a Lake Boat here.

And I hemmed and hawwed and hesitated as I kept looking at the time.

I was really ready to leave as I’d pushed it about as long as I could when two cars came to a rapid halt in the parking area. Two folks with cameras around their necks jumped out. Having never seen ANYONE do that before (Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink.), I figured something was about to happen here.

I saw the bow of a boat emerge from the mist! I was finally going to get my shot of a train and a Lake Boat! Well, I did, sort of, anyway. The Lakes Contender / Ken Boothe Sr. is actually an ATB – an Articulated Tug and Barge, and, to the purists, not really a Lake Boat.

I’ll take it for now, as the closest I’ve ever lived to this area is just shy of 350 miles!

And, yes, I made my flight. I got to the gate about five minutes before boarding began!

Row houses. Saint John, NB.

Posted on February 2, 2015February 1, 2015 by Kurt

Row houses just east of the harbor in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, taken in late 2013.

Row houses in North America are predominantly found in the northeastern U.S., and in eastern Canada. Row houses are just what they sound like – a series of houses in a row that share a common wall with the neighboring home. From a historical and educational perspective, you can read more about them here on Wikipedia.

It’s an interesting image. Actually, it’s a really interesting image.

The low-angle late afternoon light is giving the fronts of the houses a glow.

If you study the image, you’ll see that it is perhaps full of stories – some old, some new, and some yet to be written.

The row houses are the same, but they’re not.

They’re in various states of repair and renovation.

Each is a different combination of colors.

The urban landscape itself is a mix of shapes, textures, materials, and colors.

There’s a couple of satellite dishes in there, and a skylight to remind you that this is a recent image, and not one taken 50 years ago…

Look closely at the brick row houses in the lower right foreground, there’s a woman looking out onto the harbor. What’s her story?

Look closer at the row house she’s in, and you’ll see that it dates back to 1878. You’ll also see crosses in the first floor brick work. I think there’s more than one story to that house..

Look at the row house on the center-left and you’ll see the old unpainted bannisters and stair rail, and the fresh white paint on the right side of the stairs and porch – a work and a story in progress.

The row house to its right appears to be the least maintained of the four. What’s its story?

The woodwork on the house on the far right is far more ornate than the others. What’s that story?

Some row houses are brick. Some are wood. What’s the story there?

What will this look like in five years? Ten years? Stories to be written…

It’s actually a provocative image if you look beyond the picture…

The image can be found in the City Scenes Gallery on Laughing Frog Images.

Check it out and see what you come up with…

Algoma Montrealais update.

Posted on January 31, 2015January 24, 2015 by Kurt

Well, as it turns out, she made one more voyage…

Over the Christmas holiday, as a matter of fact.

I was doing a little web surfing to see if I could find out where she was, and what ultimately happened to her and discovered that she made one more turn before the end of the year. The end of the year was also apparently the expiration date of certain certifications for operation – and re-certification would have been costly. The folks at Algoma have received some new boats of late, and that apparently figured into the fate of the Algoma Montrealais. The last I can find is that she’s sitting in the Montreal area.

As I was searching, I found many others captured her last voyage in image and video forms. You can check those out by simply searching “Algoma Montrealais last voyage”.

A photographer who goes by Gales of November captured her upbound at Port Huron from the Sarnia (Ontario) shore as she was passing by the Fort Gratiot Light. It’s a great image that you can view here. Yeah, I know, I’m referring you to another photographer’s work – but I’m not too proud to admit that I admire the image, and that I’m a bit jealous.

Below is one of my last photos of her next-to-last downbound voyage before she disappeared into the mist south of St. Clair, MI.

For more photos of the Algoma Montrealais and Great Lakes Boats, just click here.

You can read my original post on the Algoma Montrealais here.

Sometimes, you need a little luck.

Posted on January 29, 2015January 24, 2015 by Kurt

I was asked about this picture recently. Specifically, “how did you do it?”

Well, from a technical standpoint, it’s easy to explain. Nikon D-80 camera, Sigma 18-200VR lens, ISO 320, 1/800 shutter speed, aperture of f/9.

From a practical standpoint, you need a little luck.

We were on a Na Pali Coast cruise from the north shore of Kauai, and we came across a school of Spinner Dolphins. They seem to be natural hams for the camera, and probably have figured out that we humans act silly when they play for us. That was the first bit of luck.

Then – the guessing began. You have to pick a dolphin (or small group of them) and try to track them with your camera. And repeat. And then, repeat again. All the while, you’re hoping for that spectacular break and jump – and when that happens, you have to remember to be quick with the shutter instead of watching it.

What tends to happen is that all of the dolphins that are jumping and making those spectacular displays and memories for the babbling humans are those that you’re not tracking. By the time you turn and focus on them, it’s over…

Sometimes, you need a little luck.

It all came together for me in a brief moment – the jump, the focus, the exposure, and the timing. While I wished at the time that it was closer and on the other side of the boat so this wasn’t a silhouette shot – there is something about the shape and form of the dolphin that is accentuated by its’ silhouette.

I wish I could tell you that it takes a mastery of skills that only a few have achieved, but then, I’d be lying to you. It does take the right ISO, aperture and shutter speed. It does take patience. (And, thank the programmers, developers, and engineers that made digital photography a reality – because there would be a lot of expensive and wasted film in the process!)

But, to be honest, sometimes, you just need a little luck…

You can find the image here on Laughing Frog Images, or you can start from the Main Gallery Page.

RAW. Just shoot it!

Posted on January 27, 2015January 19, 2015 by Kurt

Not too long ago, I had a conversation with someone who had some nice new mirrorless camera gear.

I asked them if they were shooting RAW format and jpeg format, just RAW format, or just jpegs. They answer was “just jpegs.”

To which I replied: “RAW. Just shoot it!”

Many of us have digital cameras that will capture images in RAW format in addition to jpeg. RAW is somewhat of a generic term for a “raw” image file that stores everything that the camera sensor captured when you clicked the shutter. Some cameras only capture the jpeg, which is compressed and processed for optimal results according to the camera manufacturer’s software. The jpeg images are also smaller than RAW files – sometimes by as much as 75%.

So, why shoot RAW (which in reality has many different filename extensions – .nef, .raf, etc. – it’s whatever the manufacturer wants to call it) if you have to process it and it’s a bigger file?

In simple terms, it presents a wider range of editing and processing options, particularly if the jpeg is overexposed or underexposed. You might be really unhappy with your jpeg – but you can probably make a winner out of the RAW file in your editing software. RAW images can have an exposure latitude of +/- 2 stops or more – that’s really a wide margin for error. You can also work to bring out the shadow detail in a RAW file, or tone down the highlights to even out an image.

I have to admit that when I first got a camera that was capable of shooting RAW images (a Fuji S-9000 9MP all-in-one) – I didn’t shoot RAW.

Confession time: I was intimidated by the notion of digital processing more so than anything else, and was under the (mistaken) impression that the jpegs my camera put out were the best that could be done with the image. One word: WRONG!

I started to play around with RAW, and as I got comfortable with processing images, actually reached the point where now I only shoot RAW. It started to get to be too much to organize and keep straight. Most of my processed images are saved as jpegs (although some are saved as lossless .tif files if I really had to do some work on them – and then saved as jpegs) for posting. You can always convert the RAW image to whatever file format you’d like, but you can never work backwards to the original information and quality of the RAW file.

You can use the software that came with your camera, or download free software such as Picasa by Google or Gimp, or buy software (Acdsee, Adobe, Corel, onOne, etc.) to process your RAW files. It might take some time to learn the software, and you might actually have to read the instructions, but it’s well worth it!

So, in case you missed my point… RAW. Just shoot it!

UP on the ex- Western Pacific

Posted on January 25, 2015January 19, 2015 by Kurt

The former Western Pacific Railroad traverses through the Feather River Canyon between Portola and Oroville, CA. This is breathtaking and relatively unknown scenery.

The WP was taken over by the Union Pacific over thirty years ago, so I never got to see the line as WP. As close as I can get it to the real thing is the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola (check out that gallery here), which is well worth visiting if you’re in the area.

The WP that I have come to know is under the Armour Yellow of the Union Pacific, and it’s still a remarkable line to photograph.

I had started to put some of my images from the former WP into the UP, and came to the realization that they might well get lost in there. They need to stand on their own! So, there’s something new on Laughing Frog Images – the UP on the ex- Western Pacific Gallery.

I tend to get less than ideal weather in the Feather River Canyon, and the photos reflect that. However, life isn’t always blue skies and sunshine – and I’ve never been one to put the camera away if I’ve made the journey and the time to photograph something. Sometimes, I’ve felt that the sun takes the same time off that I do, but digital photography has made that much easier to deal with than it was in the days of ISO 64 Kodachrome!

The BNSF has trackage rights over the WP, and that will be a separate gallery as well. I contemplated that idea for a while, and for similar reasons, decided to make that its’ own gallery.

At some point in time, there are two more galleries coming that are related to the WP. These will be of the eastbound and westbound trips of the 2014 Feather River Express as viewed from the train. (Yeah, I know, I promised those a while ago, but they’re still works in progress!).

Enjoy!

BNSF Pasadena Sub Gallery Added

Posted on January 23, 2015January 19, 2015 by Kurt

The BNSF Pasadena Sub Gallery has been added to Laughing Frog Images.

The current Pasadena Sub is actually owned by Metrolink – the Los Angeles regional commuter rail system. The western half of the Pasadena Sub is now part of the Metro Gold Line, a light rail commuter line. Freight service from San Bernardino to the MillerCoors brewery in Irwindale is provided by BNSF.

Back in The Day, the Pasadena Sub was a prime passenger route for the Santa Fe – all of the name trains that stopped at Pasadena passed over the subdivision.

The Pasadena Sub local freight was handled by two to four GP-30/GP-35 units before they were largely retired. I though it was cool to be photographing some of this action with my 1.2 megapixel digital camera way back when that was the cat’s meow. And now… I want to smack myself upside the head, because the usable print size of those images is about 4″x6″ on a good day… I included a few images from the early days of digital to look at, if nothing else. I do have some slides to find and scan, but for the most part, my quality stuff of the Pasadena Sub doesn’t include the Blondes (Santa Fe’s blue and yellow version of the Warbonnet applied to locomotives in the latter part of the 20th century).

Of late, the power has been ex-Santa Fe GP-60Ms that were children of the reborn Super Fleet and delivered in the classic Warbonnet paint scheme in the early 1990’s. They were built for speed to handle priority intermodal traffic from Chicago to Los Angeles and Richmond. And now, most of them are serving out their time on local and regional freights on the former Santa Fe lines.

I decided to break out the Pasadena Sub and give it its’ own gallery owing to the many shots of the GP-60M’s in their Warbonnet paint. If you get a Santa Fe leader, and work the angles right, it could be 1995, and not 2015…

Despite the fact that I live in close proximity to the Pasadena Sub, I don’t get to photograph it much, as it’s a weekday-only operation for the most part, and I have this thing called work…

Enjoy what I’m able to share with you of the BNSF Pasadena Sub!

Great Lakes Boats Gallery Added

Posted on January 21, 2015January 19, 2015 by Kurt

The Great Lakes Boats Gallery has been added to Laughing Frog Images!

No, it’s not little boats on the Great Lakes. What would be called a “ship” if it were on the oceans is called a “boat” on the Great Lakes. I don’t know the story – it just is. Keep in mind that some of these “boats” are 1000 feet long! Kinda changes ones perspective on the word boat, doesn’t it?

On the other hand, an ocean going boat on the Great Lakes is known as a “salty.” Ocean, salt water, well, that makes a little more sense.

There are also tugboats and barges, retired boats serving as barges, and ATBs (Articulated Tugs and Barges) like the Lakes Contender and Ken Boothe Sr. that ply the Great Lakes, and you’ll eventually see some of those here as well.

The St. Clair River between Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair is a renowned boatwatching area.

Those who follow railroading and photograph trains have Trainorders.com.

Those who follow Great Lakes boats and photograph them have Boatnerd.com, whose world headquarters is in Port Huron, Michigan in land once occupied by the Pere Marquette / Chesapeake & Ohio / Chessie System / CSX rail yards and carferry docks.

The Great Lakes Boats gallery compliments the standalone gallery for the Algoma Montrealis – the last Canadian steam ship on the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes Boats gallery will feature boats I’ve photographed on the St. Clair River, Detroit River, St. Lawrence River, and Welland Canal over the years. This gallery will take some time to fill out, as some of the images have to be located and scanned.

Check out the gallery for something different!

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