Re: Huckleberry Railroad Winter Charter >>>Photos<<<

Hi James,

For starters, I shot from further to the right. The gentleman who owned the property over there was kind enough to invite half a dozen of us to stand on his land. That was fortuitous, because over there, I wasn't shooting directly into the sun as you were. I was concerned that unless the exhaust plume ended up in just the right spot, the broadside shot might be a total blowout....and uncomfortable too. I'm not fond of looking directly at the sun through a lens. At any rate, I think I was able to shoot a brighter exposure, which allowed me to recover the shadows without having to worry about blown out highlights. After that, it's just Lightroom and the use of the sliders to open up the shadows, keep the highlights looking reasonable and make sure the image still has enough contrast. When folks get aggressive with the shadows slider, they often overlook the need to restore contrast. Without it, excessive shadow reduction just leaves the image looking washed out. Similarly, some folks completely kill the highlights. I like having a few specular white spots, because that's reality. Completely crushing the highlights leaves the image looking like an oil painting.

Not my best totally backlit effort, but it looks more or less like my eye saw it (vs. my camera) and that was the goal. I rarely go for total silhouettes when there is that much light.

/Kevin Madore