Caption: Image 1/2 in this series of the "lens of time and optics" - so on Sunday I found myself at Blenheim Rd near the Village of Canning just east of Princeton, I had not photographed anything here for about 15 years. After shooting this train and processing photos a few days later, I realized I had set aside a similar shot from 15 years ago to post here in the not too distant future, so I took effort to find the frame and crop that is closest to my photo of NS 327 taken at the same spot. This reveals the cruel optics of time: No more NS, codeline is disintegrating, and the trees are getting taller and taller. The optical differences are, frankly, shooting using a D70 50mm f/1.8 fixed lens (cropped, 75mm equivalent) and now my D800 full frame, I shot this frame at 70mm and cropped it to be as close as possible. The rails are in exactly the same spot and the train is as close as I can get to the same as the NS shot. The building and codeline is damn close, but I chalk it to a slightly different vantage point and potential optical differences. The not so cruel optics of time? I Have a much higher quality camera now, and the smog is all but gone. Thank goodness for that!