Comments on: Here’s a nice after work suprise, after BC Rail was taken over by CN, it took me about 2 years to get my first BCOL leader, but it took me another 12 years to get a pair solo on a train – here it is. These Red, White and Blue locomotives may as well be Red, Yellow and Blue owing to dirt. And photographic notes – notice the forest fire haze lately? Remind you of the early to mid 2000′s when coal burning was at peak? Well, if I may, young photographers would be VERY wise to invest in a good polarizer lens to cut the haze and bring out the contrast and blue sky. Get one ASAP, this haze isn’t going anywhere for a while yet. My Circia 2001 B+W C-POL by Schneider Optics (Germany) is a godsend and I’ve used it on a few photos on this site to great effect. Retail price for a good polarizer is about $150 USD. Don’t skimp when buying filters, the last thing you want are artefacts like headlight reflections, which ruin photos. If you want any blue sky in your afternoon photos, this is now a must.

By: Stephen C. Host

Stephen C. Host — Mon, 03 Sep 2018 14:38:55 +0000

Snake sorry can’t see it, not a member. Note that I re-edited this photo a second time after submission. Again, the haze and associated white balance caused yellow to show up on the shot after editing, because the haze essentially is a yellow filter. I edited it to correct to white. It was a very challenging edit to say the least. TY all.

By: BradKetchen

BradKetchen — Fri, 24 Aug 2018 10:30:11 +0000

Very nice catch Stephen. Can you demonstrate a photo without a filter then one with?

By: Snake2

Snake2 — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 21:46:05 +0000

Stephen – check out a recent post on trainorders – eastern board

By: terry.oshell

terry.oshell — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 17:46:26 +0000

Great looking consist, what a catch. The surrounding greenery with make these units feel like their on former home territory.

By: Noe

Noe — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 14:57:42 +0000

Nice catch Steve!

By: ngineered4u

ngineered4u — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 12:09:00 +0000

Good morning Stephen. Yes there is a slight difference in the picture now. Its hard to believe that smoke can alter the conditions so vastly,

By: Stephen C. Host

Stephen C. Host — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 11:47:21 +0000

Phil, check now. Press CTRL-F5 to force re-load the image into your browser’s cache.

I thought about the yellow tint and I also realized any tint is fixable, it’s no different than a white balance issue. So I made an adjustment to white balance using the BCOL white in the whitest part of the locomotive.

I first tried using a neutral point (greys) which almost always fix a tinted scene but this did not work. It was a bit more difficult than usual, this yellow tint is just odd. I’ll have to watch for this on other photos taken the last couple weeks and going forward until the haze is gone.

By: ngineered4u

ngineered4u — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:58:12 +0000

Thanks, i have not noticed it that much in scarborough or when i am working in the downtown core last week. I think its supposed to rain tomorrow but i will pay closer attention when i am at work in Oakville tomorrow.
Come to think of it when i was over on the land i bought in Eramosa a couple weeks ago i was flying my drone and the sky was a very strange colour. Not sure if the smoke had already reached there or not

By: Stephen C. Host

Stephen C. Host — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:48:13 +0000

Maybe its the haze? It is kind of yellowy orange and its not exactly ideal shooting conditions out there.

I find the polarizer on a good day to make things bluer. But these forest fire haze days are challenging to say the least.

By: ngineered4u

ngineered4u — Tue, 21 Aug 2018 02:42:07 +0000

Not to criticize your shots Stephen..but the photo has a sort of yellowish tinge to it.Is that from the polarizer effects or something else? Or are my eyes really bad