Holiday Leftovers from LAUPT

Where Have I Been?

As the lack of recents posts atest to, I have been crazy busy lately. Not only have I been working a ton to finish a large project by year’s end at the office, but the holidays are upon us and we are entertaining out-of-state guests for a few weeks. As if that wasn’t enough, I have also spent all of my spare time learning a unique subject that has always interested me. Soon I will prepare a post on the topic and the byproduct of all my research and learning.

Until then, I was making preparations for the upcoming new year when I came across some images that I like which I had not worked into a post yet. Since I am feasting on, as many of you are I suspect, holiday leftovers (honey-baked ham with all the fixings) I thought I would put together a post with some “photo leftovers” until I finish my major effort previously disclosed.

LAUPT Leftovers

Here is a collection of photos taken in March of 2011 at Los Angeles Union Station or, as I prefer to say, LAUPT (Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal):

SCAX 860 & AMTK 135 - SCAX 860 (EMD F59PH) and AMTK 135 (GE P42DC) are captured here at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) on March 4, 2011.
[3/4/2011 - River Subdivision] Copyright © 2011 Joe Perry. All rights reserved.

While researching the following sequence of images for caption information, I came across a YouTube video which explained the content photographed below. Here is the video taken by Rin Snuffy:

UP 5606 at LAUPT - Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) sees a rare visit from a freight locomotive due to the fact that UP 5606, (GE C44ACTE) was dispatched to resuce a failing, and 8 hours late, Amtrak #11, the Coast Starlight, on March 23, 2011. Also in the photo is AMTK 54 (GE P42DC).
[3/23/2011 - River Subdivision] Copyright © 2011 Joe Perry. All rights reserved.

Faces of LAUPT - The faces of three locomotives from three of the four local railroads serving Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) pose at the end of the stub tracks. The rare visit of a freight locomotive to Union Station was the result of the UP 5606, (GE C44ACTE) being dispatched to resuce a failing, and 8 hours late, Amtrak #11, the Coast Starlight, on March 23, 2011. Also in the photo are SCAX 862, (EMD F59PH) and AMTK 54 (GE P42DC).
[3/23/2011 - River Subdivision] Copyright © 2011 Joe Perry. All rights reserved.

“The Hostler”
[3/23/2011 - River Subdivision] Copyright © 2011 Joe Perry. All rights reserved.

On the Calendar

I have been on vacation from work for about one week now and I have a few more days before I must go back. I intend on making some preparations this weekend for a short trip to chase some steel that I have planned for early next week. I was fortunate enough to recieve some cool gadgets from Santa and I am looking forward to “playing” with them during the trip. I will let you folks know about them and what I think of them after I put them to the test.

I will also to continue my studies and work on my “project” as time permits. I hope to have something pretty slick and be able to share it you all soon. Until then, see you trackside chasing steel!

Amtrak Dual - Variations of a Photo

As I stated in my previous post, HDR Photography Visually Explained, here is a post showcasing an HDR photo which has been processed with different effects. I was trying out different techniques to sharpen my skills and different styles to see what appeals to me.

The original photo, shown below, was taken as a series of 7 exposures and then combined into an HDR photo with HDRsoft’s Photomatix Pro. I like the photo very much. I feel it conveys the scene accurately and it is sufficiently detailed. (You can click on the photos to see a larger version.)

Amtrak Dual 1 - Variations of a photo number 1 - Original HDR photo. AMTK 460 (EMD F59PHI) and AMTK 161 (GE P42DC) are the power for their respective trains sitting idle at Los Angeles Union Station. [11/26/2011 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2011, Joe Perry

As I looked at the photo I thought the clouds lent themselves very well to a monochromatic treatment to I converted the image to a dark sepia version.

Amtrak Dual 2 - Variations of a photo number 2 - Dark sepia overall. [11/26/2011 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2011, Joe Perry

I am really fond of a lighter sepia treatment and some vignetting but I think in this case it doesn’t work well because the image is cropped too close on the right side to make this look work.

Amtrak Dual 3 - Variations of a photo number 3 - Light sepia overall. [11/26/2011 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2011, Joe Perry

Back to the darker image, I wanted to emphasis the trains a little more so I gave them a light colorization - which is one of Deb’s favorite looks.

Amtrak Dual 4 - Variations of a photo number 4 - Dark sepia overall and lightly colorized trains. [11/26/2011 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2011, Joe Perry

Finally, back to the lighter sepia version, I applied a heavy colorizing treatment to the trains without regard for the vignette and even applied a drop shadow to the trains themselves to make them “pop” off the page.
Amtrak Dual 5 - Variations of a photo number 5 - Light sepia overall and colorized trains. [11/26/2011 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2011, Joe Perry

I like photos #1 and #4 the best.  Which photo(s) appeal to you?

Trains at Los Angeles Union Station in HDR: Part 2

Continuing from my previous post, here are four more photos from Los Angeles Union Station:

An Eclectic Consist - An eclectic mix of cars constitute this Amtrak train set awaiting departure at Los Angeles Union Station.
[11/23/2010 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryThanksgiving Passengers - Metrolink locomotive SCAX 895 (EMD F59PHI) and Amtrak AMTK 507 (GE P32BWH [Dash 8-32BWH])provide the power for their respective trains at Los Angeles Union Station as passengers detrain from the recently arrived Amtrak’s Southwest Chief just prior to Thanksgiving.
[11/23/2010 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryFlocks - A flock of birds fly west as a flock of Metrolink locomotives, SCAX 881 (EMD F59PHI), SCAX 851 (EMD F59PH), and SCAX 853 (EMD F59PH) rest at the end of their morning runs to Los Angeles Union Station.
[11/23/2010 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe PerryGold Line Departing - A Metro’s Gold Line train departs from Los Angeles Union Station heading east to Pasadena in early morning light.
[11/23/2010 - River Subdivision] © Copyright 2010, Joe Perry