Dale Yates
April 2026 - Railroad Yard
Original
About the Image(s)
Having worked for a major railroad for 36 years, I decided to relive my past and capture this image of a railroad yard. The image was composed from a safe location, handheld. My goal is to portray railroad history and create an “old photo” of the rail yard. I performed the original post processing in LR, then utilized the NIK filter Color Efex Pro 4, Detail Extractor preset in order to bring out as much detail as possible. I then utilized the NIK filter Silver Efex Pro 2 with the tone set to Sepia 21. Lastly I made a few slight corrections after that.
This image was taken with the following: RAW format; Canon 90D camera; Tamron 18-200mm, f/3.5-6.3 zoom lens; aperture f/11; shutter speed 1/100; ISO 800; focal length 200mm.
12 comments posted
Hi Dale,
You succeeded in giving an old time feel to this image! Nice job removing the pole and other distractions. I appreciate your explanation of your process. I often use NIK Silver Efex, but have never experimented with Color Efex or Detail Extractor, so will have to explore those options. The only change I can suggest is to crop about a quarter or third of the bare foreground from the image. Posted: 04/01/2026 16:40:44
You succeeded in giving an old time feel to this image! Nice job removing the pole and other distractions. I appreciate your explanation of your process. I often use NIK Silver Efex, but have never experimented with Color Efex or Detail Extractor, so will have to explore those options. The only change I can suggest is to crop about a quarter or third of the bare foreground from the image. Posted: 04/01/2026 16:40:44
Thanks Jennifer! Good suggestion regarding cropping the image! Posted: 04/05/2026 13:45:13
Dale, I am a big fan of the repeating graphical elements in this image; the inverted V's and U's. the stripes. It's really fund to spend time on it. The sky looks a little too crunchy. That may be JPG artifact but if it looks that way on your screen you might want to mask out some of the sharpening in that area. Posted: 04/01/2026 17:32:31
Thanks Will! Good point regarding the sky! Posted: 04/05/2026 13:46:04
The angle of the locomotive on the right gives motion to the image. I, too, like the geometric feel with the stripes, and you did, definitely, create an "old photo" of the rail yard. Posted: 04/01/2026 20:23:19
Thanks Cindy! Posted: 04/05/2026 13:46:27
The image does have a historical feel. I think all the post-processing choices you made accomplished your goals. And even though it's a messy scene with different types of rail cars, trees, a sign in front, etc., I think your composition and post-processing have created order out of this chaos. The right and the left halves of the picture are well balanced. Posted: 04/01/2026 22:37:24
Thanks Canan! Posted: 04/05/2026 13:47:43
Trains (and train yards) are a great subject. I like this image - lots to look at. Many shapes/angles and good range of tones. The sepia definitely adds! Agree with Will that your processing tried to extract details in the sky which were not present in the original image. The resulting artifact is distracting (esp since it's in a bright part of the frame). I like your crop and decision to remove that tall wooden post. Well done. Posted: 04/03/2026 08:37:54
Thanks Steven! Posted: 04/05/2026 13:48:28
Dale! Dale! Dale! Love it!
I like the fact that you removed the light pole and other distraction. I also like the vintage look you gave to the image with your sepia toning. Finally, you made what I feel was the correct decision with your crop. Posted: 04/05/2026 20:28:04
I like the fact that you removed the light pole and other distraction. I also like the vintage look you gave to the image with your sepia toning. Finally, you made what I feel was the correct decision with your crop. Posted: 04/05/2026 20:28:04
Thanks Chan! I appreciate your comments and encouragement! Posted: 04/07/2026 20:25:12