Since 1985. The Leader in Vintage Rail Video HERRON RAIL VIDEO Stitching For A Wider View
WITH DIGITAL (as well as scanned film) it is easy to “extend” your composition when you need a wider angle lens to get the im- age you want by using a computer image program to combine two or more photos. Such was the case when I set up to photo- graph a southbound Union Pacific train passing a Burlington Northern Santa Fe locomotive on the Spruce spur a little north of Palmer Lake, Colo., on the BNSF / UP Joint Line. The Joint Line grew out of the original
1871 narrow gauge Denver & Rio Grande “Baby Railroad” (for the 30 pound rails and small locomotives and cars) constructed by Civil War General William Jackson Palmer, building south from Denver to a connection with a Mexican railroad at the Rio Grande River in Texas. The D&RG never reached Mexico, but this line led to the formation of the 120 mile long double tracked high traffic route between Denver and Pueblo we know today as the Joint Line. The Joint Line became joint when the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe completed its line between Denver and Pueblo in 1887, paralleling the D&RG line. The two rail- roads operated as separate, competing lines until World War I when the United States Railroad Administration took over control of the nation’s railroads for the war effort, and mandated all Denver-Pueblo
rail traffic
would be a joint operation sharing the ATSF and D&RG lines. In addition, Colorado & Southern, Missouri Pacific, and Rock Island at one time operated over the Joint Line. Today, all these railroads have funneled down to the two present Joint Line owners. Rio Grande morphed itself into the South- ern Pacific in 1988, which in turn in 1996 was sold to UP. The BNSF is the result of the Burlington North- ern absorbing the Colorado & Southern in 1981, then merging with the AT&SF in 1996. Since this spur track is normally
empty, I saw this BNSF locomotive alongside a UP train as a rare op- portunity to illustrate in one photo the multi-railroad history associat- ed with this line. I also wanted to emphasize (with mild telephoto compression) the pattern of multiple rails, so selected my 180mm lens.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GREG MONROE
As described in the text,stitching two adjacent images together was necessary to achieve the desired wider composition to include the block signal in this photo of UP and BNSF trains together on Colorado’s Joint Line. The above photo was taken as the UP train approached. Next, the main photo was taken when the UP train was passing the BNSF locomotive on the spur track (left). After combining the two images in Photoshop, this more effective wider composition was achieved (next page).
I liked the idea of including the block sig-
nal, but it was just outside the framing of the 180mm lens. I could not back up more to include this signal without having a switch stand intrude into the view I wanted of the multiple rails. And while a smaller tele would be perfect for the shot, the next small- er lens I had with me, a 50mm, would loose the telephoto compression effect I wanted on the rails.
So as the UP train was approaching, I shifted my composition very slightly to the right, took a shot including the block signal (while cutting off part of the BNSF locomo- tive on the left), then recomposed and took my main shot when the UP locomotive was alongside the BNSF. Later, I combined both in Photoshop. I cropped out about 70 per cent of the left side of the block signal shot, then added the remaining image to the right side of my main shot. While this can be done automatically in a stitching program, I did it “manually” using the following stitching process. (These steps are for Photoshop, but should be the same or similar in other image editing programs.)
I opened both images, and sized them both to the same height and d.p.i. as my fi- nal image. Next, I opened a blank canvas (FILE>MENU>NEW) at the same d.p.i. and set an image size larger by two or three inches on all edges than the intended final print size (to allow room to work on the images.) I then dragged the two images onto the blank canvas, placing the image with the block signal over the main photo, lining up the “35 sign” in the top image over the same sign in the bottom. Each image now became a layer. Next, I cropped off all of the top im-
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Two New DVDs in Stock! Reflections of the
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