Phoenix RPC Journal Issue 2 Winter 2023

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the Winter 2023 edition of the Journal of the Phoenix Railway Photographic Circle. This is our second Journal, the first having been published around six years ago. We hope the second one proves to be worth the wait!

The past few years have been challenging to us all, the worldwide epidemic has caused so much difficulty, and of course, loss for so many. Whilst covid is still prevalent, hopefully we are emerging from the worst of it. Now we have been able to get out without restriction in the past year, the opportunity is there again, to make good pictures of the railways.

Phoenix has continued to thrive despite the obvious challenges. One of the most important changes made over the past few years has been to set up our own Zoom account, which we did early in 2021. This means that members are now able to attend regular presentations and discussions regarding railway photography and engage with likeminded colleagues. We have also had on-line Critique Gallery review meetings (Critique Galleries are only open to members), the Gallery holds images posted every three months for written constructive criticism and comment.

These meetings are organised and presented by Nigel Capelle every 3 months and have proved to be extremely popular.

Cover Photograph: Mark Lawrence

This Page: Terry Callaghan

They include discussion over matters such as composition and processing of the images, as well as real time on-line processing from member suggestions by Nigel, using Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.

Several new members have joined us recently, and it is encouraging to see them being actively involved with the Circle. They have added to the ranks of both on-line galleries and circulating photographic portfolios, “the boxes”, which also continue to be popular.

50 TH ANNIVERSARY

PHOENIX NEWS

The Phoenix Railway-Photographic Circle, founded by Wyn Hobson, celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021. Wyn created the Circle to encourage and promote innovative styles of railway photography using a variety of approaches to composition and techniques. Furthermore, to expand and develop these, through experimentation and discussion among like-minded railway photographers in the pursuit of alternative and original railway images.

Fifty years on, Phoenix remains very much alive and well, creating imaginative photographs of the modern railway scene. Recent technological advances in both camera and processing technology have certainly opened many new avenues for members to explore.

In recognition of this significant milestone, Circle members produced “50 Years of Phoenix”, a book that highlights and celebrates some of the best imagery created during the period. The book also incorporates images from 17 former members too. The book was published in May 2021 by Silver Link Publishing, a subsidiary of Mortons Media Group.

50 Years of Phoenix is available direct from Mortons’ website:

https://www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/product/view/productCode/15554

At the time of issue of this Journal, the book is available with a small discount and is priced at £25.

MEMORIAM, RUSSELL SAXTON AND IAN COWLEY

The circle recently lost two long serving members.

Russell Saxton passed away in November 2021. He was a very active member of Phoenix, a lively, interesting, and engaging fellow and an excellent photographer. He took on responsibility for producing the first issue of the journal in 2018 and had recently published a book on diesel locomotive liveries. Russ was also a keen and mean guitar player and teacher, as well as founder of the Black Sabbath tribute band ‘Sack Sabbath’, in which he played lead guitar.

Ian Cowley passed away in October 2022. Ian joined PRPC in the 1980s and was a prolific contributor to the online galleries. Regarded in the Circle as a pioneer who pushed the relationship between photography and art, Ian was great company, always looking for an unusual approach and above all keeping us all amused with his take on progressive railway photography.

Russ and Ian were highly regarded and keenly active members, both will be sadly missed

PHOENIX MEMBERSHIP

Membership of the Circle brings many benefits, with members discussing images, approaches to photography, and image processing, and providing valuable critiques, aimed at helping those who want to hone their craft.

Membership of Phoenix can have a positive effect, helping members to improve their photography skills and techniques of camera set-up, composition, and post-processing. There really aren’t any forums quite like the Circle, where open and frank discussion can be had, which has provided much thought-provoking assistance to members. Of course, we do not always agree with each other, but that is part of the fun!

For those who are interested in photographing the railway scene, and who seek to improve their output and techniques, and can take constructive criticism (as well as compliments of course!) - there may be no better vehicle to help them onto the right track.

We share and discuss images both electronically via the website, and by circulation of portfolios of prints. Regular social events are normally held, but due to the pandemic have had to be held remotely by video link in recent times. Occasional events of other kinds are also organised, our next being an exhibition of members’ work at the ‘Brief Encounter’ gallery at Carnforth Railway Station Heritage Centre during May, June and July, 2023.

Anyone who is interested in finding out more, or perhaps even joining the Circle, can find further information on our website:

http://phoenix-rpc.co.uk

RUSSELL SAXTON

This is just a small selection of photographs from Russell Saxton

2009

Russell chose photos with people “characters” in them, he was fond of a “going away” shot, and was an early adopter of throwing the train out of focus and focussing on foreground detail and very much had the Phoenix eye for an unusual angle and viewpoint.

Below: Nuneaton freight - 66248 heads north past Nuneaton 23rd June

Above: Pole Position – A PW lookout announces the arrival of a Norwich-Liverpool 170. Langley Mill. 1st July 2003

Above: 66603 at Sneinton, Nottingham with the 6E54 KingsburyHumber tanks. 17th February 2009

Above: 56062 on the last few hundred yards of its short trip from Ratcliffe PS to Langley Mill on bitterly cold 7th January 1982.

IAN COWLEY

This is just a small selection of photographs from Ian Cowley.

Above:

Below: GNML colour

Below Left: Three Handed Driver

Below

Ian’s shots were very creative, often abstract, often with no train at all and full of humour. He was a true master of digital creativity.

2014

Exit through the Gift Shop Or should it be Shoppe?

Right: S Stock at Farringdon

Above: ‘You cant have a Midsommer Nights Dream without a Bottom.’ Shakespeare.

Above: 'What is this life...' The fireman takes a well earned rest at Wolsztyn as he awaits clearance to enter the shed. March 26th

FOCUS STACKING

Article and images by Andrew Shenton

THE MAKING OF A PHOTOGRAPH

So, the question is what’s focus stacking and why would you want to use this technique?

Photography focus stacking is a technique used within many genres of photography mostly associated with landscape and macro photography to increase the depth of field in an image, allowing the photographer to capture sharp images from foreground to background. This is particularly useful in landscape photography, where the photographer may want to capture a wide range of detail from the front of the scene to the distant horizon. It can also be useful in macro photography, where the depth of field is often very shallow.

When the focus stacking technique is used its possible to create images that are sharp from the very front and all the way to the back regardless of the distance between foreground and background subjects.

It’s less common in Railway Photography though, photographing moving subjects or changing scenes making the technique slightly more challenging.

Focus stacking is a part of postprocessing, but the process starts long before you start editing the photos, a successful focus stacked image is all in the planning.

This image is focused on the closest leaves, the camera is locked on a minitripod and all the camera settings are manual There are a few things to consider when focus stacking manually. It's important to use a consistent aperture and exposure for each shot, to ensure that the final image looks natural.

The focus point is moving away from the closest leaves.

Finally, It's important to keep the camera as still as possible for each shot, to ensure that the images align correctly, it’s important to be patient and take the time to carefully align the images, as any misalignment will be noticeable in the final image.

The focus point is on the far leaves.

The final image below, focus stacked, with the sharp sections of all the images blended in Photoshop.

The above is a single image of the Rail Head Treatment train before Focus Stacking

For a railway focus stack, I would typically take one photo focused on the main railway subject, another couple where I focused on the foreground, then one more focused on the background. It’s all in the planning though, I compose my images knowing that the final result will be generated by merging the images together in post processing.

There are a few different ways to achieve focus stacking in photography

One common method is to take multiple photographs at different focus points, and then use software to combine the images into a single image with increased depth of field. This can be done manually, by taking the photographs and combining them in post-processing software such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

Focus stacking can also be done automatically, using a focus stacking function built into some cameras.

These functions work by taking a series of images at different focus points, and then automatically blending them together in the camera. This can be a convenient option, but it does have some limitations and will be almost impossible to capture a successful moving railway shot using this method.

How many images are required?

A minimum of three, foreground, mid and distance views, although if you are composing a shot with lots of close foreground detail many more images may be required.

What Camera settings should I use?

Shooting in manual mode is essential, keep the exposure, aperture, and white balance the same ensuring all are the same for each image, focus can be manual or automatic which ever works best shooting in the field, I generally use a single point automatic focus point, selecting various points from foreground to distance.

Do I need a Tripod?

A tripod isn’t essential, but the camera mustn’t move between frames, a tripod does make the post processing work more likely to be successful though.

It’s always a good idea to shoot a little wider when handheld, to compensate for movement between shots.

Do I need Editing Software?

Yes, Focus Stacking is as much a field exercise as it is an editing process, the result is an edited image relying on planned images from the field. If you mess up the shooting, focus stacking can be a painstaking and impossible task later. Photoshop does the heavy work and will take in the images automatically create layers and mask the sharp sections from each photograph, essentially blending the sharp sections from each image.

Conventionally this would’ve been a green field on a bright blue day, but getting down low and focus stacking the Dandelions, created some foreground interest in an otherwise plain field

A focus stacked image, taken handheld, laying down in the autumn stubble to capture this Trans-Pennine

Overall, focus stacking is a great technique to have in your toolkit as a photographer. It can help you capture scenes with stunning detail and clarity and add a whole new dimension to your photography. Give it a try and see what kind of results you can achieve!

Andrew Shenton

RYAN TAYLOR

All text and images by Ryan Taylor

PHOENIX MEMBER PROFILE

I’ve always been a transport nut. My high school looked across the Calder valley to the railway, so I could see everything scooting by from the Red Bank empties to the Stanlow Tanks and Cawoods containerised coal. The highlight being domestic coal to Blackburn behind a 45. By the late 80’s I realised that so much was disappearing, and I gradually moved from spotting to photography, with the aim of recording what would soon be gone. Initially I had a compact Halina camera, which did a reasonable job on static subjects with the sun behind me, but the results weren’t what I wanted. I spent lots of time pouring over railway photography books, amazed at the quality of work from people like Eric Treacy, Gavin

step up, but the lens quality was not right and was blurry at the edges when zoomed in.

I got a Nikon AF600 fairly quickly after that as well and for a few years I had black and white negative film loaded into one and colour transparency in the other. After University in 1996, I wanted to spend time developing my photography skills and did a night school / weekend City and Guilds qualification at Calderdale College in Halifax. By this time I was focussed on black and white photography. I had learned to appreciate all the qualities of it, textures, tones, contrasts, and patterns that were de-

Previous page: 465 arriving at Cannon Street. My digital processing skills have significantly improved since joining Phoenix. The detail in the sky and tower in the background was barely visible.

Around this time my English teacher got us all to take in some books to read in class, and I took in “British Rail in Colour, No 2” by Hugh Dady. My teacher was not impressed and asked me to bring fiction in future! By 1993 I got my first SLR, a Centon DF300, which was cheap and a clear

emphasised or overpowered when in colour but the main attraction with black and white was that we had use of a dark room at college and there was such great camaraderie producing prints and checking out and discussing each other’s work. The other thing that this course and all the work enabled was a Licentiateship to the Royal Photographic Society.

Right: An early shot of a “new” unit and the old Blackburn station.

Morrison, Colin Marsden, Brian Morrison and John Whiteley.

I went digital in 2004, sticking with Nikon – a D100 and then D200, initially using both digital and film with different cameras but that didn’t last long. My Nikon AF600 sensed it’s time was up and the catch broke on the back door, so it retired and I have been digital ever since. It’s a real testament to the quality of the D200 that I still use it, 15 years later. It is showing its age however and I have recently obtained a Nikon D750.

I loved the time we had in the dark room and with film, but am a thorough convert to digital now. I don’t have space for a dark room, and the whole process seems more efficient, more archivable and it is easy to work on one image, save and reproduce it and do things with it in a controlled way.

My approach to railway photography is driven by my lifestyle. I have a young family, live in South London and don’t have a car, so am largely urban, wandering around the network and often with my kids in tow on our way to adventure golf or a swimming class.

I still retain that strong love for black and white photography, which I focussed on with this selection of images for consistency and a cohesive set. I like the timeless elegance of it. I also prefer the light that the winter months offer with a low sun making the most of the textures and shadows.

I do get bored going back to the same location too often, once I have some good shots, I don’t really go out of my way to go back again unless something interesting or new is about. I am increasingly remembering to photograph my local scene too.

Above: The Dark City. An Overground 378 arrives at Hoxton with the City of London behind.

Right: Homeward bound. Awaiting the train at my childhood home of Hebden Bridge back to London. A lot of my shots are opportune pictures when out and about with my family.

When I was younger, I always used to travel away from my home area, resulting in precious few local shots of the most familiar stuff. Over the past few years I have made sure that I have got some good shots of my local Wimbledon to Sutton Line, a fairly innocuous 5-mile-long south London line on the Thameslink network that many people would write off as nothing special but I have been completely surprised by the number of opportunities and I have a Flickr album of this line with over 60 shots. The key really is a bit of variety of train, location and some great light.

It’s important to remember that everyone has a different preference and approach to their own photography. It is our job to encourage a diversity of approaches and embrace different and unique styles that may not be our personal preference.

I find it inspiring to see the work of others and their different approaches and hope that I will continue to grow and learn from this.

I have learnt an incredible amount in my first six months in Phoenix. The online feedback and discussion in particular have made me deeply question why I have been doing things a certain way and I have learnt so much more about the power and potential of both Photoshop and Lightroom. I like producing pictures for myself, ones that I enjoy and like looking back at and if other people like them too, then all the better!

Above: Morden South on my local Wimbledon to Sutton Line

Left: 360109 arriving at Stratford, East London.

NIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY

THE EYE OF THE PHOENIX

Whilst night photography is not without challenges it presents great opportunities for more adventurous and progressive shots. The night can turn ordinary scenes into extraordinary ones adding atmosphere to a shot that just wouldn't be present in daytime.

Playing with long exposures can produce fascinating results, for example using light trails to capture the motion of the railway at night. In this edition of the journal the Eye of the Phoenix turns to railway photography at night.

the train’s departure, into the night, the

drops to danger and traffic can once again pass over the road crossing. The shot is a 71 second exposure making good use of the station dwell time to show the locomotive in more detail, the light trails coming as the train pulls away and departs into the night.

Departure Terry Callaghan 37 558 aka 37 424 departs St Bees Station with 2C47 Barrow to Carlisle. Following

signal

Freightliner's Felixstowe-Doncaster Railport container train in fog at Gainsborough Trent Jc. Dafydd Whyles

An LNER Azuma is momentarily illuminated by the lights of Salisbury Street level crossing, Morpeth. Stephen Veitch

Rain, Train and Dark of Night Charlie Dischinger

37521 at Barrow Hill Derek Thomson

31261 at Lowestoft on 12th November 1983. Dave Pearce

Up and Down. Terry Callaghan

Northern 319370 & Cross Country 221121 Crossing Stockport Viaduct 5th October 2019. Rob France Saltburn. Jim Knight Mark Lawrence

A dreich morning at Kilwinning with 68018 and 68009 working a Carlisle Kingmoor to Hunterston nuclear fuel empties. Eddie Holden.

Freightliner Class 90 Nos. 90015 & 90008 get underway from a crew change at Carlisle on 14th December 2021. Nigel Capelle.

ROB FRANCE

All text and images by Robert France

PHOENIX MEMBER PROFILE

I was brought up on a farm, miles from a railway but when I was a little boy my sister bought me some Thomas the Tank engine books, which must be what started an interest in railways. This was followed by a train set for Christmas when I was 7. Living in the countryside I rarely went anywhere near a railway until I left school. I went to Preston shopping with my sister once, a trip on the SettleCarlisle when it was under threat of closure, a weekend in Edinburgh and of course a couple of visits to Steamtown at Carnforth which was nearby. Reading railway magazines I noticed how some people’s pictures just seemed to look better than others’, Dave McAlone was one that stood out, and later Adrian Kenny always seemed to find a different and better angle than other people.

After a couple of years I upgraded to a Mamiya 645E and used the 2 alongside each other, the choice of camera depending on which was better suited to the situation. Apart from a City and Guilds Photography course in the mid 2000’s I have never produced my own prints from any of my pictures, film or digital, however it did give me an insight into the skill of printing your own images in the darkroom. It is something I would like to do in the future though, having watched my pictures being printed and seeing the finished result on paper was very satisfying, and completed what often seems like an incomplete process. I was a very late comer to Digital when I bought a Canon EOS 5D Mk2 in 2010, which I still use today. Digital gives me much more flexibility to capture images in low light and more challenging

Previous page: 37401 leaves Drigg on the Cumbrian Coast

Having left school and started working there was the chance to travel more widely, I initially used a Vivitar compact camera borrowed from my sister, which was followed by a Canon EOS 50E SLR which I purchased.

condition's than I would ever have attempted on film, having immediate feedback and the ability to take test shots to check the exposure and focus are invaluable and I can’t imagine working without that now.

Right: Sparks fly during track renewal work at Lancaster

However, this comes at the expense of lots of time editing the pictures in Lightroom & Photoshop, which I never had to do when I took slides.

I am very lucky to live on the Lancashire/Cumbria/Yorkshire border with 3 of the country’s most scenic railways on my doorstep, the SettleCarlisle, Cumbrian coast and the Cumbrian section of the west

coast main line. I like to put the train in its surroundings, whether they are natural or man-made and I try to take pictures that would work without the train in at all.

I try to avoid getting the same shots as other people, and generally avoid charters and special events, my aim is to capture images of the everyday working railway. With the general

decline of freight and locomotive haulage on the railway my attention has over the years turned more to finding new locations and the lighting conditions. I love to find a completely different angle to other people at a well used location. While most of my pictures are taken in scenic locations I love the atmosphere of a busy station with lots of opportunity to capture not just the trains but the infrastructure, passengers and staff too. I particularly like to include people in my pictures as I think with the passage of time these are the images that will be the most interesting. I was invited to join Phoenix in 2012, I had been aware of the group and regularly visited its website to view the monthly galleries.

Above: Morecambe

Below: Ribblehead

I am pleased that I was approached as I would never have approached the group myself. Getting an honest critique on my images is very useful, and being able to view other peoples more experimental images in the critique galleries that they may not choose to display publicly elsewhere provides lots of food for thought, ideas and inspiration. It also adds a social side to the hobby. It is very much a solitary activity for me although in many ways I prefer it that way, as I don’t have to worry about getting in anybody's way, or anybody else being in my way when I am at the line side. While digital offers many advantages I do miss having to wait to see the results, we live in an age where everything is instant, whereas in film days waiting for the slides to come back from the lab was part of the fun.

Another thing I miss is using an allmanual camera, while digital is great, there was something very nice about doing everything yourself, focusing, setting the aperture

and the great clunk when you fire the shutter on a medium format camera, or maybe I am getting old and harking back to the ‘good old days!’

Below: Parton

Mossband near Gretna Green

A YEAR IN THE GALLERIES

IN THIS FEATURE WE LOOK BACK THROUGH THE ONLINE MONTHLY DISPLAY GALLERIES

Above: Pendolino 390013 arrives into Carlisle.

Right: The Wrong Side Of The Tracks.

221136 descends towards Birmingham New Street.

Eddie Holden

Terry Callaghan

Right: Old And New At Ballarat. Malcolm Simister.

Above: Customer Service. Graham Evans.

Above: In The Waiting Room. Lewes. Michael HC Baker

Below: Waiting For The Blackpool. David Flitcroft

Above: IEP creative art. Eddie Holden

Left: Is it a bird, is it a plane? I don't think so! An outer circle train on the Glasgow Underground calls at Cowcaddens station. Nigel Capelle

A scene captured through several layers of waiting room glass at Peterborough station Nigel Power

Left: Lines, Winwick. Richard Jones

Right: Powering Up. Rylstone Branch. Brian Newton.

Below: On The Way. North Blyth. Stephen Veitch

Above: Scrum In Brum Nigel Power

Below: Platinum Plated Steel. Jim Knight

Toytown. Charing Cross Tilt-Shift Effect. Ryan Taylor

Above: Rails. Mark Lawrence

Left: Two Trains. Bordeaux St. Jean. Martin Higginson

Above: Waiting. David Shillabeer

Above: A Bridge Too Far? Geoff Gillham

Above: Prairie Afternoon. Charlie Dischinger

Left: Leaf Buster. Dafydd Whyles

Left: Speeding South. Robert France

Left: Keeping It In The Frame. Fred Kerr

Second

PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR

Jim Knight's winning entry was 'Last Train Home' taken on the 30th April 2021. Depicting the setting sun with a two- car diesel multiple unit midway across the impressive Barmouth Bridge on the Mawddach Estuary. The image is a composite of three photographs, one of the train, merged with the sunset and mid-ground, with a longer exposure foreground.

The results of the Phoenix photograph and photographer of the year competition was announced at the February AGM meeting. Entries are voted on by the members.

Third place (above), was awarded to Stephen Veitch for his 'Under the wires' capture featuring an LNER Azuma approaching Acklington, between Alnwick and Morpeth the harsh backlighting being used effectively.

place (above left, went to Andrew Shenton with 'Stephenson's Legacy'. Taken on the 13th November 2021 the shot depicts a pair of Northern Rail class 150 units crossing the recently restored 1840 Gauxholme Viaduct near Todmorden with a splendid reflection and sunset.

PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

JIM KNIGHT

Jim also picked up the coveted Photographer of the Year accolade having polled the most votes overall for all of his entries in the photograph of the year competition. His winning submissions are shown here...

Crossing the Clyde

A Nova 2 TransPennine Express unit crosses the River Clyde at Crawford, Scotland in some of the last light of the 11th September 2021.

Champagne Supernova

It is the 16th December 2021 and a TransPennine Express Nova 2 unit, 397010 catches some diffused light with the sun having only just dropped behind a cloud bank over the Lune Gorge beyond Tebay in the distance. The unit was working 1M97, the 12.12 Edinburgh to Manchester Airport service, caught at Greenholme on the West Coast Main Line.

The Door is Always Open

And the window for that matter...... Otherwise the platelayers hut is in remarkably good shape. LNER Azuma class 800 in the morning fog, with the Highland Chieftain, 1E13, 07:55 Inverness to London Kings Cross, Friday 23rd July 2021.

THE PARTING SHOT

20 minutes before sunrise the guard of the 08:07 to Knottingley spends a moment taking in the glorious winter dawn at Woodlesford 30th December 2020

Andrew Shenton