Nostalgia & History > Thankful Thursday - AC&Y 503

Here is a candidate for "Thankful Thursday" (a day when there is a special story behind an image).
Sometimes a photo is posted, and the full story isn't given. Here is a repost from a few years ago whose image thankfully was made better using today's technology.
One of my first color slides was AC&Y 503 - a rare FM H20-44 road switcher. This photo was taken at the N&W (ex-AC&Y) engine facility in Akron, Ohio in December 1966 or January 1967. I was using Kodachrome in an inexpensive fully-manual Minoltina (made by Minolta) rangefinder camera. I did not know enough to correctly expose on a very cloudy day and most likely took this image at nearly the same exposure as would be for full sunlight.
While not a great image even using both Lightroom and Photoshop, I can give thanks for several things:
1.) I was given permission to be on the property and take photos.
2.) Even though the slide was badly exposed, it is fairly sharp.
3.) As bad as it is, the slide was not thrown away.
4.) Modern technology can help get an acceptable image.
When today's "new and improved" image is compared with the original in photo two, I feel truely blessed.
Bob


 

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The image turned out great.
That it pictured an AC&Y FM unit is even better!
Gary

The FM has very elegant lines. Get rid of the all-weather window, and you'd see the curved front of the side window. Plus the pole mounted on the truck. Wonder if they still used it that late?

Yes good it wasn't thrown out. Modern photo proscessing tools are great!

RWJ

Looks great to me. That FM unit is a beast!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

Here, for your consideration, is another take on restroing that rare image:

It often seems like a lot of fans tend to overprocess their images trying to bring out all the truck details, "pop" the colors and other such maneuvers, trying to make a cloudy day look like one with a Kodachrome sky. In the end they lose the original "feel" of the photograph.

The original image you posted shouted "grubby day" at me, so i tried to keep at least some feel of that weather while bringing the locomotives out in better light.

Of course, all tastes are different and you (and other viewers) may hate or love either rendition. This type of work takes LOTS of practice and patience and you will find a method and style that works best for you, just as I have found one that works for me.

Lots of folks on these forums that will be glad to help you with any questions you may have.

If I have inadvertently offended you or your art, by all means say so and I will delete the post and offer my humble apologies

Also, you can keep the AC&Y photos coming! Neat little road we don't see enough of.

NZ

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NebraskaZephyr,
Yours looks more like it was as mine is more how I wished it was. Actually both have value. Thanks for your comments and photo.
Bob

Wow, some great photos there of some nice units!!