David J Taylor wrote:

"Alan Browne" wrote in message
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Nothing "artificial or processed" about them other than the slightly
high exposure. I have seen photos of the same trains where they are
grey looking, not black.

OK, different to what I might expect from UK trains.

Good point. Are train engines (of that era) painted black or do they
get that way with age? (soot).


eg: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/7485937.jpg (by John
Flint). There is another photo I've seen where the trains are near
silver-grey looking.

Looking at the images I posted above there is quite a range of black
to grey ... that's what the camera recorded.

OK.

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Well printing really makes you get all the light you can so that you
can then compress it into the range of the printer. Dead black is
passable on a print - dead white skies really kill an image.

Interesting. Is the effect of a white sky any less if the print is
borderless?

IMO yes although careful cropping and (in the case of a framed photo)
matting can lessen it.