Technical stuff -  Browser compatibility issues

This web site has been optimized and designed for Internet Explorer 6.0. Most pages should also work with Netscape or Mozilla Browsers.  The Website has not been tested so far with Firefox.

About 90% of the Internet users use MS Internet Explorer today. Please have understanding that actually Railroading, and not web programming is my hobby, and therefore I found the effort for writing dedicated code to support other browsers simply not justifiable. So I cannot guarantee that it works with any browser in the world.

Most of the pages contain Java Scripts and some also ActiveX controls. You need to have JavaScript and ActiveX options enabled in your browser to view the pages correctly. 

Digital imaging and picture processing

Here is my point of view: There are many  reasons to work a bit on your pictures. 

First of all, a good reproduction - in any media - requires work. Photographers for instance, that developed their papers copies in the lab back in the old days, used to say: "A print is never finished". The same is true for digital pictures. The real work often only starts at home, when the photo is taken. 

Second: Digital photography is different in many aspects to conventional photography. For instance, digital pictures need re-sharpening wit software tools because the built in sharpening algorithms in the cameras do often not show the same results. So re-sharpening is required if you want to take full advantage of the optical capabilities of your digital camera. A conventional slide, on the other hand, was as good as it came out of the camera and a negative print was as good as it was received from the lab.

Another aspect becomes relevant with pictures for the web: With the required jpeg compression, picture inevitably loose a great deal on brilliance and sharpness. This means that they have to be re-sharpened, adjusted in  saturation, contrast and tonal range to appear authentic in the low resolution in the internet.

Thanks to the development in digital technology, the hobby photographer today gets affordable cameras, tools equipment. We got opportunities that were entirely left to the profs only a decade ago.

Neither any negative print nor any slide comes with the brilliance and expressiveness of a National-Geographic picture. Who has not experienced that he result appeared flaw and inexpressive compared to the own memories - and to the reality. A picture, in whatever technology, captures just a portion of the tonal range and color spectrum daylight hours have and human eyes can see. 

That's were picture editing and enhancement starts and becomes to make sense. It's about making pictures looking as natural and 'real' as possible. Why do I bother about all this? Because railroad photography is more than just 'documenting' trains to me.

Hope you enjoy this site ! 

Best Regards, Markus Fischer

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Copyright on pictures

Generally, and where not mentioned otherwise, are all pictures on that site taken by myself. The copyright is with me, or the respective photographers.  

Technical means to protect pictures in the world wide web are limited. The Internet was designed to share information, not to hide it, and thats the way I perceive it, too.
This website is meant to share my hobby with you and other enthusiasts, and I don't regard it as a business. Therefore, I decided not to disfigure the images with oversized labels as many other websites do - so you may enjoy them in the best quality possible. In return, I expect you to respect the copyright.

Please contact me if you wish to obtain some pictures for private or commercial purposes. Note that the resolution of the images shown in this web is limited to the standard resolution of internet browsers (72 dpi) and as such not suitable for download/ printout.

If you wish to reuse pictures from this web for a none commercial purpose, please do label them with "Picture by Markus Fischer, www.markusworldwide.ch". Please note that international copyright rules in general apply to both  private and professional websites.

Markus Fischer, Switzerland. email to: contact(at)markusworldwide.ch

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Resources and tools

Please find here some recommendations of software and tools that I found useful for construction and distribution of this website.