A Disturbing Trend

I think the railroad represents peril, but what they really needed to make the point is a big freight train menacingly bearing down on her from behind. I am surprised that the photographer didn’t think of that. Probably could have used a little telephoto to make the train seem close while still leaving a safe margin to get her out of the way as soon as he got the picture.

You can tell all that from one posed photo? [(-D] I suppose you think Mona Lisa was constipated too. [:-,]

On second look, regardless of the shooter’s comment, I think the picture is a composite, using Photoshop or another program tp superimpose the girl in the chair onto the track. The focus of the rail right next to the chair is not as sharp as the chair.

With today’s digital photography and PhotoShop or similar software, there are photographers who can place you anywhere you want to be, digitally.

Some even have backdrops in their studios for photo shoots such as this one. Chances are that neither the photographer nor the young lady were anywhere near a railroad track when the photo was taken.

If you look at the right hand rail, it seems to have been chopped into pieces maybe eight feet long, and they are not aligned end-to-end. Follow the shine and polish patterns on the surface of the rail, and you can see where they jog about an inch or so.

Regardless as to whether or not this picture was photo shopped, I would NEVER pose anyone on an active railroad mainline. A BNSF grain train moving at 70 mph for example, can be on top of your subject matter before you can get her safely out of the way! But there are a lot of photographers who simply are without ANY common sense.

Bucyrus: More evidence this is a fake picture. And CP: You are right. It does set a poor example. That said, in the silent movie days there were many dangerous scenes with heroine tied to tracks, etc.

It’s a fake…but no one should be on railroad tracks other than authorized personnel. The tracks aren’t a path, a playground or a photographer’s studio. Good looking girl though.

I don’t know about that, but I always wondered why she doesn’t have any eyebrows…

The linked site says the photog was doing senior pictures for his daughter, so I’d guess that’s who she is.

Despite his statement that he meshed together some 70 images to construct the shot, either he’s really good with details (the chair sitting on the ties and ballast looks correct) or he really did shoot the picture on the tracks.

I was gonna say you surely must have taken a course or two in “Art Appreciation” but the more I reread your comment the more I think you are the instructor!

I would love to see a 70 mph grain train![;)]

I’m pretty sure it’s real - no Photoshop trickery besides the selective color saturation. The Brenzier technique involves taking a bunch of photos at the full telephoto end of a lens’ range, overlapping like a grid - say 9 by 9 photos. This photographer used Microsoft ICE, an automatic panorama stitching program, to combine those 9 by 9 photos (for example - I’m sure this photo has many many more) into one image. This creates the effect of a really wide-angle lens but with a very shallow depth of field like in a telephoto shot.

Here’s a website with more info:

http://blog.buiphotography.com/2009/07/the-brenizer-method-explained-with-directions/

I understand, but the rail and tie at the same distance from the camera as the front chair legs are less sharp. Even with multiple image stitching or layering, they should be equally sharp since they would be in the same layer.

Wow - way behind my ability to see or comprehend . . . [:-^]

Reminds me of a quote, which is more apropos to my view of those kinds of things:

&ldqu

[quote user=“Paul_D_North_Jr”]

Semper Vaporo:
Bucyrus: selector:

I see a young lady who is not necessarily unhappy about herself, but more unhappy with her circumstances…

[snip]

-Crandell

She has high self-esteem, but it has been artificially instilled by the education system, rather than earned by her. . . . [snip] . . . The railroad track symbolizes the risk of her self-victimization. Since self-made victims blame everybody else for their plight, she is challenging the viewer to take responsibility for placing her at risk.

I was gonna say you surely must have taken a course or two in “Art Appreciation” but the more I reread your comment the more I think you are the instructor!

Wow - way behind my ability to see or comprehend . . .

Reminds me of a quote, which is more apropos to my view of those kinds of things

[quote user=“Semper Vaporo”]

Bucyrus:

selector:

I see a young lady who is not necessarily unhappy about herself, but more unhappy with her circumstances…

… But I think few young people these days, with the narcissism that they are encouraged to develop from kindergarten, are going to be enduring low self-esteem.

-Crandell

She has high self-esteem, but it has been artificially instilled by the education system, rather than earned by her. True self esteem needs to be earned. Artificial self-esteem backfires and results in insecurity rather than confidence. Such insecurity leads to a sense of being victimized. The core of this self-victimization is not taking responsibility for your own actions. The railroad track symbolizes the risk of her self-victimization. Since self-made victims blame everybody else for their plight, she is challenging the viewer to take responsibility for placing her at risk.

I was gonna say you surely must have t

Even if it’s fake or he went through the trouble to seek permission and all that how many people that believe they are budding photographers would see the picture and simply drag an old chair to the local tracks, set up shop, and start shooting? Many times it’s not the original that causes trouble, but people trying to copy the style because they think it looks good.

I saw one of these this past weekend. Perfect example of other’s points in this post!

I asked the Mother what they were thinking, what about their daughter’s safety?

In one shot she was even sitting on the rail, of course, wearing flip-flops.

They live in Beaver Dam, WI so I’ll assume it was the WSOR Cambria Sub. The track was well maintained, and it wasn’t a photojojo workover, just several shots with the camera set to a low f-stop to blur the background. no permission requested or granted.

Her response was “There’s hardly any trains there, we know when they are coming” and, “Besides, all the kids at the [Expensive, private] School are doing it this year.”

I don’t believe their daughter is going to Engineer school after high school…so I don’t even see how it is relevant. To me it just says either Suicidal, or, Careless.

I think it’s a lousy pitcure anyway. I mean, why? What are you even trying to show with such a picture? And even though a number of high school seniors should go ahead and commit suicide that way, especially with today’s job market, why bother showing ti thatw ay? Now, taking a picture fo her jumping off a cliff with a huge rock below…now THAT’S an interesting shot! You can bet that’d be a memorable senior picture! But that one there is really quite horrible. The fact that people consider crap like that to be art is a good example of why society is screwed up these days…