Ok, I don’t want to start any flame wars, I just have one quick question. To get this picture to work I have to change the pixel size and I don’t want to waste my time if it is not worth it (I am a true amatuer).I wanted to get some advise from the real experts. Is this picture Railpictures.Net worthy?
No Flame Wars Please! Just advise!
Well, I am certainly not an expert in photography by any means, but any photo with a train in it is super in my book…so please keep up the good work.
Some photos at RailPictures.net get rejected because of being backlit or just dark overall. I’ve had many photos rejected there because you could not make out the trucks. Also another killer is “common power”. That said, I’m not a screener and I like your shot, so send it in and see how it makes it.
Here are some other possibilities:
Thanks for looking.
ust a note, have you checked out www.rrpicturearchives.net.
They have a better thing. You just post your pictures. With Railpictures.net they really want the best picture possible. I have quit going there because I like the other site better.
Check it out. See what you think.
Happy railroading[(-D]
James
Yeah, I have a few pics there. Here is where you can see them. http://trainwatcher1.rrpicturearchives.net/
You probably need to move the sun and get rid of those clouds…
A significant number of the pictures are, indeed, backlit - the sun is almost visible in some of them.
And, judging by the height of the sun above the horizon, you were shooting late in the day (although early morning is a possibility).
Not having posted on any of the sites, I can’t speak with any authority, but I’d guess that you need to do the following:
Make sure your subjects are lit pretty much from the front.
Shoot around mid-day, unless you are getting some amazing effects from early- or late-day lighting (See CopcarSS’s shot in the Diner thread).
Don’t bother shooting for submission on fully or mostly overcast days. That doesn’t mean don’t shoot, but your lighting will be very flat, and I gather that’s not desirable for publication on some sites.
Watch your background. It’s part of your picture, but something most of us tend to ignore until you’re looking at your day’s work later on. Kind of like the picture of your cousin Fred with that telephone pole growing out of his head…
You’re shooting digital - fill up your memory card, and consider getting another. Shoot at the highest possible resolution - you can always edit it down later with an image processing program. Sometimes the shot you took as a throwaway ends up being a keeper. Don’t be discouraged - the old rule of thumb (in film days) was that you would get one ‘good’ shot out any given roll. It’s still true with digital.
First off, let me say that I am certainly not a professional, nor do I spend much time at railpictures.net, so I could not tell you what they are looking for in terms on inclusion on their site.
I agree with what Tree has said, particularly about the backlighting. In addition, I find overhead wires to be a distraction. I think that a lot of amateur pictures could use some judicious cropping, in addition to color balancing. FWIW.
Well, let me start out by saying, I like the composition. Composition is an important part of photography, without getting long winded, let’s just call it “setting the scene”. In other words, you want to take a few moments when going to the tracks to find a good spot, with good lighting and background. This particular photo isn’t “bad”. But, it is a little dark, and it tends to fade from light to dark from right to left. That can be irritating to look at. Shooting on an over cast day is difficult, I will admit, I don’t do well on overcast days either. The colors are okay, but the poor lighting makes them dull, the grass along the rails has a nice green color, and it’s a nice capture. The only other problem I can see is the building on the right. Cropping that out would not really help, because it would make the the front of the loco too close to the edge of the photo, and you would wind up cutting the tree in half. Try to set the scene before the train arrives. Look through your viewfinder, and look at the edges of the scene, look for objects that would be distracting and just move the cameral to make sure they don’t get in the scene. Overall, I like the photo, but as far as being worthy of rrpictures.net, you would have to submit it…
If you want a site with helpful people who are also photographers of varying levels, try www.fotofight.com. It’s a nice site with helpful people.
The first photo isn’t badly composed, but it is a bit blurred. The lighting is better, and it’s a nice shot of the locomotive. The trees and the buildings are part of the scene, and not overpowering. The sky is not affecting this too much, but in the upper left hand corner it’s a bit “hot”. Overcast skies and lighting like this can wash out colors, but colors here look okay. The signal bridge is a nice “frame” and adds a nice element to the photo. Overall, a good job, but got to work on that lighting.
The 2nd photo is very nice. I rather like that one. Good depth of field on the long string of locos, gives it a feeling of distance, and the length of the train. Nice colors, and better lighting, but I still think you are shooting into the sun, and you should try to a avoid that. Slight cropping on the left side to get rid of whatever is down there, and it would be a good picture.
Photo #3 is too dark, and the “hot” spot on the right side is very distracting. The shed with all the gates leaning up against it tends to be a distraction also and takes away from your main subject. Try shooting with the sun behind you.
The bottom photo isn’t bad, composition-wise, but the sky again, too overexposed, and distracting. There is slight blurring to the locomotive, but, that could be my monitor also.
Pleas
Thank You very much for your comments.
Lance,
There’s been some great advice given already. Pay attention to that, and you’ll have a great start. A couple points I might add:
You’ll be exposing for the locomotives this way. It’ll also help tame your skies a little bit, because the camera won’t want to overexpose the shot. That brings me to point no. 2.
As another real amateur photographer, I agree that composition is really important. One of the problems with outdoor photography is lighting, and good composition can create a good picture even if the lighting is less than ideal. I agree with the use of overpasses as a good resource for photographing trains. Yet, you still have some good photos - for example, I think that this is a great shot even without a train (and I noticed that you listed it as one of your favorites). http://trainwatcher1.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=455743 The rainbow over the train tracks is excellent even without a train. Also, where you photograph you have a railroad station and signal tower - both can be utilized to give a sense of place. Of course, trying to incorporate other buildings can make it difficult to get the proper angle with the sun, but I’d rather see a photo that shows some local color. If you have curves in your area they are also perfect to get some different angles on your trains.
Personally, I’m waiting until I get what I feel is the perfect shot with the sun at my back to try to submit something to railphotos.net again because that is what they seem to want. Often times, I prefer more “gritty” photos than what they publish - I know that they are not too fond of urban/industrial shots, but I actually prefer them. One reason is that I am also interested in industrial history and architectural history, so I’d prefer shots with an interesting building in the shot. But, I already know that what I consider to be a great photo isn’t something that they like - but I’ll admit that the photos that I have taken after submitting and being rejected by them have been better since I’ve been more conscious of cutting out distractions and getting good composition. Per
Have You considered using railfan.net to submit Your photo’s. The person who runs that web site has a lot of people submitting conrtibutor page. I have sent one of my best photo’s to railpicture.net some months ago. They rejected it for some kind technical reason other then the fact I was using a cheap camera. But any I had the same photo published in a Japanese Rail Magazine which was a lot harder. Hey, good photo…
Tokyo Matt
Thanks again for all of your comments, suggestions, and recomendations. I appreciate them a lot and believe me, I will take your advice.
Lance,
I gave myself a little excercise in Practicing what I’m Preaching last night. For my Photo-A-Day project, I decided to edit this one taken on December 30th at Rochelle. It was under overcast, sometimes rainy skies. However, I tried to let that show a bit in the picture. As I’m sure Carl, Ed or any of the other railroaders will tell you, railroading is an all weather business. At any rate, here’s the shot:
Is it dark? Yes. Does it lack the brilliance that sunshine would have brought? Definately. Would Railpictures reject it? More than likely (though I’ve never tried to submit anything there). Does it portray railroading on a gray, rainy day? I hope so.
It’s all just a hobby. No matter what the rest of the world thinks, I happen to like this shot a lot. Just my [2c].
Cool Pic, Chris. It does in fact give a feel or the weather you described…an all weather rail fan documenting all weather railroading!
Is there an online repository of your Picture a Day project? Based on this example, it would be worth while to browse through if it is available!
[bow][bow][bow]
Wow, neat shot. Too bad I was preoccupied with accompanying my wife/son/daughter-in-law to a play (“Wicked”) in downtown Chicago, or I would’ve loved getting some real-time training with you in Rochelle on how to capture that with my camera.
Nice shot, Chris. A good example of a shot where the overhead wires are not a distraction, but actually add to the framing of the train. In addition, the overcast skies help the red signal lights to stand out. [tup]
Thanks guys for the kind words. [:I] I posted just as a light illustration, but that shot has gotten more attention than some of my favorite shots!
JSGreen, you can click the link in my signature to get to my PAD project home. I’ve only been doing it since mid-December, though, so I don’t have an awful lot up there yet.
Thanks again guys!