Good morning,
Eight photographers are in the Trackside mix this week, all vying for a chance to be published in Trains magazine. The winner gets in!
Vote for your favorite “coal” photo here:
http://trn.trains.com/photos-videos/trackside/2015/07/coal
Drew Halverson
Theresa’s is dramatic, Tom’s is classic, but Oren’s shows the heat and sweat that coal produces with the human touch.
The theme is coal; Tom’s picture has coal front and center so that is where I parked my vote.
John
Not to be “that guy” but with all the stuff going around about railfans, pictures and trespassing, but the only way Theresa could get her picture at ground level at this spot is to be on railroad property. She didn’t state that she had permission to be there. Just wondering if Trains Magazine condones trespassing to get pictures for their contests?
For me it was an easy choice…Oren’s photo.
Besides being a really good photograph with a visual appeal factor, it shows the subject, coal, being put to use in the manner it has historically been though of.
cx500, I’m with you on this. There is no question what the photo is about.
Orndorff’s photo is the most arresting, in my opinion, with an obvious connection to the theme, but the empty coal cars are a severe distraction to the relevance to the theme.
Helbok’s photo is stunning, and is a very different aspect of the theme.
Nanos’ photo is most certainly a key player in the relevance idea, but I find the composition unharmonious.
Cramer’s photo is eye catching for sure, as the voting shows, but seems ‘so far away’ (in the way background) from the theme.
Somehow the voting would be enhanced and more on target if TRAINS Magazine did a short piece on lecturing (about trains, of course), and how ALL the key subject points have to relate to the theme …
That’s exactly right, she didn’t state that and really doesn’t have to. There’s ways to do things without trespassing if you want something bad enough. I personally would have never given it a second thought and even if I did I surely wouldn’t have brought it up and became “that guy”…
Jay
One would think with “TRAINS” being magazine Nationwide/Worldwide is that they would preach safety and no trespassing. I know where the spot is where she took the photo and order to get it, she would have to be on Union Pacific’s property, in the middle of the usual westbound track, trespassing.
With the photo being submitted, posted in an official contest, with the possiblilty of being printed in their magazine, I am to assume that TRAINS does not condone trespassing to get a shot that could be published in their magazine.
Am I correct?
You make valid points. However I don’t think “Trains” should have to preach safety and no trespassing. That should be common sense. Also I enjoy seeing the finished product when it comes to photography. How they got it is something I could care less about.
Not long ago I was trackside trying to figure out how to get a shot on railroad property. As I stood there the local railroad police drove up and asked what I was doing? I told him and he pointed out it was trespassing if I did that. I thought for a bit and replied to him it’s not trespassing unless you see me correct? He looked at me and nodded that I was right. Ok I replied and we parted ways. A couple of days later I returned and got the shot. So while I do agree with what you say to a certain extent I also believe in the infamous gray area. So how the shot happened is a gray area, it could have been with a drone from a 1000 feet away for all I know…
Jay