Hello!
This week,Trackside with Trains.com Volume 82 Mike Yuhas is joined by Aaron Jors. Aaron works with Mike in our Ad Sales department here at Kalmbach Publishing Co. While Aaron is relatively new to railroad photography, his background stems from nature photography, so he’s got a firm grasp on the entire photography game. This should be interesting!
Click here to vote.
Add your comments about this week’s photos here.
Thanks! Bergie
Nice steam shot Aaron.
A rail grinder!!! You must have had big money down on Aaron’s shot. It’s the only explanation. What’s next? A track car???
Keeping in mind that I don’t vote on anything other than instinctive feelings, I hope nobody will be offended when I say I didn’t like either shot. Got too close to a rail-grinder once and know all too well what’s in that dark cloud. And the steam train just doesn’t look real with those brightly-colored, mismatched cars behind her.
So, having gotten that off my chest, I’ll give the vote to Aaron, on the basis of composition.
…I must vote for Aaron’s great photo. The contrast in the bright colors on the passenger cars to the dark tones on the engine and bright sky and in addition to that, the sharpness of the multitude of branches on the trees…and then the smoke trailing back over the 2 - 8 - 2…In my eyes it all adds up to be a great composition. I also like the angle the photo was made from.
Have not read the other comments yet, so now must see what others are saying.
OK…first off I must admit bias. I lived beside Soo tracks (Hankinson-Bismarck branch in North Dakota) when I was a kid and that’s when my love affair with trains started. I Soo mixed train isn’t a whole lot more romantic than a rail grinder…but the memories last a lot longer.
That said, I voted for Aaron’s shot…because it’s simply a very good photo.
TJB
Nashville, TN
OK…first off I must admit bias. I lived beside Soo tracks (Hankinson-Bismarck branch in North Dakota) when I was a kid and that’s when my love affair with trains started. A Soo mixed train isn’t a whole lot more romantic than a rail grinder…but the memories last a lot longer.
That said, I voted for Aaron’s shot…because it’s simply a very good photo.
TJB
Nashville, TN
sorry mike but the steamer got my vote today.
stay safe
joe
Aaron, welcome to the forum! I liked the NS shot you posted first a great deal, but I wondered why you didnt boost the details in the shadow areas? Also, a question on your shooting type? Do you shoot in raw or jpg? I shoot raw (nikon .nef) and post process using Capture NX to bring out subtle details. Two great steam shots this week, I’d have liked to see the head to head competition (same shot-both sides of track) but I know for sure Aaron would have won, just due to the more scenic backround. As for the Loram, I’ve heard one in action also out here in the SF east bay, a couple years back BNSF sent one through to rework their rails. great shots… Went with Aaron on the voting though…
Well…
Welcome Aaron! If you saw an older model Ford Ranger supercab with topper chasing the 1003 that was me. It certainly was a fun day to shoot and (personally) I was glad to see live steam. It was the first I’d seen since the CNW’s 1385 ran through Oshkosh. I liked your picture because the train fit neatly in the landscape and you captured it in motion well. However I can’t make out many details around the drivers and (to me) the road is a bit distracting from the picture. If you’d have shot from across the street that shot would have been even better than it it IMO.
Mike-I didn’t vote for your last Oshkosh shot (Vol. 80) even though it was from my hometown. This time out I got to meet you as you took pictures. That being said…the shot you put up this week seemed to look ‘forever’ down the tracks. It makes me think of the never-ending job the grinder has, how important the job it does is, and the neat phenomenon that it presents on the (relatively) rare opoortunity most folks have to see one in action.
Ok so both photos are of unique pieces of equipment. Aaron’s is nice, well composed, and familiar to me. Mike’s is definately not common either, and one of the (IMO) more forgotten components of a working RR: MOW equipment. MOW equipment and the ‘nitty gritty’ daily workings of railroads seem like they take a backseat to the aesthetic and historic aspects of railroading.
My vote is to Mike. Great job both of you and good luck Aaron.[tup]
Great shot Aaron, the composition and colors put it over the top, I like Mike’s finding a somewhat unusual site and would have probably picked it, but I think Aaron’s shot had that little extra.
Very difficult decision, But had to go with what I thought was a better picture. Steam rules, but MOW is so oft forgotten that sometimes you got to root for the underdog. Great trackside, keep up the great work!
Mike, while I am more interested in a photo of the Grinder than another steam locomotive photo, the head on angle of the photo does not allow the viewer to gleam much in the way of details. So I went with Aaron’s nicely executed photo instead. I would have voted for Aaron’s July 11th photo too because I liked the vividness of the sky.
Both pictures are very good; but, steam pictures always get my vote: so, I pick Aaron’s picture. (Wish there was a way we could split our votes, because Mike’s grinder pic was very good also!! Both are fantastic shots. You guys did good!!
Hi,
Mike gets my vote for a picture with mood and detail. Rail grinders do important work and while they may not have the glamour and the present day rarity of a steam run, they have their own appeal. Let’s see more photos from both of these fine photographers.
Dr. Bob
[#welcome] to the forum Dr. Bob!
A very interesting line-up for this week’s vote!
Aaron’s Soo Line steam photo is very appealing. I like the perspective it takes low to the ground, which gives one the sense of the power of the engine. It is also at a nice angle where you can see the rest of the consist; the second car from the end (the pure silver one) seems to resemble a BNSF business car.
Although some may find the choice subject for Mike’s photo a bit odd, I myself am pleased that he chose a Loram rail grinder for this week’s vote. It’s something one doesn’t see every day (at least I don’t in my area), and gives us something a bit different with a MOW theme. I think a side shot of a machine like this, given its complexity, would be better (althought that may be a little hard to do with all the dust it’s flying up!), but that’s beside the point that it is a great shot from the front, with a nice straight perspective of the track behind it.
It was a tough decision, but it came down to aesthetic appeal in the end, and I think Aaron’s shot has more of a picture frame touch, so it won my vote this week.
While both shots were good and it was a tough choice this week, I went with Mike’s shot. It just appealed to me a little more. I think I would have been persuaded to vote for Aaron’s had he used the other 1003 shot with the barn though.
It was good finally meeting you in Ripon too Mike!
Noah
Aaron gets my vote. What a shot! Rods down, nice puffy plume trailing over the consist, great framing by the trees on the left, excellent angle. Shows that a well-executed wedgie can be a great photograph. While the Loram train is well-photographed, it is a documentary. Railroad equipment at work, but not acting very dramatic. Perhaps a little of the fire from the grinding heads might have perked it up a bit. Looking forward to the next Trackside . . .
Liked Aaron’s steam shot, but…
I am a machine junkie, and love to see rail grinders, CWR trains, and ballast trains at work…the building of the railroad, what goes into it…I sat and watched a BN crew replace a trestle…went back three days in a row just to watch.
So Mike’s shot gets my vote, for purely personal reasons.
By the way Aaron, welcome to the nut house…everyone here is crazy except thee and me!
Seriously, welcome, and hope you don’t mind a little critique of your work.
I understand the use of the pavement in your competition photo…it draws the eye to the front of the locomotive, and you used it quite well, but for me, it distracted from the over all impact of the shot.
I noticed the same thing happened in your IC shot…great use of the sky and clouds; you really got a dramatic feature in there…but the crossing pavement snuck into the shot again.
In both shots, had you used the camera to crop the pavement out, they both would have been, in my opinion, much better…in fact, had you submitted the IC shot sans pavement, I would have voted for it.
I am sure you already know this, but your mind sometimes edits out distractions…you don’t notice the beer cans or the old tire in an otherwise fantastic shot, at least not until you view it on your monitor…but the camera doesn’t edit things, it is not subjective at all, but only photographs what’s there, whether you like it or not.
Practice cropping with your viewfinder, looking at the edges before you press the shutter, and you will be surprised at all the stuff that manages to sneak into a photo.
Beyond that…both of your shots are excellent…I really liked the IC shot, has a lot of impact to it.
Trackside is great; I enjoy the photography a lot. But it would be so much greater if you used photographers from other places around the country.
Terry Edwards
Miami, FL