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Wes,
You have my permission to post for critique on your site the following JPEG
image of the 3751 at Fullerton Ca. during the 2001 Fullerton Railroad Days
events. The camera used was an RZ 6x7 with a 110 mm lens. I used Kodak 400 VC
color negative film and processed it normal. The exposure consisted of
multiple flash exposures combined with a time exposure of approx. 20 second @
f 8. I time the exposure to coincide with a passing freight train in the
lower right hand side of the frame. The switch stand is a prop from my
collection of lanterns and was placed at the scene for this shot. This
particular image has yet to be published. Looking forward to the critiques.
Thanks,
Steve Crise
| Critiques |
|---|
Sam Reeves:
Here is a difficult subject to photograph in color. You have all types
of light falling on the 3751. While I love night shots, sodium vapor
lamps are the worst enemy in the world. Often it will require CC
filters to at least tweak the sodium light back to what we perceive as
normal, perhaps a heavy blue CC filter to balance that yellow existing
light. However a second problem arises when Steve is shooting with
daylight balanced flash. You would have to take off the CC filters off
so as not to distort the daylight balance of the flash. I also like the
inclusion the old switch stand signal, and the passing freight. However
I wish it wasn't so tight, so perhaps I could gain a better
understanding of where Steve is. Perhaps more inclusion of the passing
freight in a horizontal scene? But all in all, a very good job with a
particularly tough shot to do.
Wes Carr:
One of the ways I judge a good photograph is when I look at it and say: "Wow, it would
have never occurred to me to shoot that subject like THAT!" This certainly fulfills that
requirement. Low camera angle, a little bit
of tilt, and the "after dark" theme all result in a captivating image.
It's surreal, yet sharply
focused and well-executed from a technical standpoint, at least insofar as the way the image
turned out.
Mike Johannessen:
I'm not really sure how much I like this one. I think flash-lit shots look
very posed, and I must say this is no exception. Knowing that the
switchstand is a prop increases the feeling of "fakeness" for me. That said,
it's not THAT bad an image. The crookedness seems to enhance the size of the
engine, but it also detracts somewhat from the image. It's certainly a more
dynamic shot, not something you see every day. If I were to shoot this
scene, I wouldn't use props or a flash. I would have backed up a little in
order to include the signal on the right, though I probably would have set up
very low to the ground, the same way Steve did. I would have simply let the
ambient light light up the scene, in order to portray it more realistically.
I probably also would have used slide film, and I do not own any medium
format equipment, so that's out of the question.
Paul Birkholz:
I like this shot a lot. And I could buy it too if I wanted! ;-P I think
the passing train in the right hand corner does a lot to place the
3751. If it wasn't there as background I think the pilot would be lost in
the signal and possibly "ruin" the whole image.
Frank Caron:
I really like this image, great composition and the added prop really
adds to the scene. If Steve hadn't mentioned the fact that there was a
double stack train to the right of the frame I would have never
noticed. You can't tell what year this scene was taken, could have been
1940, 50 or 90 for all we know. If I were shooting it I wouldn't do
anything different.
or
Sam Reeves
The blurred train passing in the background is a nice touch. The lamp in the upper left
presented a bit of a problem to me... I found it a tad distracting, but I kept asking myself
if it helped to balance the scene; would there have been a "void" in that portion of the image
if the lamp were not there?
In all, very cool.
WSC
Mike Johannessen
The lantern is also a nice framing touch, but it may have not been
needed. I placed a black object of the lantern and then the 3751 seems to
be in motion, where with the lantern it does not. I think it must be the
tilt (which I like) that makes it appear to be in motion without the lantern.
If I was shooting this I would have missed adding the moving train to bring
out the detail in the pilot of the steam engine and it would then be a
marginal shot.
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