Cropping Help Anyone?

cassfan3 · 03-20-2009, 02:35 AM

Hi all,

I've got two rejected shots for yall to take a look at. Both nailed for bad cropping. I'll agree that just a light engine does not fill up a big shot all that well since I was shooting from so far away, and I only had 150mm at my disposal. Still, I liked the shots since there isn't really any coverage of NC State Port ops on RP. Perhaps I've been out of practice too long and I have lost the "eye" for such a seen. Hope not! Anywho, advice, criticism, etc. welcome. If nothing else, I find ports kind of interesting, so hopefully the forum folk will too!

Here they are:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...&key=414458440

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...&key=663218639

Thanks!

cassfan3 · 03-20-2009, 02:39 AM

I attached (if it worked correctly) two more if anyone is interested in taking a peak...one of them shows the drawspan that connects Morehead City with Radio Island.

cblaz · 03-20-2009, 03:08 AM

Nick,

I believe the main problem these shots suffer from is too much sky. With a cloudless, blue sky, you should have included more water. A good rule of thumb is: When you open the thumbnail in a new window and all you see is sky, making you scroll to get to the meat of the shot, you have too much sky.

If you crop down some of the shots, without losing quality, you might have a chance.

- Chris

JRMDC · 03-20-2009, 03:16 AM

These are tough! I will stick to the tug shot because I have no suggestions for the other one - it is fine but without that engine being more obvious I'm not sure what to recommend.

The tug shot has a common problem, everything is in the middle and there is a boring sky above (no clouds, bad luck for photos sometimes!). So you need to move something. I suggest cropping at the top a bit, because plain blue sky is more boring than textured blue water, and also crop from the right a bit, as you need to get things a bit bigger, I think.

DWHonan · 03-20-2009, 04:00 AM

My personal opinion -- and yes, this is coming from a guy who not too long ago posted the infamous "three points of light" sunset shot -- is that there isn't a readily-identifiable "railroad" feel to these images. I really had to search the two rejected shots to locate the dark blue loco that matches the color of the water and was placed in front of a shadowed part of the background. The bridge it's on doesn't stand out as a bridge -- it looks like a pier. I'm not saying the shots shouldn't be accepted, but instead am trying to point out why the composition is difficult to effectively highlight the photo's subject to the viewer. A bit of elevation of different lighting conditions might help for next time.

cassfan3 · 03-20-2009, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWHonan

My personal opinion -- and yes, this is coming from a guy who not too long ago posted the infamous "three points of light" sunset shot -- is that there isn't a readily-identifiable "railroad" feel to these images. I really had to search the two rejected shots to locate the dark blue loco that matches the color of the water and was placed in front of a shadowed part of the background. The bridge it's on doesn't stand out as a bridge -- it looks like a pier. I'm not saying the shots shouldn't be accepted, but instead am trying to point out why the composition is difficult to effectively highlight the photo's subject to the viewer. A bit of elevation of different lighting conditions might help for next time.

Gasp, a 3 points of light shot! How dare you taint my thread with such? But seriously, I agree fully. The neutral color of the loco doesn't stand out and is definitely working against me. (as is the "horizontal line-of-interest" composition betwixt a sea of sky and sea of...sea) Unfortunately, as would be expected, public viewing of the port is limited, and this is the first time in many visits that I've caught one of their engines in this exposed spot where visible on the water front.

The attached pic with the drawbridge had previously been rejected a while back as "train too far away" which I also understand. Unfortunately, the bridge gives that one the most RR feel to it. I think what I like about the operation was the little switchers really do seem lost...the place just doesn't have a RR feel to it, but it's a RR just the same. That's their element. (However, in comparison to the 3 points shot...which I really like btw...I'm given to head scratching about the 'train too far away' rejection these days. No matter, when I run my own site, I can decide these things for myself

Thanks for the feedback.

Joe the Photog · 03-20-2009, 01:19 PM

I agree with the too much sky comment, but I like hat you're trying to do, especially on the first attachment and to a lesser extent on the first reject. I tend to wonder if a caption explaining the scene better -- including how hard it is to catch this unit -- ighthave helped. Consider it a project; I think there's a good chance to get this one in.

Joe