"Backlit"

[Two-Tone-Green]

Hey all

Usually when I take a photo and the nose isn't lit I wouldn't waste my time uploading it on here.... but when u have conditions like these how can you not like it!

Any suggestions are welcome.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...d=772133&key=0

Cheers,
Christian Vazzaz

[asis80]

It's unfortunate that the sun wasn't working with you as much as you would have liked. It looks like a no go from here.

Ben

[Walter S]

I really like the lighting. Only thing I dont care for are the tents on the right.

[Joe the Photog]

How does it look in B&W? And without the annoying watermark?

[nikos1]

I really dont get the logic about backlit sometimes.....
this is backlit and unacceptable, but this is alright
http://forums.railpictures.net/showthread.php?t=11570



Personally i really like your shot, the tents are annoying but thats not a reason for rejection and I didnt notice them till Walter pointed them out.
Oh and removing the watermark would be a plus in my book two, i never got the logic of wanting that, ive never used them, if i want to watermark it ill do it with my own name.

[Joe the Photog]

It's hard to compare one shot to another shot. I like the one in the thread you linked to better, Nikos. If I had to tell you why logically, I'm not sure I could. For me, it's just more aesthetically pleasing. We could sit here for days comparing shots and in the end reach the same conclusion as we should now -- it's all subjective. One shot may work for the same exact reason that another shot doesn't work.

[nikos1]

Thats the thing, i dont get what everyone found so appealing about that shot, i wouldve expected it to be unanimously shot down for backlit. He shot pretty much nose on with no nose light, a big no no, yet people post rejections here about halflight backlit and get a response to reshoot in better conditions.

[Walter S]

Originally Posted by nikos1

Thats the thing, i dont get what everyone found so appealing about that shot, i wouldve expected it to be unanimously shot down for backlit. He shot pretty much nose on with no nose light, a big no no, yet people post rejections here about halflight backlit and get a response to reshoot in better conditions.

I just think that steam looks good back lit. Personal opinion.

[Dennis A. Livesey]

Your picture has a lot going for it with it's low, powerful angle, sharpness and nice plume.

However, at the moment it's not a regularly lit shot nor is it a silhouette. And therein lies the problem; it's neither one nor the other.

The light angle SHOULD be great but instead of beautiful, golden light thrilling the viewer, the light is colorless, harsh and glaring.

And those structures on the right are so distracting the picture just dies.

Process it and go for a brightly lit shot or more likely go other way with a dark silhouette with beautiful gold color.

Very close. Keep at it.

[Chase55671]

I'm with Walter, I think the backlit conditions make the image powerful! I like it!

Chase

[Joe the Photog]

I'm not that fond of the steam engine shot, and that kinda proves my point, Nikos. As does that fact that you didn't like the backlit image in the other thread. There will never be 100% consensus on any shot. To each their own likes and dislikes.

[cblaz]

Originally Posted by Dennis A. Livesey

Your picture has a lot going for it with it's low, powerful angle, sharpness and nice plume.

However, at the moment it's not a regularly lit shot nor is it a silhouette. And therein lies the problem; it's neither one nor the other.

The light angle SHOULD be great but instead of beautiful, golden light thrilling the viewer, the light is colorless, harsh and glaring.

And those structures on the right are so distracting the picture just dies.

Process it and go for a brightly lit shot or more likely go other way with a dark silhouette with beautiful gold color.

Very close. Keep at it.

Dennis' advice is the best. Your shot is trying to do too many things. I agree with making the nose darker for a silhouette but I wouldn't adjust the lighting on the side too much.

And also, don't forget to run in the background and knock down the white structures. Oh wait, you can't and this was your only opportunity for this shot. The buildings in the back are something you can't help and they do nothing to distract from the great light this photo has.

- Chris

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by cblaz

And also, don't forget to run in the background and knock down the white structures. Oh wait, you can't and this was your only opportunity for this shot. The buildings in the back are something you can't help and they do nothing to distract from the great light this photo has.

- Chris

Amen! I read the forums all the time and I always get a chuckle when I see a statement proclaiming that some structure or powerline just kills a picture. Honestly, I never even noticed the background structures in the shot we're discussing until folks started pointing them out. What I saw was a great-looking steam engine, with light on it that had the potential to be very interesting with some tweaking.

Hey, railroad ROWs aren't always pretty. In fact, where I live, most of the time they're not pretty. Poles, wires and other structures are a fact of life. If we only shot in perfect spots, we wouldn't take too many pictures and there wouldn't be too much variety if we all shot at Morant's Curve. IMHO, you do the best you can to compose your shots to emphasize the subject and deal with with whatever else is there. I think the photographer here has done that, and I hope he is able to tweak the exposure and get it posted.

And yeah, I'd lose the watermark. While this one isn't overpowering, it also isn't part of the composition and does detract from the beauty of this (or any) photo.

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by Dennis A. Livesey

However, at the moment it's not a regularly lit shot nor is it a silhouette. And therein lies the problem; it's neither one nor the other.

My personal sense of aesthetics allows for the middle ground between lit and silhouette. RP's low tolerance for dark noses, especially half-lit V noses but in general, is probably the biggest difference between RP screening standards and mine. I think a dark nose with detail, as in the steam shot, is particularly worthy. I can see being against dark noses in general, but when there is plenty of detail I am paricularly puzzled.

The steam shot does have an awkward background and the balance is awkward also, but to my tastes is acceptable.

[Ween]

Not sure about the current shot, but did you happen to move to your left to try more of a profile shot?

Originally Posted by niko1

Thats the thing, i dont get what everyone found so appealing about that shot

And the sooner you learn the concept of "different strokes for different folks," the sooner your frustrations toward this site will go away. Like Joe said, photography is subjective. Therefore, so is the screening process. Each photo submitted to this site is judged on its own merits, and if that particular screener isn't 'feeling' that shot, it gets the boot. That's why the Appeal function is there. Maybe the appealing screeener agrees with the photographer's eye. My advice would be to quit trying to nail the screening process down to a black & white science...it's not and never will be.

[JimThias]

I think if had made the white lettering on the nose pop out more from the darkness, it may have been acccepted.

[Dennis A. Livesey]

My dad said, "Son, the hardest thing in the world to do is communicate."

Amen to that Pop! Even if we were in room and able to see and hear each other, communication breakdowns would occur. (Particularly my attempts at deadpan humor that could be construed as sarcastic put downs)

Therefore trying to communicate precisely about a subjective subject while on an internet forum is as successful as making love while wearing scuba gear. (No, I don't know personally.)

So OP, with several worthy experienced posters here giving out their opinions, are you now completely clear on just what you should do?

[rathman11]

Originally Posted by nikos1

I really dont get the logic about backlit sometimes.....
this is backlit and unacceptable, but this is alright
http://forums.railpictures.net/showthread.php?t=11570



Personally i really like your shot, the tents are annoying but thats not a reason for rejection and I didnt notice them till Walter pointed them out.
Oh and removing the watermark would be a plus in my book two, i never got the logic of wanting that, ive never used them, if i want to watermark it ill do it with my own name.

Wow, I feel honored! This is the first for one of my photos to be mentioned in another thread. No intentions of hijacking this thread but to make things easier I'll go ahead and attach the mentioned photo (of course I'm looking for a few extra hits).

PhotoID: 310933 Photograph © Jason Rathbun

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by JimThias

I think if had made the white lettering on the nose pop out more from the darkness, it may have been acccepted.

I agree that the image would be more pleasing if the nose popped out a bit more. As is, it's too dark to see what's not silhouetted and too bright to be silhouetted.

Taking a stab at each, I do not like a completely shaded nose though a hair less light on the side increases the glint appeal. On the otherhand, bringing the nose detail out does the image good.

The white structures are not pleasing - I noticed rather quickly which means in hindsight, perhaps scouting out a more pleasing location, even if only by a few feet would've been a plus however, it is now what it is and I could easily overlook it.

Had I been the screener, I think I'd have found the image too good to reject and at the very least, I would've taken advantage of "comments to photographer" and suggested a possible fix or maybe just have had accepted as is. It's not perfect, it could be better but it IS better then alot of what is deemed acceptable and added daily.

/Mitch

[lerro984]

I really like this shot. Im surprised it didn't make it on. It has a much better plume and color than my similar shot but mine made it on. Hhmmm. Maybe a little tweak in saturation and contrast and you'll have better luck. If you can, tone down those white hangers too.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphot...280514&nseq=13

[Dennis A. Livesey]

Mitch has shown the way! Looks real good and RP should take it.

Don't worry about the white semi-circles, no one will ever see them.

[Two-Tone-Green]

Wow, thanks guys... I didnt think I would have gotten this much discussion on it!

Finally someone came out saying that the background structures don't distract from the photo, what are we supposed to do take down structures now? if we had to do that we would all be arrested and nobody would be here to take photos and the hobby would die!

I shall appeal with the MLW 261 shot as reference (Nice shot btw) and maybe a lil more tweaking in photoshop

Cheers,
Christian Vazzaz

[trainboysd40]

Also, email the raw so I can have a crack at it =D