C&C please - does this picture work....

[Magog]

...as an attempt at evoking the past? I shot in B&W to try to give the feel of standing by the tracks in the early 1960s, rather than the early 2010s (or whatever we call this decade). Compositionally, I wonder if the white fence is a bit too dominant? I didn't want to move the viewpoint too much though, as I was trying to exclude some more modern trappings (cars, signs etc.).

Your comments gratefully received.

[AB26]

Hi John,

I think a good train shot is very difficult to get. Getting the right perspective will have you standing on a track with an oncoming train. You cannot tell the train to hang on and keep its pose. You have to get permission to enter good areas, etc.
I have given train shots a lot of thought, not easy to get the shot you want.
MHO is that you have done very well in capturing that "era gone by" feeling. I think it works very well.

[Donald]

Compositionally, I wonder if the white fence is a bit too dominant?

No, I don't think so. In fact, I think you've got a very, very good composition there. I think the white gate/fence helps to bring a highlight into an otherwise pretty dark area of the image.

What I do wonder, however, is whether the dominant feature is that it's quite dark, with a lot of the detail in the shadow areas being difficult to see. In other words, what about bringing the whole thing 'up' a bit to give more vibrancy? The best way of describing this is to illustrate it and I hope you don't mind me doing this purely for the purpose of giving another interpretation (happy to remove it if you'd rather).

Of course, it may well be the case that the image as you've posted it captures exactly the mood and atmosphere that you wanted to convey. And that's fine. In which case ignore the following.



I did this using Silver Efex Pro2. It has a slider called 'Dynamic Brightness' and another called 'Soft Contrast'. It was using these, in conjunction with the sliders for 'Structure' in the midtones and shadows that resulted in this. And I put a vignette on it.

[Magog]

Andre, Donald thank you for the comments.

Donald, I've absolutely no problem with you presenting a different interpretation. To answer your point, I was thinking of the gloomy, grimy era that was the end of steam on the railways; whilst the image may be a bit dark in some areas, I wouldn't want to lighten it too much. It was a wet, gloomy day on the North Yorkshire moors when I took the shot. Which is a long winded way of saying that somewhere between my original image and yours is probably about right.

[gcowan]

John,

Good job. Not anything to jar the impression, even upper quadrant semaphore signals on the gantry.

I think Donald has got it right for the loco, but a layer mask limiting the effect to the loco and not to any of the surrounding area will bring the emphasis to the main feature of the image.
Graham

[Magog]

Graham, thanks for the feedback.

I think Donald has got it right for the loco, but a layer mask limiting the effect to the loco and not to any of the surrounding area will bring the emphasis to the main feature of the image.
Graham

That is what I had in mind when I responded to Donald, but I'm not yet familiar enough with Photoshop to articulate it correctly. (Elements 11 was a Christmas present which I'm just starting to play with).

[Steve S]

Hi john, the way it is now, the train is dark and the sky is bright. It draws your eye from the train. I think you need to change the lighting a bit and reverse it ...............brighten the train and darken the sky. It will still keep the gloomy look you are after, but put the focus on the train. I can show you a quick example if you like.

[Magog]

I can show you a quick example if you like.

OK Steve.