Tipping The Scales

[Clactonian]

Kent & East Sussex Railway, 40s Weekend



D2Xs, Nikkor 24-85mm f2.8-4

[Shadowman]

Nice style, you should try to fit more of the building into the photograph, the chopped off roof cuts off the leading lines effect.

[arith]

It's very nostalgic, I don't remember big cases when I was younger and I used to play at a station. But still a nice pic.

[Clactonian]

Nice style, you should try to fit more of the building into the photograph, the chopped off roof cuts off the leading lines effect.

You wouldn't say that if you could see what was on the roof, and the hundreds of people on the platform inches out of shot!!!

[arith]

I used to play here;

http://www.railwayarchive.org.uk/Lpages/html/L2795.html

[Clactonian]

I used to play here;

Is that you just climbing back on to the platform?

[arith]

Yep, sure is. The rather large Lord Gresley stops here before proceeding through the haunted tunnel

[Clactonian]

The rather large Lord Gresley stops here ...

Is that one of these?

[timo2]

Kent & East Sussex Railway, 40s Weekend



D2Xs, Nikkor 24-85mm f2.8-4

On a shoot at that station many many years ago, they let me ‘drive’ the steam train. By heck, changing from forward to reverse was hard work!

[Maritimer1]

Great effect for a vintage look. That little fellow with the curly hair fits right in. You did well to keep as much "modern" out as possible. So, tell us, what was on the roof ?

[arith]

Actually I remember a train rather like this with the shades going through here once a day every day. It is a long time ago though but I don't think I could be that far wrong.

http://www.lner.info/locos/P/p2.shtml

[timo2]

Ah ha! I found a copy. This was in the days of film, not digital and what you see here is a copy of a slide, not a Photoshop job.



I was only assistant on the day but I remember we used ND filters and pushed the film several stops to create the grain; lots of calcs to get the exposure right, no histogram in those days! The model’s face was deliberately obscured as that was the brief; the shot was commissioned for a book cover.

[Wirefox]

Is that one of these?

Thomas the Tank Engine...well thats about the extent of my knowledge on trains. I like this shot. I always think heavy engineering looks best in mono. It enhances the feeling of power. I am not overly keen on the sepia in the first image. I also agree with John about the apex of the roof. The crop is a little tight giving a slightly cluttered feel.

Steve

[Shadowman]

You wouldn't say that if you could see what was on the roof, and the hundreds of people on the platform inches out of shot!!!

Now I want to see the top of the roof even more. Tell me, was it a stage coach?

[arith]

Ah ha! I found a copy. This was in the days of film, not digital and what you see here is a copy of a slide, not a Photoshop job.



I was only assistant on the day but I remember we used ND filters and pushed the film several stops to create the grain; lots of calcs to get the exposure right, no histogram in those days! The model’s face was deliberately obscured as that was the brief; the shot was commissioned for a book cover.

I didn't use ND filters in those days, in fact I had a fixed lens with viewfinder and max speed of f2 and 1/250 on a 50mm which had a perpetual red filter on it. Well I was only a kid doing what I was told by the teacher. So what is pushing the film? How do you get grain or is it high iso? I used to like processing in a weak solution to get a wire like effect to branches is that what you mean? Something similar I mean?

I might get a film camera just to see if I can still do it, but I would still cheat by using my dslr to set exposure. In fact I had a light meter but if I forgot it I could guess, it was a long time ago but a reasonably bright day would work on f11 at 1/60 100iso since I hardly ever used anything else, I think it was Agfa and was cheaper from school.

[timo2]

Yes, pushing film is uprating the ISO, one of the side effects is increased grain size; the further you push it, the larger the grain.

I’ve still got several film cameras in both 35mm and 6x6cm but the thought of going back to darkrooms and chemicals doesn’t appeal; life is short!