Scots Guardsman

[John 2]

Scots Guardsman is one of the re-built steam locomotives that are used for special steam excursions on the Settle to Carlisle line through the North Yorkshire Dales. I'm not a train enthusiast as such but I do like photographing them. Mono seemed appropriate.

Nikon D7000
18mm-200mm Nikkor @ 27mm (40mm equiv.)
1/2500th Sec @ f7.1 ISO 640

[Ken Curtis]

I like what you've done here, John. B&W seems perfect for capturing the steam, smoke, shapes and lines.

Would have been nice if there were not an airplane on the front of the engine. Seems a bit incongruous.

[splashy]

Very nice picture.

[rpcrowe]

Great capture and processing...

[Digital]

Good capture.

Bruce

[davidedric]

And absolutely pin sharp. Very nice.

[shreds]

I am afraid the sharpening has been well overdone for my liking. The artefacts around the buildings are way too obvious. It verges on the surreal.

Also, a shutter speed of 1/2500 to capture a train passing at most at 60mph is overkill.

[John 2]

Thanks for your comment all.

Ken, your not the first to make the point but it is the logo of the company that organises the tours (Spitfire Railtours).

Yes Ian a bit of sloppy processing there that I'd clocked but then forgot to do something about. I don't think the image is over sharp generally. I only sharpen selectively by choice but there has been some tone mapping and I think that is the source of the problem. Don't understand your point on the shutter speed. It is what it is.

[dje]

Somehow I missed this one John - but it's a beauty !

Dave

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely done. Definitely a situation where B/W works.

[shreds]

Thanks for your comment all.

Yes Ian a bit of sloppy processing there that I'd clocked but then forgot to do something about. I don't think the image is over sharp generally. I only sharpen selectively by choice but there has been some tone mapping and I think that is the source of the problem. Don't understand your point on the shutter speed. It is what it is.

John,

It appears as if you have done some PP including using a blur on the valve gear to simulate movement blur. At 1/2500 this blur is very unlikely and recreating it in pp looks a bit artificial compared to having a slower shutter speed and capturing the blur naturally.

Obviously taking the three quarters view, stopping the movement of the front of the loco is always difficult, and a bit like shooting motorcycles, aircraft and racing cars, having some indication of movement is crucial, without which the subject becomes sterile and static.

So spokes, tyres, wheels or valve gear moving in the case of steam engines is essential which high shutter speeds tend to destroy.

[John 2]

Your right Ian but the point is I think, that you shoot to suite the circumstances and to capture the image you have in mind. In this case of a North bound train, I was shooting into the light such as it was and I wanted to ensure that the train was sharp. In aperture priority mode (which I favour) and exposing to the left in order to retain some detail in what would otherwise have been a fairly bland sky, the shutter speed is what it was. There has been a fair amount of PP. To produce what I had in mind, I tone mapped to recover shadow detail and processed for low key to add what I thought was some appropriate atmosphere. It was the final image that was important to me which is why I should have been more careful over the halo. Probably not the best image in the world but (apart from the halo) I was reasonably pleased with the end result.

[John 2]

Oops, thanks also to Dave and Dan for your comments.

[shreds]

I was reasonably pleased with the end result.

...and that John, is all that really does matter.

Unless you are a newspaper pap who has his editor to please or similar, then photography should be for your own enjoyment. If not then we might as well all pack up and go home

[siggi]

High impact image,neat and clean.I'm not into nitpicking,well done to get a photo like this in current times.Your camera/lens combination can produce excellent results(my wife's favourite),with an image such as this the bit of artifact on the left to me is not serious,well done!The subtle border adds to the photo.

[John 2]

Thanks Ian, thanks Siggi.