Guardsman

[John 2]

It all went wrong! There is a coastal line that these days is rarely used by steam specials but last Saturday one was due and was to be hauled by a very old engine (1930's vintage). A dull day was due brighten up, the Photographers Ephemaris indicated light from the right quarter and I had had my eye on this bridge and estuary for some time. I made the quite lengthy drive to the spot only to find the (other) side of the bridge covered in scaffolding and extraction pipes. They were painting the bridge on the side of my chosen viewpoint. To cap it all, the original engine had been replaced. Nothing wrong with this engine (Scots Guardsman) except that it seems to pop up most times I go looking for this sort of shot. Something different would have been nice. One bright spot however, was that from this side of the bridge, the light has given the smoke a nice luminance. The colour version was a bit boring. Mono seems to suit the shot more. As always, comments very welcome.

Fuji X pro1
35mm standard lens
1/1900th sec @f 4 ISO 400

[IzzieK]

Excellent shot, John! I love this one in black and white...I'd like to see the colour version, if you will upload it for me???

[deetheturk]

Another great image John!

[Shadowman]

Nicely done. I too would like to see the color version if only for that spot of light on the ground below.

[John 2]

Thanks all for the comments. The colour version pre any PP is below and to my eye is a bit bland.

[bnnrcn]

I like both of them John,colour version might as well be improved with PP and I think the smoke would look really nice with the blue sky after PP

[Geoff F]

Might be worth trying a little bit of Local Contrast Enhancement on the colour version. Or a duplicate layer (Adjustment Layer) with the Blend Mode set to something like Overlay or Soft Light and a suitable opacity setting.

[John 2]

Thanks Binnur, thanks Geoff. I've pp'd the colour version. Several adjustment layer overall and to give the sky some interest. Soft Light works best Geoff and thanks for the tip. Still prefer the mono I think though but I do like mono.

[Geoff F]

Yes that edit now has a bit of 'zip' but without going over the top. Looks good to me. It is so easy to get carried away and end up with an excessively gaudy result.

[Manfred M]

Great shots John.

I like both versions; the B&W certainly gives that period look and of course the colour shows it as it is. The sky definitely needs the "zip" of the latest version. Both the captures and the post-processing were well done for sure!

[Digital]

John, both versions are really nice captures.



Bruce

[Dave Humphries]

Hi John,

I prefer the mono version too.

To my eye; which might be wonky they all look like they'd benefit from a slight clockwise rotation?

You should see a historic bridge near me, the whole thing has been encased in a similar wrapping for months.
Sadly, the only things that go over it are 2 car DMUs shuttling between Windsor and Slough

[John 2]

Thanks Geoff, Manfred, Bruce , Dave. Dave, I think it must be an optical illusion. I can see what you mean but the camera was set up using its artificial horizon and when I switch on the grid on my monitor it actually shows the bridge rising from R to L. That is as it was. The reason that the engine was emitting smoke is that it was climbing a slight incline. Strange.