Little trains

[Dave Humphries]

The best of my recent weekend shooting, comments encouraged ...

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


If you're not sure what to say, just tell me which is your favourite and why.

[willgoss]

I really like the clarity and the brightness of the colors....

Overall the processing is great and well presented.....

[David]

Hi Dave - The first one is my favourite because of the movement. Very good processing all round.

Cheers

David

[dendrophile]

Well, I like #1 the best as well. This photo captures a real sense of movement. #3 is nearly as good, but the background is less blurred and so more distracting.

#2 is an interesting case. The colours are really vibrant as willgoss has said already. I think, though, that because the train is leaving the photo it's less interesting. All the others have the trains coming into the shot, and for me they work better.

#4 and #5 I find the signal and feet too distracting. I'd consider cropping #4 down to just the driver, losing the signal and the pipe on the right in the process. (Divide photo in 5 vertical strips, and take the 3rd and 4th strips only).

Great focusing and depth of field. Nice!

-Dendrophile

[ajith.rajeswari]

I like #1, as it shows speed ..could have cropped the hand as it is distracting ..

~Ajith

[Dave Humphries]

Will, David, thank you

For the record, my post processing workflow on these was;
Copy RAW pictures from camera to HDD
Scan through using Irfan view and delete the real duffers
Note down which DSCF file numbers were which locos
Rename all the files so they sort together for same loco name
Do another scan through with all of one loco together, deleting the all but the workable ones for each
Transfer to a folder that PS Elements can 'see'
Start that up and let them get imported into its database
Go through all and give them star ratings (2 - 4)
Filter for 4 stars only, then for each;
Open in ACR 4.3.1, auto correct exposure, etc. with manual tweaking if necessary
Use the eye dropper to manually white balance on something white in shot
Open Image in PS Elements 6
Crop and rotate in one go to recompose a little and get the verticals or horizontals right
Tweak mid-range contrast a little if it looks 'flat'
Clone out anything I can that spoils the composition
Burn, Blur and/or Desat anything else that distracts
Neat Image to noise reduce (these were mainly 400 and some1600 ISO and my sensor is tiny)
USM to sharpen
Apply copyright text
Flatten image and Save as a 'Q10' jpg.
Time per photo: 10 - 30 mins, (av. 15) mainly depending if extensive cloning is reqd

Probably not the best workflow, could perhaps be streamlined??

Hope the above is useful, Dave

[Dave Humphries]

I like #1, as it shows speed ..could have cropped the hand as it is distracting ..

Hi Ajith, I agree about the hand, I did consider cloning it away, as I think cropping would take too much else away. Thanks, Dave

#1 is my 'fav' too

[Dave Humphries]

Hi dendrophile,

Thanks for the commenting on each; they are valid points.
#3 was an attempt to take something more than a pic of a passing train, but as you say, the best bit is the driver (who built the exquisite model).

Anyone interested in the EXIF data can see it where the pics are hosted on Picasa here, you need to go into a picture, then click the 'more info' link on the right hand panel, that sticks as you then arrow through the rest (and 3 more than here). Multiply the focal length shown by approx. 5 (five) to get the 35mm equivalent.

To get the panned shots, I am lucky enough to know someone at this location that gets me 'trackside'.
The station shots were taken with the aid of a mono-pod held firmly against a metal fence, there being not enough room to use a three legged 'pod without getting in the way of the other patrons.

Best wishes, Dave

[crisscross]

Just to show I have looked Dave and for what its worth, no 1 with the hand removed would be the best. However although the scale modelling is brilliant, you are never going to get the detail to set it up as a 'realistic' shot against the landscape (unless perhaps by cutting out and pasting/sizing against an appropriate landscape from elsewhere). There must be an appropriate mode of presenting the skill of the engineers, but would be inclined to try studio approach with neutral background....oh bother have done crit of something I know nothing about after all

Chris

[Dave Humphries]

However although the scale modelling is brilliant, you are never going to get the detail to set it up as a 'realistic' shot against the landscape (unless perhaps by cutting out and pasting/sizing against an appropriate landscape from elsewhere).

Thanks Chris, I know what you mean, this is closer, but the track doesn't stand scrutiny.


Don't worry about the crit, I can be just as guilty Dave

[crisscross]

don't have many rails, but...

[Colin Southern]

This is definately from the "personal taste" department, but personally, I'd lke to see a bit more output sharpening (especially necessary after down-resing an image).

If you're keen, chuck an image back into PSE and dial in a USM with amount = 50%, radius = 4 pixels, and a threshold of 0 levels. Vary the amount from about 50% to around 150% whilst toggling preview, and see if you like any of the results better. Possibly also try radius a little higher as these are relatively low frequency images.

Bit hard for me to tell exactly as I'm on my home monitor without my reading glasses, but my gut feeling was they'd pop a bit more with the above applied - but as I say, it's a personal thing - so not necessarily right or wrong.

Happy to process one for you as a contrast if it helps.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Colin,

I must admit to being lazy

I tend to sharpen the full sized image with a radius around 1.5 - 2.2, amount 80 - 110% and threshold approx. 2 -8 depending on the picture content and noise. So it looks good on my screen at full res. and is OK if printed.

However, when I do the export from Picasa to the website, it downsizes to 1600 width and uploads them, quick and dirty. The #1 pic in question was about 2700 x 2000 when I applied the USM, which is significantly under what you suggest.

I think I'll have to have another go with #1 and do it properly!

BTW Thanks for the rails Chris.

Regards to you both, Dave

[Colin Southern]

You're welcome Dave

I hate the degradation imposed on my images when I have to down-sample them for the web - and to be honest, I'm not overly good at compensating for it.

Still something that needs to be done though, darn it!

Cheers,

Colin - pbase.com/cjsouthern

[Dave Humphries]

In response to 'demand', here's #1 again with no hand+arm and a bit more 'pop' (maybe still not quite enough )



If you click the photo above, you'll go to the Picasa web album where it is hosted side by side with the original (for comparison)

[rhermans]

Great little trains, like the two panned ones the best.

Somehow I don't find the hand that distracting. For me it gives a relation to the size of the train.

Cheers

Ronny

[shreds]

Oh dear we now have a runaway driverless train......

It continues to be the drive motion on the wheels that makes this shot.

[Dave Humphries]

Oh dear we now have a runaway driverless train......

It continues to be the drive motion on the wheels that makes this shot.

Hi Ian,
Well, here's another; wheels spinning but going mowhere fast.



Sadly the effect isn't as pronounced, perhaps a tighter crop?