More bad Cropping, Any Suggestions?

[Just Aaron]

I have been getting alot of bad cropping dings lately.

Any suggestions?

Thank you for your help.

First I tryed this:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewreject.php?id=800465&key=183591720
http://www.railpictures.net/viewreject.php?id=800552&key=0

Then This:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreject.php?id=800803&key=0

Its got some cool power in it. I hope it can be saved.

[Joe the Photog]

The first two almost look like Poor Image Quality. It could be all the heat distortion throwing me off, but I'm seeing it on the right and the left sides of the frames where I wouldn't think there'd be heat waves. The front of the train looks fine. Not sure about the ballast. You're using an XSi and a great lens, so that's not an issue. The files are being saved at around 500KB. That might not be an issue either, but I try to get mine right at 1000KB. (Of course, it wasn't kicked for any of this, just Bad Cropping.)

As for the cropping, I believe the second version is closer than the first. It's tighter on the right, which is good, but needs some sky cropped out. To my eyes, that would fix it.

You mention the cool power as being why you want the shot get in. We don't see the cool power though. Was there another shot you cuold have got somewhere down the line showing more of a side view? It's like the chef talking about how good his steak is, then serving chicken instead.

[LSRC Railfan]

Stick with the second photo. Crop some off of the top, right, and maybe a wee bit off the bottom. You still might not get it on because of the heat distortion.