Composition/Balance
 

Scratching my head a bit on this one. Any thoughts?

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...02&key=6918927

Thanks,
Brian

My guess is that the train itself is somewhat vertically centered. Perhaps some off the bottom or the top, or add some to the top and take off the bottom (if you have space) would help.

Joseph is correct and the rejection reason clearly says what they want. I see other issues, too. RP considers tis backlit although it's sidelit more than anything with shadows on the nose. The trees look electric like the image is way oversharpened.

Yes processing is off and I am not sure they really like this type of news story photo. Just have the feeling they don't want to get in the "pedestrian strikes" that posters on another site revel in. Talk a little bit about what the train is and less about the cell phone.
Maybe train stopped for police activity would have been enough description. The composition is a little awkward, probably great for local paper.

Only a little tongue in cheek, bit of a problem is you don't have a Ford 428 Interceptor and you can't have them move stuff around for your photo. Maybe if you moved around and you have another composition to start with, work on the processing you can get to the backlit rejection. Even if not accepted, which I find frustrating, the process can be help full.

Bob

Thanks guys! I submitted another which had less commentary but was dinged for not enough light on the nose. Other than trespassing in people's yards, I only had that angle as the police pretty much closed down everything in and around the area. That and I didn't want to press my luck with the authorities.

As for the over processing...I did sharpen it to what looked acceptable on my monitor to avoid the undersharpened/soft rejection. Oh well, it was worth a shot.

Rob - ironic you mentioned about it being great for the local paper. I'm a stringer for the local paper. With the exception of an occasional news story getting printed when I happened to be at the right place at the right time, I only cover mostly high school and pro football for them.

Thanks again for the input, it's always appreciated!

My feeling it is not great photo but really think it could have been accepted.

A problem I see as look like at the last xx number of photos is I can tell who submitted most of them without reading the name. Some there are 3 or 4 in a row by the same person. The only way you can do that is by sticking with a formula, a cookie cutter approach. So I see a lot of the same thing and I don't want to pick out one person or subject and note one who has a good number does have a lot of variety in style and subject.

I understand this is also a little self serving but I think more variety in who what and where besides just the occasional great photo would be good.

Bob

I can tell a fair amount of who the photographer was without looking at the name. A lot of photographers have their own styles, which to me, is good. I admit I enjoy railroad photography but I don't have the talent for it like some do. There's a lot of very talented people on here, yourself included.

As for the photo I had questioned. I agree. It's not the best but I think it was in the acceptable range. I know it's the best I could do given the circumstances I had to work with. I'll keep in in the personal files and look for better opportunities where I can control the place I stand and the time of day I take the photos. The rejections can always be used as a reason to go out and try again.