Street Scene, Too Dark

[Noct Foamer]

I'll add, along with several hundred other trains in the Upper Midwest, I have managed to catch the UP 3985 and the UP 844 rolling fast in the dark on three occasions. As far as I know I'm the only one to have them, and I couldn't have done it without big flash. Have also caught several other steamers rolling at night--those dull black engines can really soak up the light!


Kent in SD

[wds]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

...I love the stark, harsh look I get...

You like it for the exact reason that I do not. To each his own I guess.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by wds

You like it for the exact reason that I do not. To each his own I guess.

The problem with flash is that to get a softer look, you must either move the flash closer or make the light source bigger than your subject. That would mean making a softbox bigger than a Dash-9! I've actually figured out a way to do it, and have taken a few of those shots in the past. It's not very practical though. The light was very, very soft however. But, I can get soft light in fog or overcast days. I can't get that harsh look any other way. To me, the light is the most important thing in a shot, not the train or whatever.


Kent in SD

[bigbassloyd]

WV at night.

That is all

Loyd L.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Chase55671

The only problem with your photography Sean is that you simply do not share it with the RP community enough!

Chase

I agree. I hate having to dig through flickr to find your work Sean. So stop it.

Loyd L.

[hoydie17]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

I agree. I hate having to dig through flickr to find your work Sean. So stop it.

Loyd L.

Simply put, the time required to upload and deal with the minor tweaks sometimes required of RP's "standards" is more effort than it has proven to be worth. It's no secret, I make money off of my photography, and in the several years I've uploaded stuff to RP.net, I have yet to get a single client referral or even so much as a request to buy a print.

I started my FLICKR stream about 2 years ago, and within a few months, it became one of my best lead generators. Partially, I think this is because FLICKR has a much wider and diverse audience (read as: not everyone is a train buff), and you are able to better "optimize" your material to make it more likely to come up in searches. I have become pretty religious to adding keywords to all of my photos, and I'm told by some of my clients that it is how they found me.

In any case, a more than full-time job, a family, plus my photography business makes me busier than a one legged man in an ass-kicking contest now. Adding photos to a website that is little more than (in its present form) a stock photography database of train photos is not a good investment of time and energy. Especially when the screening standards are so inconsistently applied from screener to screener. I just don't have the desire or the interest to send a photo in, have it rejected for a rather innocuous reason, and then go back and tweak it for acceptance. I'd rather invest that time in FLICKR and social media which has actually led to revenue. My new website is going through its final touches now, but that's still a few weeks away from "official" opening.

Simply put, not everyone is into railroad photography as a hobby, or a historical interest. There are a few of us out here that use it as a source of revenue, as surprising as that may be. There are people out there who like pictures of trains or railroad related subjects for a variety of reasons from artistic interest to interior decorating. Unfortunately, many of those prospective clients have no idea what Railpictures.net is, nor do they care to learn. If you're a railfan, it's a pretty good chance you've heard of this site, if you're an interior decorator looking to deck out a basement in an "industrial theme" then you probably haven't a clue what RP.net could do for you.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by hoydie17

It's no secret, I make money off of my photography, and in the several years I've uploaded stuff to RP.net, I have yet to get a single client referral or even so much as a request to buy a print.

Just the opposite for me. $$$ for pics found on RP, nothing for what I've had on flickr for the past 2+ years.

[hoydie17]

Originally Posted by JimThias

Just the opposite for me. $$$ for pics found on RP, nothing for what I've had on flickr for the past 2+ years.

A mystery wrapped in an enigma I suppose...

[miningcamper1]

All the requests for use I've received have come from here...
...but all for $0.00, a.k.a. "free".

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by hoydie17

A mystery wrapped in an enigma I suppose...

I just checked my flickr mail and someone from Kalmbach Publishing contacted me to use a photo they found on RP.

[bigbassloyd]

The hits from RP have slowed down considerably, no doubt from my lack of participation. The other venues with the exception of flickr have done me quite well, especially with the serious photography (not trains).

Loyd L.

[Noct Foamer]

Most of what I sell comes from me directly marketing it. Back in the 1990s I was shooting a lot of stock, mostly of agricultural and winter scenes. This is why I originally bought a Hassleblad and 4x5--they gave me an advantage over competitors. My plan was to build up a large portfolio of these kinds of photos and sell them through regional stock agencies. This would have allowed me to retire at 60 with a very good income. In 1995, how could I know the entire stock photo business would collapse by 2005? The result was I got into wedding, portrait, and some specialty commercial work, all somewhat reluctantly. If I screw up a stock photo, no one knows, I simply toss it. If I screw up wedding photos, there would be hell to pay. Thus, it's not really much fun.


Kent in SD

[miningcamper1]

Did one wedding (after intense pressure from family).
They were pleased, but it was way more stressful than chasing trains.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

Ever call in a railroad crew for ruining your precious little wedgie? I hope you're proud of yourself.

I'm really surprised a thread wasn't started here on this topic.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by JimThias

I'm really surprised a thread wasn't started here on this topic.

As was I.

Loyd L.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by JimThias

I'm really surprised a thread wasn't started here on this topic.

Plenty about that on a couple of other forums.


Kent in SD

[hoydie17]

Originally Posted by JimThias

I'm really surprised a thread wasn't started here on this topic.

Let me be the first to say "Praise Jesus!!!" for that.

I don't agree with what she did, or that other dude that was all over TRAINS about 2 weeks ago... but to listen to some of the visceral bullshit coming from other so-called adults was enough to make me want to slug every foamer I meet in the damn jaw... people are really brave on the interwebs... but not a damn one of them would have said half the crap they were posting online to either of those people. Cowards.

[JimThias]

All I was saying was that railroaders owed railfans NOTHING. And I would happy to tell that to any foamer who was crying about their photo being "ruined" by the antics of a train crew.

[hoydie17]

Originally Posted by JimThias

All I was saying was that railroaders owed railfans NOTHING. And I would happy to tell that to any foamer who was crying about their photo being "ruined" by the antics of a train crew.

Preach on brother!!!

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

Plenty about that on a couple of other forums.


Kent in SD

Links?

I didn't make any complaints against the two left-side idiots who repeatedly spoiled runby after runby. But the one on the regional road could have kept on "reading" his porn mag rather than holding it out the window...

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by miningcamper1

Links?

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/observati...he-letter.aspx


I actually try to get people in my shots. That makes them more interesting. He was given the opportunity to photo something entirely different, something that captured a sense of the time he lives in, but he didn't have the vision to understand that. I have no idea why Glischinki insists on taking basically the same kind of shot, decade after decade. I would have quickly become bored.............


Kent in SD

[miningcamper1]

Hmmmm.

Reminds me that I have photos in my files of left-side guys reading, sleeping, etc.

You just never know- one day you will get the cab invite or even cab ride, and another day you will get the finger guy or the porn mag guy.