Any hope for this?

[MassArt Images]

It's the best I could do given the circumstances. I guess if I would have shot it at night it would have been more dramatic instead of 16:20.

Should I appeal? I thought it was acceptable for the database.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewreje...63&key=5411679

[bigbassloyd]

Blue sky + flat, even lighting is a scene killer. Sorry, I'd forget about this one. Shooting under cloudy skies is not the same as getting cloud f---ed on a sunny day.

Loyd L.

[John West]

Close but no cigar. I don't mind the lighting, but the clutter bugs me. Interesting spot if you can find a less cluttered angle.

[JRMDC]

Glad you got some shots down here, Carl! I'm not a big fan of the in-your-face AC equipment, or whatever it is, on the RHS. I think a looser crop left and bottom would help with the "clutter". None of that helps you as you were on a trip.

[troy12n]

That first caternary support and tree isnt doing you any favors...lighting isnt great, but not horrid, looks like you got cloud f'ed a little

I dont have a problem with the sky. That's what humid, hazy summer sky looks like

[Mgoldman]

Ugh. Better you then me - I'd have come home thinking I had a keeper - one so much more interesting then some 400 other images of Washington DC - yet an RP reject.

I agree with Troy - That's what a humid, hazy Summer sky looks like. What, Summer doesn't happen on RP? That catenary pole excludes the entire location from existence?

Eh... send my your Flickr address, too. Sigh.

As for appealing - I would. What "sucks" to one screener can be acceptable to another.

Or - change your name:

PhotoID: 54550 Photograph © Wade H. Massie

PhotoID: 138944 Photograph © Jim Johnston

PhotoID: 448218 Photograph © Norfolk Southern Corp

/Mitch

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

I agree with Troy - That's what a humid, hazy Summer sky looks like.

No, that's what getting cloud f---ed looks like, regardless of season. As I stated above, If the sky was overcast instead of blue with white puffy clouds, the lighting would have been more effective.

Loyd L.

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

No, that's what getting cloud f---ed looks like, regardless of season. As I stated above, If the sky was overcast instead of blue with white puffy clouds, the lighting would have been more effective.

Loyd L.

Yet this met RP standards...

PhotoID: 491077 Photograph © Ant Davis

...which is fine with me as I find many things about RP interesting in addition to some of the best railroad photos on the net. It's not the best photo, but like architecture shots, nostalgia, and, yes, even rosters, Darwins and wrecks, it equally has it's place on RP. Like it or not, RP has become much more then just and only the best railroad photography on the Net.

Putting all that aside - it's a lot of BS for a well received long term patron to have a shot rejected when images with near identical "flaws" are regularly accepted.

/Mitch

[John West]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

Ugh. Better you then me - I'd have come home thinking I had a keeper - one so much more interesting then some 400 other images of Washington DC - yet an RP reject.

I agree with Troy - That's what a humid, hazy Summer sky looks like. What, Summer doesn't happen on RP? That catenary pole excludes the entire location from existence?

Eh... send my your Flickr address, too. Sigh.

As for appealing - I would. What "sucks" to one screener can be acceptable to another.

Or - change your name:







/Mitch

I sure prefer the rejected image to the three examples Mitch posted. Of course the first two examples were posted some years ago when standards were different, and the third was an official NS photo which of course gets automatically accepted even though it has a little problem in the upper lefthand corner.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

Yet this met RP standards...

It shouldn't have met the personal standards of the person submitting it in my opinion. I'll never understand the argument that since ____________ got a questionable photo in, why shouldn't _______________ get his questionable photo in too. Shouldn't there be a personal quest for a person to showcase the cream of their crop? I feel pretty certain I could upload 10,000 or more images on RP tomorrow, and have 90% of them accepted (if I were a paying member, of course). Would I be considered a better photographer for having 10,300 images here with 8500 of them being forgettable, or am I better off with my current 300+ of which 200 of them are quite decent, or borderline good?

Regardless of whether or not it should be on RP, would you agree that Carl's shot would have been better had the sky been dark and moody versus the photo that is causing a visual conflict of a sky that screams sunny day, with lighting that suggests he was cloud blanked?

I love a good debate, and I would love anyone to chime in with their thoughts.

Loyd L.

[wds]

I feel Carl's shot would benefit from a bit of highlight darkening, a slight boost in contrast and saturation (with an extra dose on the cyan channel), a teeny bit of sharpening and some noise reduction (especially in the sky). There's a bit of purple in the sky which shows more in the image with increased overall saturation, so perhaps I should have de-selected the sky for that step and re-selected it for the cyan adjustment. I'd also feel more comfortable with a smidge more space on the bottom, like only a couple of millimeters (as any more would make the top of the train feel more squished by the cat support) but that's just my personal preference. Would all that make the difference between acceptance and rejection? Probably not, but like has been mentioned it depends on the mood of the screener today. Some may feel my version is a bit too candy, but I think it looks less hazy this way:

[JRMDC]

I agree with the "Regardless ..." part of Loyd's latest.

WDS, you took Car's sllightly oversharpened shot (IMHO, esp the train part) and just trashed it by doing more.

[MassArt Images]

Originally Posted by wds

I feel Carl's shot would benefit from a bit of highlight darkening, a slight boost in contrast and saturation (with an extra dose on the cyan channel), a teeny bit of sharpening and some noise reduction (especially in the sky). There's a bit of purple in the sky which shows more in the image with increased overall saturation, so perhaps I should have de-selected the sky for that step and re-selected it for the cyan adjustment. I'd also feel more comfortable with a smidge more space on the bottom, like only a couple of millimeters (as any more would make the top of the train feel more squished by the cat support) but that's just my personal preference. Would all that make the difference between acceptance and rejection? Probably not, but like has been mentioned it depends on the mood of the screener today. Some may feel my version is a bit too candy, but I think it looks less hazy this way:
Attachment 8696

Phew! Wayne, that's to much work for me! I made a copy of my RAW and exposed one for the train and the other for the sky. I tried my hand at layers and a layer mask but found it time consuming to reveal the layer with the nice sky and I couldn't get it to blend nicely with the top layer around the tree tops. I admit my PSE layer skills are poor. I was probably using the wrong type of brush to blend the images at the trees. (Anyone have a good YouTube link for that?)

I trashed that idea and just ran the two RAW images through Photomatix Pro and used exposure fusion to get the sky and the train exposed nicely.

Could I have waited for the next train? Probably, but my wife was already upset that I was leaving our "camping group" to get another train photo instead of following them to the L'Enfant Metro to head back to Cherry Hill campground.

It is a cluttered area, but it is one a the few areas where you can shoot a train with the U.S. Capitol in the background. I can check it off my list because I like the shot.

I just wanted to share it with other railfans. If a PS Pro wants to try their hand at making it acceptable, just PM me and I will email the RAW file to them.

Bonus: I got the shot then managed to get on the Metro they were on just as the doors closed!

[wds]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

WDS, you took Car's sllightly oversharpened shot (IMHO, esp the train part) and just trashed it by doing more.

Well J, it looked a bit soft to me, and still does on second glance, so I'll stand by the very slight (12 points in PSE) sharpening I gave it.
Carl, it may have taken just over a minute to do all that but admittedly it was (and was intended to be) a quick job, so if you had decided to go that route you may have wanted to stretch that to two. Not really all that intense.

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

Shouldn't there be a personal quest for a person to showcase the cream of their crop?

I love a good debate, and I would love anyone to chime in with their thoughts.

Loyd L.

When RP stops taking wreck shots, roster shots, overcast heritage shots, Darwin shots and the like, then I would agree with your sentiments.

Until then, and I'm sure both you and, more so, Jim Thias will agree - let's keep it a level playing field.

Railpictures.net - The BEST railroad photos on the net. And more.

/Mitch

[BobE]

I think you did the best you could. There are a few processing issues, but I didn't analyze it that closely technically. The overpass at L'Enfant Plaza is about the only public space in the District where you can get a train and the Capitol dome in the same frame. And yeah, there's a lot of jumble. You can't even get a shot as clear as Wade Massie got in 1993 that Mitch showed because the trees have grown up.

So you have the choice of collaborating with someone with a chain saw for the trees, and cutting torch for the obsolete steel work, or living with what you got.

The photographer who identifies himself as Norfolk Southern Corporation did a pretty nifty night shot at that location a couple of years ago. It puts a lot of the distracting overhead in shadow.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphot...35711&nseq=109

The 'high sun' rejection is crap. You work with the light you have. What else are you going to do? Ask VRE to delay departure until you have better light?

Bob

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by BobE

The 'high sun' rejection is crap. You work with the light you have. What else are you going to do? Ask VRE to delay departure until you have better light?

Bob

Just because you have to work with what you're given, doesn't mean it works out.

I could publish more than a few volumes of a series called 'Cloud F--ks, and other ways Mother Nature screwed me'. I worked with what I had, but taking the best shot in a given bad situation doesn't always mean it's good.

Loyd L.

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

When RP stops taking wreck shots, roster shots, overcast heritage shots, Darwin shots and the like,..

I wish..

Until then, and I'm sure both you and, more so, Jim Thias will agree - let's keep it a level playing field.

Jim doesn't appear to recognize wide angle distortion as being an issue, so I now question his heart.

Railpictures.net - The BEST railroad photos on the net. And more.

It doesn't need to be Railpictures.net - All railroad photos on the net either.

Loyd L.

[Ron Flanary]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

When RP stops taking wreck shots, roster shots, overcast heritage shots, Darwin shots and the like, then I would agree with your sentiments....

/Mitch

Oops...couldn't do that, Mitch! Those are the most popular shots on the site!! The goofier, the better. An excellent image? Fifty views, maybe...

In the interest of not bringing the wrath of the world down on me, I'll avoid making generalizations about the tastes of the average RP.net viewer...

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Ron Flanary

In the interest of not bringing the wrath of the world down on me, I'll avoid making generalizations about the tastes of the average RP.net viewer...

Don't waste your money on steak, when a hotdog is all they want...

Loyd L.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by bigbassloyd

Jim doesn't appear to recognize wide angle distortion as being an issue, so I now question his heart.

PhotoID: 456808 Photograph © Jim Thias

..........

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by jimthias

:-p


..........

HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?!?!?!

[bigbassloyd]

He is living a lie.

Loyd L.