Eastbound manifest in the morning

[spacetrain1983]

Last Saturday, I got this picture of an eastbound UP manifest train early in the morning. Of note is the CSX SD40-3 in 4th position, and possibly the final one that's been shipped out from MPI this year. The only problem I can see with this is that it may be a little undersharpened. What do you think?

[CSX1702]

I'd definitely sharpen it some. It'll probably get accepted after that.

If you return to this location I'd stand about where you're at here, get some elevation if you can and point the camera a bit more to the right. That would get rid of the weeds covering the tracks and the train would have a bit more breathing room on the right side. Could possibly add more to the scene depending on what's over there too.

[John West]

Pretty good composition and lighting. The main problem in my mind is the image looks "foggy" and the sky is an odd color, perhaps because of some hazy overcast. I would increase the contract and perhaps the saturation a bit, and then see how much sharping it needs. It is a basic wedgie and a fairly common looking train, so not sure how that will be treated by the screeners. But you are definitely making progress.

[miningcamper1]

I see a "Bad Color" rejection coming. I'd make it a little brighter and cut the color temperature significantly.

Once again, what are you using to edit your photos?

[Noct Foamer]

Definite progress here! You paid attention to the direction of Light. Yes, needs a little sharpening. If you are using Photoshop CC, the "clarity" slider would help a lot. Otherwise, as John said increase contrast a bit (25%?) Another point I'll mention is the framing is a bit too tight. No need to have the train that close to the edge of the frame, about to exit. I'd also like to see a bit more of the landscape. That would give more sense of time and place, rather than just being an engine shot. But hey--you have moved forward here!


Kent in SD

[spacetrain1983]

Originally Posted by miningcamper1

I see a "Bad Color" rejection coming. I'd make it a little brighter and cut the color temperature significantly.

Once again, what are you using to edit your photos?

I use MS Office 2010 for cropping, rotating, resizing, and some color adjustments. I also occasionally use GIMP 2.8, but some options are hard to find or just nonexistent (read: shadows and highlights), though I just learned those two features exist in MS Office 2010.

I guess it isn't that great of an editor, but it does what I need it to do, except for sharpening.

[Noct Foamer]

Go on ebay or amazon and try to find a used copy of Photoshop Elements.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...condition=used

You can also go to Adobe website and download 30 day trial of latest PS Elements 14. Any of them will do all you need. If you think you're going to stick with photography, you might as well begin learning PS sooner rather than later. Any more, about half of the technical side of photography is mastering software.


Kent in SD

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by spacetrain1983

Of note is the CSX SD40-3 in 4th position, and possibly the final one that's been shipped out from MPI this year.

Irrelevant.

Crop (2:3 ratio), sharpen, and submit.