Wedgies Eliminate Room for Quality Photos

[crazytiger]

Wedgies Eliminate Room for Quality Photos

CLEMSON, SC (RPNN) -- A superb rail photographer recently told one of our representatives that RailPictures is not the right place for his photography. He remarked, "I would be a square peg in round hole. There is no need for me to post my own images to RP."

Sadly, he may be correct. Every day, countless wedgies and roster shots fill up RailPictures.Net's photostream and drown out quality with quantity. In and amongst these shots, interesting work falls to the wayside because of shots featuring the latest paint scheme or derailment.

The photographer, who shall remain anonymous, went on to say, "I have no desire to be inserted into a base of over 300k images." RailPictures' balance of quality and quantity has been struck, yet, clearly, it is too conservative.

RailPictures has long striven to host the best rail photos on the internet. However, the glacier of mediocrity leaves little place for good rail photography. RailPictures faces the opportunity to exalt good photography, but will it?

[Hatchetman]

Alright Peter, show us the reject.

[jnohallman]

So you're saying that it is impossible to produce a quality 3/4-wedge or roster shot?

Jon

[MagnumForce]

While wedgies aren't my favorite thing. If taken in a descript location and following all the rules there is nothing wrong with them.

[troy12n]

Welcome back...

[magicman_841]

Look at it this way: people want to see wedgies. Look at my last two accepted shots. Two shots of the same train, taken within the same hour. The first one is a normal wedgie. The other is a beautiful (IMO) bridge shot with interesting light and a reflection too. Guess which one has had the most views/comments so far?

[DWHonan]

Originally Posted by crazytiger

Wedgies Eliminate Room for Quality Photos

Your second forum ban of the year gets lifted and this is the first thing you post?

The point of RP isn't to exclude an entire genre of railroad photography. The site provides a home for photographers from all locations taking many kinds of photos to share their work, so long as it meets a fairly-well-defined level of proficiency.

Also, your assertion that wedgies "eliminate room for quality photos" is incorrect. Every accepted photo is included in the database equally (with the exception of SCs, but even those may not make it as a highly-viewed photo), and it is the site's visitors which determine the "popular" photos that make it to the homepage and cause "interesting work [to] fall to the wayside."

Got a problem? Take it up with the contributors, not the administrators. Encourage more creative work instead of grandma's home-cooked apple pie wedgies.

Oh, and if you want to reduce the clutter, stop submitting wedgies.

PhotoID: Photograph ©

PhotoID: Photograph ©

PhotoID: Photograph ©

[Mgoldman]

Close mindedness eliminates room for quality photographs.

There's PLENTY of room for great quality photographs. Just ask your friend to try and squeeze one in. Trust me, there's plenty of room.

If your thread was based on a published article, it'd have been an acceptable post worth debating - and eventually disproving. As is - well, why? What was the point of making it look like new quote??

And in lieu of RP - where might I find such a location which ONLY publishes great photographs like the one's he proclaims to take?

/Mitch

[Ron Flanary]

Originally Posted by crazytiger

...Every day, countless wedgies and roster shots fill up RailPictures.Net's photostream and drown out quality with quantity. In and amongst these shots, interesting work falls to the wayside because of shots featuring the latest paint scheme or derailment...

Clearly I'm all for more "creative" photography on RP....but being the devil's advocate....tell me how you justify rejecting a competently framed and exposed "wedge"? Some of the very best photographers in the world will show you one of their wedge shots as part of their best work.

So, I agree we need more expressive and edgy photographic work here---but at the expense of otherwise acceptable photography? This equates to throwing out the baby, the bathwater, and even the tub...

[DWHonan]

Originally Posted by Ron Flanary

Some of the very best photographers in the world will show you one of their wedge shots as part of their best work.

Lucius Beebe wouldn't have been terribly popular 'round these parts.

[skyliner]

We've got to remember that RP.net is, after all, a database. It includes a diverse varieity of material, including many wedgies. It makes no claim to be the premier 'salon' of railroad photography. So, who wants to step up and address this business opportunity? (Insert your name here)'s online gallery of outstanding rail images.

George

[crazytiger]

K, maybe I should differentiate between quality shots and run-of-the-mill wedgie. There are interesting wedgies.

PhotoID: 348345 Photograph © John Ryan

But, what I'm talking about is this.

PhotoID: Photograph ©

Rob, I don't have a reject for you.

Thanks, Troy.

David, I wasn't trying to take shots at the administrators, though you have a point in its potential to be taken that way. I found it interesting this particular, expert photographer found RP too mundane for his work. I posted this here in an attempt to encourage those on the forums here make the site more worthy of better photography.

I guess I took his quote and said lets shoot make the quality of the site better. I do submit some wedgies, but the idea is that they are so overshot that it's incredible. Oh, and have fun piling on.

[MagnumForce]

What is wrong with a wedgie and signal combo?

The bad ones are the one in totally nondescript locations or ones that have fences and tripods in them.

[Mgoldman]

'Course... if there was a way to highlight a few more photos other then 4 PC's a week... Some front page location to supplement the PC. Maybe something automatic retro after over 25 favorited are checked in for a photo (as easy as that would be to manipulate via Facebook....). Something...

SC's are just a favorite from a viewer who happens to be a screener. The POTW is nice, but it's limited to one per week and typically takes a PC spot. Ah, but I digress, 4 PC's are more then adequate to recognize the best of the best on any given week even though an earlier poll yielded a vote of 15 to 9 in favor.

Last 7 days not much more then four interesting shots so far as I could see:

PhotoID: 382285 Photograph © Gary Knapp

PhotoID: 382504 Photograph © Travis Dewitz

PhotoID: 382442 Photograph © David Gubler

PhotoID: 382387 Photograph © Eric Williams

PhotoID: 382618 Photograph © John West

PhotoID: 382484 Photograph © John Ryan

PhotoID: 382405 Photograph © David Honan

PhotoID: 382802 Photograph © Scott McClarrinon

PhotoID: 382745 Photograph © Kevin Madore

PhotoID: 382323 Photograph © Jason Cary

PhotoID: 382416 Photograph © Gary Knapp

PhotoID: 382460 Photograph © Travis Dewitz

PhotoID: 382604 Photograph © Ron Flanary

PhotoID: 382644 Photograph © Joel Hawthorn

Still - to RP's credit, they have instituted a "most popular", "most favorited" and "most commented" which - when the search function actually works, does come in quite handy and makes for a site MUCH more enjoyable and "relevant" then FLICKR, Smugmug or MPIX regarding train related images.

/Mitch

Can someone show me to the flame retardant suit section?

[crazytiger]

Let me make another attempt to clarify what I posted. There's a reason I posted this in a news fashion. I don't really agree with the person who said this, but I found his remarks something RP as a whole might want to know. I do not believe that more boring shots on the whole crowd out less boring shots.

Note: I tend to use a real weird definition of wedgie. It is dependent on the other elements of the frame, counter to the way it technincally should be.

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by crazytiger

Let me make another attempt to clarify what I posted. There's a reason I posted this in a news fashion. I don't really agree with the person who said this, but I found his remarks something RP as a whole might want to know. I do not believe that more boring shots on the whole crowd out less boring shots.

To me it came across as weak humor; I had no idea anything in the piece was "real". Basically, it read like a failed Onion entry.

As for his remarks, I don't see anything novel in them so that also makes the news fashion presentation fall flat, to some extent. He doesn't want his material to be drowned in the RP expanse, reasonable. There are a lot of shots on RP so the endless wedgies do drown out the more interesting stuff, other than the PCA section on the front page. If that is what one is interested in (and lots and lots of people are interested in wedgies/wrecks/etc.) then they are hard to find here.

EDIT: not that hard to find, really, just an irritant to have more thumbnails to scroll through than one would lilke.


So I don't wee the "RP as a whole might want to know" aspect of this.

[bigbassloyd]

I'd like to see this superb photographers work myself.

Loyd L.

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by crazytiger

Let me make another attempt to clarify what I posted... I found his remarks something RP as a whole might want to know.

Depends... did Dan Valentine say it or did Michael Valentine say it?

What ever happened to Mike's shots on RP????

Regardless - the comment is erroneous as there is plenty of room to add great photos and sufficient resources to find them in a somewhat easy to do search.


/Mitch

[crazytiger]

No, this was a photographer whose work deserves a spot among the top names of rail photography.

[troy12n]

I havent seen Mitch so fired up about something that didnt involve a dog, ever...

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by troy12n

I havent seen Mitch so fired up about something that didnt involve a dog, ever...

Yeah... not since you were banned, lol.

Originally Posted by crazytiger

No, this was a photographer whose work deserves a spot among the top names of rail photography.

They why would we care?

Well, I take that back. Admin should consider all input, but in this case, I believe it was worded poorly. There's plenty of room. Perhaps his or her work does not stand apart to be noticable. I can name dozens upon dozens of names that have captured my attention over the past few years, with or without PC's, SC's or POTW's.

/Mitch

[Joe the Photog]

People, don't you know? Every time we take a wedgie shot, a real piece of railroad art dies somewhere.

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Joe the Photog

People, don't you know? Every time we take a wedgie shot, a real piece of railroad art dies somewhere.

I've seen a few B&W roster shots taken with a large format camera by a gentleman named Victor Hand which blew me away. So sharp I had to wear gloves to handle them. So much contrast and tonality that even in B&W, they were far more colorful then many photos I've seen in color.

/Mitch

[bigbassloyd]

Originally Posted by Joe the Photog

People, don't you know? Every time we take a wedgie shot, a real piece of railroad art dies somewhere.

I can name a few works that I hopefully killed with my 50,000 + wedgies

Loyd L.

[coborn35]

Its a flipping hobby shut the hell up.