So who's chasing N&W 611 this weekend? - just realized something

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by Dennis A. Livesey

I must admit, I no longer fret about light, crowds, diesels, rain, snow, heat, cold etc, etc as far as chasing anything is concerned.

Hi Dennis,

It's easy to not fret, as long as you're not driving. Chasing is a lot more intense if you have to pick the spots, drive the route, avoid confrontations with LEOs, fight off the crazies and put yourself in position to get the shots. I too look forward to trying to capture the shots. It's the logistics that suck.

I would like to come down to VA and get some shots of 611 working hard, but since I don't know the lay of the land, and as a working stiff, I don't have the bandwidth for hours of research, I would only do it if I could ride with a local who knows the good spots, knows the short-cuts and knows how long it takes to get from point A to point B in traffic. That's all experience stuff. You can only learn so much through research. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find anyone who was looking for company and gas money. Too late now. Short notice airfares are pretty steep.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by JimThias

So in other words, for that particular shot, it's not "good light." Aka "bad light."

It was bad use of the available light. Could have done HDR and then it would have been good use of available light. The problem wasn't the light--it was the photographer's inability to conceptualize.


Kent in SD

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

It was bad use of the available light. Could have done HDR and then it would have been good use of available light. The problem wasn't the light--it was the photographer's inability to conceptualize.


Kent in SD

The problem was the light - and it was bad! It looked like crap with my own eyes and lit looked like crap when I got home, lol.

Hmm.... now that I think about it, I think the next frame was an HDR! Let me see if I can dig it up.

/Mitch

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

It was bad use of the available light. Could have done HDR and then it would have been good use of available light. The problem wasn't the light--it was the photographer's inability to conceptualize.


Kent in SD

Wow! Thanks Kent!
Just won FIRST place, too!



/Mitch

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

It was bad use of the available light.

AKA, "bad light."

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

Wow! Thanks Kent!
Just won FIRST place, too!

Much better. No such thing as "bad" light, only bad (or wrong) use of light.


Kent in SD

[magicman_841]

Chasing steam? That's a mistake I've only made once.

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

Much better. No such thing as "bad" light, only bad (or wrong) use of light.


Kent in SD

Tungsten and florescent lights on the same pole?

Kent - if the shot at Butte is not bad light, then it's certainly a shortage of good light!

I suppose I could've used the light had I been in possession of a drone but I wasn't after a shot of the roof - I wanted the facade. Must be "Wrong Light".


/Mitch


PS -Were you once employed at "Bell Labs"?

Here's a theory proposed by the technicians at Bell:
Click here.

[troy12n]

On a separate note, I have not been up there since October 2013, what's left in the way of CPL's on the Christiansburg (Roanoke-Bluefield) and Blue Ridge Districts (Roanoke-Crewe)?

There wasnt much left on the Christiansburg side last time I was up there, but the signals at VN, Glenvar, Shawsville, Arthur, Montgomery and Christiansburg were still standing.

I have seen photographic evidence that at least the Eastbound signals at Montgomery are gone.

What about on the Blue Ridge side? Webster? Villamont? Montvale? Blue Ridge? Thaxton?

I know everything in Roanoke proper is gone

[Decapod401]

The CPL's at Webster were still there a few weeks ago, but I don't know about the other locations east of Roanoke. I believe they're all gone to the west. Montgomery signals have definitely been replaced.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by Mgoldman

Tungsten and florescent lights on the same pole?

.

I've been shooting b&w a lot lately.


Kent in SD

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

No such thing as "bad" light, only bad (or wrong) use of light.

Then there is no such thing as "good light" either. Can't have one without the other.

[miningcamper1]

How about "good light" and "challenging" light then?

When the situation deals you lemons, make lemonade!

[Mgoldman]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

I've been shooting b&w a lot lately.


Kent in SD

Because of the bad light?

/Mitch

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by JimThias

Then there is no such thing as "good light" either. Can't have one without the other.

I agree. The light is just the light. You figure out what to do with it. Sometimes the light won't work for the shot you have in your head, so that makes your plan "bad." It's not the light's fault. I don't see light as either good or bad. Whatever I'm given, I have to analyze it and either find a way to modify it to fit my plan, or come up with a different plan to use it.


Kent in SD

[nikos1]

CPLs are intact between Roanoke and Lynchburg (save for in Roanoke itself), there were new masts in place last year west of there so I assume by now everything has been cut in. Hopefully the weather will be better than last year.
Also advise not going to Arthur, had a very unpleasant experience with one of the rednecks that lives up there last time, as did did all the other people there that day.

[troy12n]

Originally Posted by nikos1

Also advise not going to Arthur, had a very unpleasant experience with one of the rednecks that lives up there last time, as did did all the other people there that day.

Not surprising. Wasnt planning to

Also, holy crap, got up here about 9pm tonight, just about every hotel in town was sold out. Apparently there is some sort of festival, plus a soccer tournament, plus 2 local college graduations. I ended up getting a place in Daleville, VA.

I didn't think to make reservations, because I have NEVER had an issue getting a place here, wow!

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by troy12n

Not surprising. Wasnt planning to

Also, holy crap, got up here about 9pm tonight, just about every hotel in town was sold out. Apparently there is some sort of festival, plus a soccer tournament, plus 2 local college graduations.

Maybe all those people are just saying they're going to a "soccer tournament", because they're too embarrassed to admit to a stranger that they're foamers.


Kent in SD

[miningcamper1]

Originally Posted by Noct Foamer

Maybe all those people are just saying they're going to a "soccer tournament", because they're too embarrassed to admit to a stranger that they're foamers.


Kent in SD

I needed a room waytheheckout in Virginia one time. The clerk was taking my ID and asked me "Are you with the mine or with the railroad?" as if that's all that there was. And I guess that was pretty much all that there really was in that area.

[troy12n]

Had a blast! Except for the 12+ hour drive home last night (left right after it went through Singer at about 4pm, my head hit the pillow at 5:15am)

There was some crazy accident south of charlotte on I-77 that had the whole interstate stopped, and also one near Columbia. Coupled with gas, food and bathroom breaks, it made for a long, tired drive home, and being up over 24 hours.

Ran into no one I knew, which was shocking, but hey...

[troy12n]

I'm superstitious about looking at my pics till the trip is over. I just did a preliminary review of my shots and i'm feeling dejected. Somehow on Saturday between my first (Roanoke) and second location (Webster), one of my cameras got bumped into Aperture Priority mode at F10. I never use Av, and would never shoot at F10. So all but maybe 1 of my shots at Webster and Villamont are unusable (motion blur). I'm pissed because the light was so much better Saturday morning and I did not go to Webster Sunday.

This is a bonehead rookie move. I must have noticed it at some point because it got set back to M.

I'm so out of practice because life is taking priority over my photography hobby, and it REALLY showed this weekend.

Still had a good time, but i'm really upset that some of my photos didn't turn out.

[Noct Foamer]

Originally Posted by miningcamper1

I needed a room waytheheckout in Virginia one time. The clerk was taking my ID and asked me "Are you with the mine or with the railroad?" as if that's all that there was. And I guess that was pretty much all that there really was in that area.

It wasn't pheasant season?


Kent in SD

[Ron Flanary]

Originally Posted by troy12n

.....

Still had a good time, but i'm really upset that some of my photos didn't turn out.

That's the story of my whole life.....

[JRMDC]

Originally Posted by troy12n

Still had a good time, but i'm really upset that some of my photos didn't turn out.

Originally Posted by Ron Flanary

That's the story of my whole life.....

Based on the many, many shots I've seen of yours, I am tempted to say LIAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KevinM]

Originally Posted by troy12n

I'm superstitious about looking at my pics till the trip is over. I just did a preliminary review of my shots and i'm feeling dejected. Somehow on Saturday between my first (Roanoke) and second location (Webster), one of my cameras got bumped into Aperture Priority mode at F10. I never use Av, and would never shoot at F10. So all but maybe 1 of my shots at Webster and Villamont are unusable (motion blur). I'm pissed because the light was so much better Saturday morning and I did not go to Webster Sunday.

I'm not superstitious at all, but I am paranoid about screwing up an important shoot. The night before I go out shooting, I clean the outside of my cameras and lenses. Then I clean the front elements and viewfinders. I then take a quick look at make sure the clock is set correctly, that AF and VR are both turned on, and that I don't have the WB set for fluorescent. All of those things are things I've inadvertently forgotten in the past, although I can't say I've ever gotten very far without discovering the issue. Still, it is painful to realize you've missed ANYTHING because you left a switch in the wrong position.

Not sure what kind of camera you are shooting, Troy. Neither of my Nikons will let me change modes inadvertently. Both the D4 and the D750 require two simultaneous actions to change modes. I am with you on the worthlessness of Aperture Priority. I would never let my camera select shutter speed.....EVER! I can live with an inadvertent selection of f/2.8, but not 1/20th of a second. I virtually never use any automatic exposure modes.

I heartily recommend getting out of the mode of not "chimping" your shots between photo stops. Chimping will help you catch the brain-farts before they become trip-destroyers. I have the center-buttons on my Nikon joysticks set to view the images at 100%. I press Playback, then hit OK and instantly view at 100%. I can tell right away if the image is sharp. If it's not, I am immediately looking for the causes (AF, VR, shutter speed, etc.)