First successful streak

[MichaelJ]

I know this section of the forum is filled with stories of rejection, so I thought I would add one of success.

I got a shock a few nights ago when this streak shot in Coffs Harbour was accepted into the database. For many years, I have submited similar shots but they have been rejected.

PhotoID: 213932 Photograph © Michael James

I also submitted this photo but it was rejected. I considered that one of the reasons the first photo may have been accepted was because it showed a scene and not just the train. I also considered that it may have been because the photo was a complete blur and not a partial blur, meaning you can not really identify the train.

What are your thoughts? I would like to get more streak shots like this one into the database.

[randy]

Congratulations, I like it. I'm planning a trip into the California desert soon where the trains run 70-90 mph. No problems blurring those. I'm going to try and get some blur shots a grade crossing.

I think the other shot didn't look enough like a train to be accepted.

Hope you more success!

[Chris Kilroy]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

I considered that one of the reasons the first photo may have been accepted was because it showed a scene and not just the train.

Bingo! Nice shot!

[MichaelJ]

Sweet, thanks!

I also thought turning the photo sepia may have helped given all the street lights were yellow. It just didn't look quite right in colour after applying a tungsten filter.

My mate said the shot would have been much better if my Commodore and his Skyline was waiting at the crossing. :P

[MichaelJ]

I have managed to do it again! I will have to try this more often ...

PhotoID: 214369 Photograph © Michael James

[JimThias]

2nd one is much more appealing than the first, IMO. Keep 'em coming. They look good in b/w, too.

[Crusader]

I agree with Jim... the curved platform in the 2nd pic really adds something to the movement and energy of the shot. Congrats.

[MichaelJ]

What is the difference between this photo and the photo I had accepted first?

PhotoID: 213932 Photograph © Michael James

It has some interest - my car is sitting there, the lights and booms are flashing, there's little lens flare, and the train is moving slowly thus providing a pretty solid streak.

[JRMDC]

In the rejected photo my eye goes straight to the automobile, so it doesn't have the feel of a RR shot. The accepted one is about the crossing, the car is deemphasized. This difference is enhanced by the pavement being fairly bright in the rejected shot, also bringing the eye away from the train and the crossing signage, whereas in the accepted shot the pavement is dark and the eye goes to the bright crossing signal in the center.

[John Ryan]

Lucky you, I only had all five of my uploads rejected today.

[MichaelJ]

Originally Posted by JRMDC

In the rejected photo my eye goes straight to the automobile, so it doesn't have the feel of a RR shot. The accepted one is about the crossing, the car is deemphasized. This difference is enhanced by the pavement being fairly bright in the rejected shot, also bringing the eye away from the train and the crossing signage, whereas in the accepted shot the pavement is dark and the eye goes to the bright crossing signal in the center.

I think you could be right, I will have to find a crossing that it not quite as well lit and put my car there.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by John Ryan

Lucky you, I only had all five of my uploads rejected today.

Marquette pics?

By the way, how he hell did you get that M37 overpass shot uploaded so quickly? You have satellite internet in your car or something? I swear just two hours before it was added to the database I saw you running through the snow to get a shot!

EDIT: Just checked my photos...you were standing next to me north of White Cloud in the middle of nowhere at 2:48 pm taking a picture and, at 5pm when I got home, I saw that you had already uploaded the M37 shot.

[John Ryan]

Originally Posted by JimThias

Marquette pics?

By the way, how he hell did you get that M37 overpass shot uploaded so quickly? You have satellite internet in your car or something? I swear just two hours before it was added to the database I saw you running through the snow to get a shot!

EDIT: Just checked my photos...you were standing next to me north of White Cloud in the middle of nowhere at 2:48 pm taking a picture and, at 5pm when I got home, I saw that you had already uploaded the M37 shot.

Yes, Marquette pics.

That M-37 shot was uploaded at about 12:30 from the parking lot of the Wendy's Restaurant in Newaygo. Apparently they have wi-fi. No satellite internet in the car yet ... though cellular internet has been considered. It was bad enough to gut the interior to put in the 120-volt AC, hardwired scanner and antenna, and electric compass and auto-dim mirror.

Nice meeting you out there.

[randy]

[quote=MichaelJ]I have managed to do it again! I will have to try this more often ...

Yes, you have! How are you protecting your equipment in the rain? Shooting when others won't gets the really great shots.

[JimThias]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

I have managed to do it again! I will have to try this more often ...

Just looked at this photo again, and I have to add, this would look GREAT blown up and hanging on the wall of a train station.

[MichaelJ]

Originally Posted by randy

Yes, you have! How are you protecting your equipment in the rain? Shooting when others won't gets the really great shots.

I normally stand underneath a shelter and crop it out of the photo. The other night at the station, rain caught Peter and I by surprise and our cameras got a bit wet but we dried it off pretty quickly. It still works!

Originally Posted by JimThias

Just looked at this photo again, and I have to add, this would look GREAT blown up and hanging on the wall of a train station.

I should send it down to the Station Master at Coffs Harbour. That Cement Train caught Peter and I off guard - it was literally a, "Shit! Run!!!", setup the tripod and press the shutter (which was set on shutter priority from the previous shot).

Every time I go out getting photos, something goes wrong! Bloody trains! The most recent 'experience' was at Lawnton Station where I was all setup for a shot of the Electric Tilt Train being towed by a Clyde/EMD locomotive during an overhead isolation on the up main line. Then, the signal on the middle road steps up and moments later along comes the train!

Does anyone else have this trouble or are QR just out to make my life difficult?

[randy]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

Does anyone else have this trouble or are QR just out to make my life difficult?

No, it's just you. The rest of us NEVER have problems on site.

[WembYard]

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

Every time I go out getting photos, something goes wrong! Bloody trains! The most recent 'experience' was at Lawnton Station where I was all setup for a shot of the Electric Tilt Train being towed by a Clyde/EMD locomotive during an overhead isolation on the up main line. Then, the signal on the middle road steps up and moments later along comes the train!

Does anyone else have this trouble or are QR just out to make my life difficult?

I wouldn't go as far to say that something goes wrong every time, but the other week I went for a special train which was booked on the fast line (not through the platform), but it came on the slow (next to the platform).

Instead of having a shot of the class 20 diesel like this

PhotoID: 214968 Photograph © Janet Cottrell

it ended up like THIS . It also didn't help that the train was late and the sun had gone in by the time it turned up.

[MichaelJ]

The second photo isn't that bad, but I feel your pain. It makes you want to throw the camera as far as possible sometimes.

[WembYard]

Thanks Michael.

All in all, it was a good day - in fact I was lucky that the sun was out at all, we havn't seen too much of it round here recently. I will be looking out for the "heritage train's" next outing, though the biggest problem will be whether I am at stuck at work at the time rather than the sun being out!

[Peter Reading]

I was lucky enough to get a couple of my streak shots from the Coffs Harbour trip with Mick uploaded too:

PhotoID: 214345 Photograph © Peter Reading

PhotoID: 214346 Photograph © Peter Reading

I was rather surprised to get that first shot in, but it happened!

Originally Posted by MichaelJ

Every time I go out getting photos, something goes wrong! Bloody trains! The most recent 'experience' was at Lawnton Station where I was all setup for a shot of the Electric Tilt Train being towed by a Clyde/EMD locomotive during an overhead isolation on the up main line. Then, the signal on the middle road steps up and moments later along comes the train!

You mean this one Mick?

PhotoID: 215761 Photograph © Peter Reading

Hehehe


I have had some success with streak shots in the database, although not a lot tend to get in due to relatively boring surrounding scenes.

This shot:

PhotoID: 202622 Photograph © Peter Reading

is more of a semi-streak shot, with the freighter streaking in the distance being a secondary factor in the shot.

A similar story can apply to this one:

PhotoID: 181055 Photograph © Peter Reading

where the station is the main element, and the train being the secondary element. The station being quite a pleasent environment in this scene with the hanging pot-plants etc.

Whereas this photograph:

PhotoID: 183219 Photograph © Peter Reading

has the factory and the signal gantry as the main focus, with the train streaking through in front.

A streak shot can be done quite well if there is a nice scene around the train. If it is just a plain scene, with the majority of the photograph being the streaking train, then I can certainly understand the rejections, due to the photograph being 'boring' in many cases.

[MichaelJ]

Originally Posted by Peter Reading

You mean this one Mick?


Hehehe

GRRRRRR! If only I had taken my car instead of catching the train after a derailment!

I blame the station staff at Petrie for not letting me take a photo!