Decaying Garatt (Steam Locomotive)

[Dawid Loubser]

Hi, I would like some opinion on this photograph I took recently. Very tightly framed for a better sense of movement, together with eliminating a distractive background. The South African Railways was one of the most numerous users of these fantastic articulated steam locomotives - this is a branch-line GO-class, from the early 1950s.

The Garratt design allows the weight to be spread, and tight curves to be negotiated, in a locomotive which has at least twice the power of a comparable conventional steam locomotive.

http://ic3.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/094/d/c/Decaying_Garratt_by_philosomatographer.jpg

All info in EXIF.

[Asher Kelman]

Hi, I would like some opinion on this photograph I took recently. Very tightly framed for a better sense of movement, together with eliminating a distractive background.

I like the subject and this is worthy of many return visits to explore new ways of photographing this beast! Here you have used a focal length of 1290mm (oops, it's 120mm!) and at f 7.0 you have a narrow flocus planew centered in the middle of the train. I don't quite get why you chose that area to focus on and not the front of the train.

In any case, taking off from where you started I attempted to bring out the sense of movement by selctively sharpening and blurring so that there is a sense of the train slamming towards us and we just managed to get hold of a glimpse in one flash.

http://www.openphotographyforums.com/2007_OPF_AK/Dawid_Loubster/Decaying_Loubster.jpg

1. © 2007 Dawid Loubser Original Decaying Garrat (Steam Locomotive) 2. Edited by Asher Kelman for sense of movement.

To me, at least the train is now whizzing past and we just get a glimpse of the cabin. The camera has no brain. One needs to add the effects which is in one's mind. Of course I cannot have your mind's image, however, given your intentions, this is my best shot.

Great train!

Asher

[Dawid Loubser]

Interesting modification, Asher.

I do like your effect, though my intention was not to visually depict the train whizzing past (as it is clearly a dead machine) but just to make the viewer imagine what it would be like, if it were.

I focused close to the cabin, in order to simultaneously highlight the 'eye' (front window) as well as depict the area which is richest in detail. Focusing on the front (which is poor in detail) creates a strained effect, as one would want to see the lovely firebox details.

This wasn't a case of default centre-focusing-point, I quite purposefully focused there manually. I don't think this is a fabulous photograph, but the subject is interesting IMO. Thanks for the feedback!

P.S. The focal length was 120mm (150mm equiv), I guess your 1290mm was a typo :-)