Challenge: Finely Crafted Iconic transport images: IR Coal Train opens the show!

A Burlington Northern coal train eastbound on rural tracks in Northern Illinois on a sunny day in May:



This is just for fun - I liked the clouds, the train, the tracks, the old utility poles...

The picture is impressive. There is a motif of horizontal repeats in the clouds and poles to match the vertical repeats of the freight cars of the train speeding towards us. I'd like to see the right edge cropped slightly just halfway between the lone telegraph pole and the right border.

Actually a powerful alternative is cropping juat to the right of the train! That is very bold. However, one loses out on the breadth of the sky.

Another subtle presentation which maxinizes the sky is the irreligious sacrilage of removing that odd pole on the right!

While these are options one might consider, they are not at all required. The picture is rich enough to withstand that outlier pole and still be magnificent! I'd like more shading in the snow, but that can't be easily shown in an 8BIT sRGB jpg image anyway but the print will be wonderful.

Now who has more!

Asher

The topic is defined by the photograph. If anyone can name this genre better than I have, go ahead. This is such a special picture no matter what!

Who thinks they have others that can go besides this one?

Hi, Tim,

Tom Robbins said:

A Burlington Northern coal train eastbound on rural tracks in Northern Illinois on a sunny day in May:This is just for fun - I liked the clouds, the train, the tracks, the old utility poles...

Click to expand...

Nice shot.

Aficianodos of open-wire telephone plant construction will note the two transposition brackets on the second crossarm of the nearest pole.

The impact of the IR mode here is to me a little problematical. It doesn't give the "other-worldliness" we usually expect with an IR shot, but to me merely gives the pic a "slightly off" tonal quality. I think the problem is that the rendering makes it look as if we are in summer light, but there is snow on the ground.

One might ask in fact what the object is of the IR mode here.

Again, a very nice pic.

Hi, Asher,

Asher Kelman said:

The topic is defined by the photograph. If anyone can name this genre better than I have, go ahead.

Click to expand...

I dunno. Perhaps, "Transposition brackets under infra-red".

Best regards,

Doug

Classical Transport

Doug,

IR was chosen as the train was spotted around noon on a return trip from the Illinois River area. I had a normal version of the 5D as well as the IR-converted body. I decided to use the IR body mainly because the harsh light wouldn't have done the subject any favors using the normal body. I wasn't sure IR would have worked better under the circumstances, but ya' learn by trying. Secondary reason was to make the fair weather clouds pop with less effort during processing.

I wasn't aware that "aficanodos of open-wire telephone plant construction" existed. Just in case any are reading along, here's a look at a Hemingray 0_4:



Several generations of kids with 22 caliber rifles have popped most of the insulators along this stretch of abandoned railway, but this is one of the very few intact survivors

Regards,

Tom