Tom Brott
November 2024 - Cass Stram Engine
About the Image(s)
This image was taken on a recent road trip. We passed through Cass, West Virginia to an old railroad town in the mountains. They were giving excursions on this old Shay Steam Powered Gear Driven Train. This Image is of the fireman standing in the locomotive and the engineer on the ground and oiling the moving parts of the engine before starting on the day's journey. I like this image because it is not your traditional steam powered engine. They said that most engineers preferred this type of engine because it delivered more power using less coal and the upkeep was less rigorous than the traditional locomotives.
Canon EOS R5 - f/8 - 1/125 sec - ISO 200 - 24 to 70 lens @ 33mm
6 comments posted
There are some serious train aficionados in Colorado. This photo would make them salivate. Good colors, good human interaction and good info about the train. Thanks.
(and glad to see your beach photo was chosen for the quarterly splash) Posted: 11/07/2024 11:36:58
(and glad to see your beach photo was chosen for the quarterly splash) Posted: 11/07/2024 11:36:58
Hi Tom, there is a great story here about these men and their hobby. I see a lot of interesting detail in the train as well as the men are clearly visible in the frame and the space between them works well. I like that you have filled the frame with the train that leaves minimal distractions behind. I did find the image just a bit overexposed and I have dropped the midtones a little to demonstrate. I also think this might be strong as a monochrome.
I think your choice of settings looks good. This might be a nice image as part of a portfolio. Posted: 11/08/2024 23:59:37
I think your choice of settings looks good. This might be a nice image as part of a portfolio. Posted: 11/08/2024 23:59:37
Jen, it is a bit overexposed because I was trying to make the gauges visible through the darker window. I really don't know if that adds to the image or hurts the image. Posted: 11/09/2024 09:53:43
Hi Tom. My first reaction to this photo was, what a great train photo. The intricate mechanisms in steel are most impressive, to me the countryside reflection of the leading cylinder also shows the environment this train operates. I thought again and I said this supposed to be HI. While the two men are present, they have been dwarfed by the train IMO this is more of a train or an architectural photo. I would have preferred more men and less train, perhaps cropping to the left or waiting to see if the two men moved closer together. It is bright but that does not worry me as trains run on bright sunny days so the photo has a natural look about it. A fine photo has which has potential in other photographic sectors as well. Posted: 11/11/2024 05:15:22
Ron, I can see the points brought up. These were several things I wrestled with with this image. By cropping it I thought you would loose the perspective of the size of the steam engine and the uniqueness of it being gear driven. As far as human interest I was trying to focus on the man on the ground and his oiling the many moving parts. Yes the oil can is small in his hand as compared to the size of the parts of the engine but it was my final choice to try and show both size of the train and the oiling being done. Posted: 11/11/2024 06:53:17
(Groups 2 & 5)
I think your photo is well composed and interesting, showing us the engine and with the smoke coming out of the stack, along with the railway workers. The fall foliage and blue sky bring nice color. I agree with other comments that it appears a bit washed out overall. Jen can correct me if I'm wrong (I took her PJ analysis course!) but I think the requirement for a human interest photojournalism image is that it contains humans but not that humans have to be the only or major part of the photograph, so I don't think cutting out more of the train from the composition would make it fit the HI definition any better. Posted: 11/11/2024 17:54:49