C&C Please?

[filmshooter]

Sorry about the quality first off. I can't find monochrome film so I had to use color and convert to mono in GIMP, and I used a scanner to get them on my PC for upload so theres part of the story on that. Looking mostly for comments on crop and composition, too dark too light, too crazy with the contrast, well anything really. Lock an load an fire away! lemme have it! =D

1) Rail spikes and a bolt.

2) Solo Rail Spike.

3) Train.

 

[daarksun]

The first one is nice composition, a bit to dark maybe since a good bit of the background is in shadow. The heavy contrast also shows by the blown out sky. I still like the shot overal.

Second image I like the composition and the dof for the image. The blacks against the whites is a nice blending. sharpness could be a bit better. Overall a nice shot indeed.

Third image should have more train and less open space. There just isn't that much in the open area to warrant so little of the train since that is your main piece of the image. Train probably should have been just past the pole for this shot.

Your second image is the best overall, the first image would have been with better highlights.

 

[agustinnn]

I like them, they give me a feeling of an old scary movie which I love, specially the third one. I do agree with daarksun, though, that there could be a bit more of the train and less free space (maybe you should have taken it by the time it almost reached the pole).

 

[KenC]

I disagree somewhat with the others who replied. The last works for me as a panoramic, where the buildings and trees balance the train and everything is framed by the wire and the tracks. The first two are good subjects shot from a good angle, but there isn't much happening on the right side of the image in either one, so I'd crop some, particularly in the first, where you have large dark and light areas on the right with little or no detail.

 

[filmshooter]

Awesome comments. Thank you very much. I have a few more of the train as it was coming at me so I will work on those and add them, do some cropping and work on the others and post them and see if I can get it right, or better in your opinions. Again, thank you, the help is much appreciated!

Edit: I Chose that image of the train because the next few it is in the shadow of the building but I will give em a go an post them and see what y'all think.

 

[filmshooter]

Just to add some comic relief...

 

[filmshooter]

Ok so here are a few edits. I hope I followed your tips and did a better job. Please let me know what you think on these also.

1) Crazy Train '95

2) Another Take On The Spikes And Bolt. Original print was heavily shadowed, I sharpened, cropped tighter and burned down the blown out sky a bit.

3) Sharpened this one a bit, nothing else since you liked it as is, just needing to be sharper.

4) More train, less space.

Okie dokie, if you guys don't mind, lemme have it again. I'd like to know if I interpreted your advice in a good way or if I am missing something. All advice and criticism is welcomed and can help me learn. Again, thank you all so much for your help!

 

[filmshooter]

Am that good, nobody has anything bad to say? Why am I a factory worker? Should get paid for this! Kidding. Just a bump.

 

[tarnia_k]

The Spikes and Bolt one(this is my favourite!) looks better after editing. Dunno if I prefer the train cropped though..

Beautiful photos!

I think re. high contrast with B&W photos is a good thing. Some good advice I got was "It's called clack and white for a reason, not Shades of Grey! Basically there should be parts of the photo that are black black and some that are white white. Adds interest, and without the real black and white in the photo, the image looks very bland.
(Of course you can go overboard, but I certaintly dont think you have with these shots)