Railroad family portraits

GlowingAmber · Nov 27, 2012

Hey again lovely people! I had a request for family pics on rr tracks. It was my first time, and I took several different positions and spacing so I could look it up later. I didnt have a heads up beforehand. I know the rule of thirds, but in this case i want the tracks in the middle, right? Do i want to be able to see the vanishing point? I have the family to the side in one, and also spread across the track kinda blocking the vanishing point in another. I looked at a bunch online, but what makes a good composition? Any thoughts? :mrgreen:
oh, p.s... i saw some where the pic is turned to make it kinda diagonal... do yall think thats terrible, like selective coloring, lol?

mishele · Nov 27, 2012

Nothing says family like railroad tracks.

Designer · Nov 27, 2012

Dear Glowing; it is very difficult to visualize this without the actual picture. There is more to composition than following some arbitrary "rules".

I have seen very few pictures where it would improve the composition to tilt the frame, and frankly most such efforts simply make no sense.

Speaking of rules, it is against railroad policy to allow trespassers onto tracks, including the ROW. FYI.

ph0enix · Nov 27, 2012

UGH! Why people insist on taking photos on railroad tracks is beyond me. It's a fad and when they look at the photographs years from now, they'll probably say "what was I thinking?". But anyway, you can have the tracks in the middle in a couple of photos but you need to try different compositions to see what works. You can incorporate the rule of thirds in at least some. Don't think that because you use a specific rule (or not), the photos will automatically be great. Sometimes rules work, sometimes they don't. You're the artist. It's up to you to decide when to use them. Whatever you do, stay away from selective coloring. It almost never looks good.

ph0enix · Nov 27, 2012

mishele said:
Nothing says family like railroad tracks.

Precisely! Unless, of course, it's a family of train conductors or something to that effect

Buckster · Nov 27, 2012

I tried really hard to be upset, disgusted or even irritated by "people on tracks" photos, but in the end, it just didn't matter to me if that's what they want.

Moving on...

KmH · Nov 27, 2012

From a composition point of view, train tracks can be used as leading lines to help direct the image viewers eye to the subjects.
So, I would say having the train track vanishing point visible may be counter productive.
Train tracks also can represent the passing of time, or a visual metaphor for the life journey the people in the photo are on.

No doubt people shots made adjacent to train tracks are just about as ubiquitous as people shots made at a public park.

FWIW, ROW = Right Of Way

Designer alludes to an issue you need to assess, beyond the trespass issue.
Even if you are not being paid to make the family portraits, you could be legally liable if a family member were to be hurt during the shoot.
Say dad trips over a railroad track when to arrange the family for a shot you ask him to change his position. He falls and breaks an arm and can't work for some period of time.
You could be then be sued for his lost wages, and medical expenses. In fact, it might be his insurance company that sues you for the medical expenses, plus their attorney fees.

In short, you assume some measure of legal risk by making photos of people who are not part of your immediate family.
If you do not have appropriate liability insurance, you should talk to a qualified insurance agent about getting some.
For a long time the standard dollar value of protection recommended was $1,000,000. The standard dollar value of protection recommended is rapidly becoming $2,000,000.

pixmedic · Nov 27, 2012

KmH said:
From a composition point of view, train tracks can be used as leading lines to help direct the image viewers eye to the subjects.
So, I would say having the train track vanishing point visible may be counter productive.
Train tracks also can represent the passing of time, or a visual metaphor for the life journey the people in the photo are on.

No doubt people shots made adjacent to train tracks are just about as ubiquitous as people shots made at a public park.

FWIW, ROW = Right Of Way

Designer alludes to an issue you need to assess, beyond the trespass issue.
Even if you are not being paid to make the family portraits, you could be legally liable if a family member were to be hurt during the shoot.
Say dad trips over a railroad track when to arrange the family for a shot you ask him to change his position. He falls and breaks an arm and can't work for some period of time.
You could be then be sued for his lost wages, and medical expenses. In fact, it might be his insurance company that sues you for the medical expenses, plus their attorney fees.

In short, you assume some measure of legal risk by making photos of people who are not part of your immediate family.
If you do not have appropriate liability insurance, you should talk to a qualified insurance agent about getting some.
For a long time the standard dollar value of protection recommended was $1,000,000. The standard dollar value of protection recommended is rapidly becoming $2,000,000.

damn...2 mil now eh? guess we should look into upping our policy. bummer

gsgary · Nov 27, 2012

This is on a par with selective colour and baby blocks, where's the sick smiley

tirediron · Nov 27, 2012

Putting aside the issue of the railroad tracks themselves, as KmH alluded to, the proper position of the vanishing point is critical in a 'leading lines' composition. The idea of leading lines is that they lead the eye from the foreground to the subject of the photograph. The eye is going to follow them, and if the vanishing point is visible beyond the subject, then guess what? Your subject becomes secondary!

Dikkie · Nov 27, 2012

I'm stuck here with a garden gnome who wants to pose near tracks very often, when I do my daily walk with him:

For gnomes I understand, but for family portraits?

unpopular · Nov 27, 2012

just wanted to say "hi".

I'll be leaving now.

GlowingAmber · Nov 27, 2012

Thanks everyone! I appreciate all the comments. This family wanted to do it for their dad- he is retired from the railroad and they thought he would love it. It was his kids and grandkids. Aww.

kathyt · Nov 27, 2012

You are the photographer. Use your creative vision for the shoot and see what works and what doesn't. This is what portfolio building is for. So you can go out and shoot, practice, and develop techniques that work for you. Yes, there are some general "rules" of photography, but these rules can be tweaked to each of our liking or all of our work would look the same. If I were you, I would just start shooting more and then post some of your images for critique. This is going to help you alot more in the long run.