Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 20: November 22, 2004

[UPTRAIN]

Oh yeah, Mike's photo was of an AC4400CW....not a Dash 9, just to point that out, they all look the same though, lol.

[Anonymous]

I voted for Mike's shot. But the reasons only involve conditions that may be uncontrollable. Sunshine makes the UP locomotive stand out. The CP, while a good shot, comes in second, because of the weather, dark skies, etc. [C):-)]

[Anonymous]

Gotta vote for the CP.

[Anonymous]

If it wasn't for the weather/light/sky (or lack of any in my opinion) in the CP shot it would have been so much of a tossup for me I wouldn't have voted at all! It was sort of like the sky color in the photos defaulted it to the UP photo for me.

[Anonymous]

I voted for Eric's photo for several reasons. First, the SD-9 CP (Snoot) may have been a rare opportunity to get a unique locomotive. The chance may not happen again. It looks natural with the poor light conditions. And finally, Eric took a risk with difficult conditions. It may not be a calender photo but it has a message, commerce in action.
Mike's photo is perfect, light, lense, and shutter speed but an SD-90 is also a common locomotive. Both photos are lucky anyway with all the security problems these days.
Hal

[milwfan1]

I prefer Eric's shot. I like the silhouette effect of the CP unit without the distracting background. However, the weeds in the foreground of the UP unit adds a greater sense of motion to the shot.

[Noah Hofrichter]

Well, I was bepuzzled as to who to vote for when I first saw the shots, they both seemed very good to me, and it was hard to pick. SO I began reading the voter comments before voting, and they made my decision. Many of you pointed out the small things, and so, based upon them I decided to vote for Erik's this time. Both because of the snoot, the bell, the weeds ect.

I still think the neatest pacing shot would be one taken while ten feet ahead of the train. You'd be looking slightly back on it and could see more of the front instead of the traditional side shot. I'd like to try this some time (with someone else driving of course.....)

Noah

[Anonymous]

Well, this was a tough one as I liked both photos. Yes, the Uncle Pete shot is clearer than the CN. But, I have to agree with Erik, a rare snoot SD40-2 gets my vote over a typically seen AC4400CW unit.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

[Davidson Ward]

I rather enjoyed Mike's photo. 

[CTGreybeard]

This was a hard one for me. I immediately focussed on the bell in Eric's shot. It seemed an anachronism but, you must know, I am not familiar with the details of equipment on the loco's. I do know they all have bells, I just never thought about it. It's sorta like seeing a bell on a fire engine, you don't see them much any more.

So, anyway, I still liked Mike's shot better but it was a tough call. I think the color was what struck me.

I did look to see if there was any "modification" of the original to the voting photos and I couldn't detect any at all. I don't think there needed to be any, actually, but I would like to see what could be done with Eric's (or both) photo ... and I'm not talking major enhancements here ...

[Anonymous]

UP dash 9 is horrible to look at. It is a slightly better photo, but a dash 9 is so prolific these days it is like going out and taking a picture of a freightliner semi cab. Look I have seen one I have seen them all. Besides CP has a better paint scheme to boot. The western railroads need to get away from the Wisconsin beer cheese soup yellow on UP and tomato soup orange bnsf.

[kicksvette]

I work in Bensenville and see CP in and out of the yard every day. But I also live a few blocks from the UP yard in West Chicago. So my vote isn't about a favorite road. To me it was which shot grabbed me in the gut. I thought the UP shot was overexposed with too much sun glare on the upper part of the body. If I'm looking for under body details I'll find a static shot. The CP shot, while a bit dark, seemed to show more of the hard gritty work of a railroad. So this week's pick goes to Erik.

[lhtalbot]

I have to go with Erik's shot. Both are good, but Mike's is slightly over-exposed.
I also like the l to r format. Maybe because most of us read left to right, it seems more natural. I have a question re your cameras. Can you control the shutter speed manually? Because a slower speed can give you more blur to the foreground & background as long as you match your pan to the subject speed. Speaking of background, there isn't any.
Regards
Larry

[trainloco647]

Mike got my vote this time.

It's a "neat" picture, for starters, and IMHO the sense of speed is better represented by the tall yellowish grass farther away from the camera on his shot than the same item shown on Erik's, but taken much closer to the camera... which looks much more like an out-of-focus nuisance, than anything else...

Have a Great and Very Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[Anonymous]

I like both shots really. The picture of the Canadian Pacific engine is more interesting because it is an older diesel and also Canadian Pacific is less well known(and more interesting) to me than UP is.