Trackside with Erik and Mike, Vol. 30: May 2, 2005

[Anonymous]

Mike, I like your photo because it is a change from the usual view; but......from a technical photography viewpoint, I had to vote for Erik's.....because your photo was so dark I had to view the enlarged pic and then turn my monitor's brightness all the way up to see it. Erik - your photo is a nice, well-exposed shot and I like the concept....altho I would have enjoyed an angle adjustment, I think. [2c]
~Amulon

[Anonymous]

Both photos were very nice, and It was hard to decide, but as a working photographer and shooting work sites and track laying sites, bridges being built etc, I voted for Mike with the rock cars.

[mistercivil]

Voted for Erik. While it may not look like that guy's doing much, he's watching switches to make sure he's going down the right lead, keeping an eye out for other engines and trains and listening to his mate give car counts so he can slow down and stop smoothly (without putting cars on the ground, damaging lading or ripping his mates arms out of their sockets). By the way, to kicksvette, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers gets very grouchy when you call those guys with the boxes engineers. They're not allowed to use the control stand in the locomotive. The proper slang (at least where I'm from) is 'groundhog', taken from the slang for an engineer, 'hogger'. Great photo Erik.

[Anonymous]

NO CONTEST! ERIK WINS THIS HANDS DOWN! THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, NOT SUBJECT, THUS PEERING INTO THE SHADOWS TO DISCERN THE DUMPING OF BALLAST, HOWEVER RARE AN OPPORTUNITY, DOES NOT RATE WITH A FINE EXPOSURE LIKE ERIK'S!

[Anonymous]

Erik's shot wins hands down. Not only do I live in BN country where the green/white scheme is fast disappearing, but also, mike's photo was pretty dark. I like shots that show engines or at least most of a train car, not just the belly of a car where gravel is coming out. The shot of MOW work is interesting, but I think it is inferior to Erik's shot.

Steve C.

Remember this if you'd be spared, trains don't whistle because they're scared.

[walthuston]

While Mike's photo was somewhat interesting, Erik gets my vote with the human factor plus the great lighting; not to mention the subject matter. BN has it all over Usually Parked RR.

[wcnut]

While I enjoyed viewing both photos, I went with Erik's because I thought it was more fitting for this weeks theme and for reasons Erik stated in his statement. Mike's has a strong graphic quality to it, nice lines, color, patterns and such, but it is lacking the human element for me. And maybe that is the point of that photo. Anyway, hard choice.

Greg
"wcnut"

[Anonymous]

I definetly had to go with Erik's photo. I agree with all the things he said about how it portrays railroading and the relationship between man and machine. The BN unit also looks really cool taken at that angle!

Mike's photo was interesting and unique, but I don't think that it stands up too well for this competition. I would have entered the first photo showing the whole train led by the UP units. Also, on my monitor, it is very dark and not so easy to make out. In a previous installment, there was discussion about how people's monitors differ and make the pictures look different, so I suppose that counts for something.

[mrunyan]

Photography is not always about lighting, it's about opportunity, like the Iwo Jima flagraising. Mike caught a first on film for him and myself, I'd never seen how it was done. It was a railroad being built from the ground up. I can see guys standing around at yards any day. Nice catch Mike.

[PRRK4s1361]

Ah-h-h!! A runaway contest this time...Eric got my vote for many of the same reasons everyone else is stating: Mike's pix is rather dark and you can't really see the rock dropping out. The first one of the whole train would have been better but I still see the whole idea of the theme. On another note; with the coming of r/c engines does anyone wonder what could be next? R/C trucks & airplanes?? I think not!!

[emmar]

Eriks photo is the easy winner this week. Mikes shot is ok but you have to look at it much to closely to figure out what is going on. I'm also a big BN fan and the lighting is great in Erik's shot. Good job Erik! (and better luck next week Mike).

[fish1467]

I too went for Erik's photo, because of the man and machine element. What do they call the guy running the remote control? Condudaneer?

[fish1467]

I too went with Erik's photo, because of the man and machine element. What do they call a person who runs a remote control locomotive, a conductaneer?

[Anonymous]

Maybe I just need to adjust my monitor, but the exposure on the ballast cars was so dark I could hardly see anything at all!

[Sterling1]

Voted Erik this time 'round. The human on the locomotive, just vibes to "Working on the Railroad"
However the picture may not tell the rigors of Railroading.
Refer to September 2002 Trains: "Hard Lessons: Working for the Railroad"