The "Photo of the Day" site has been showing the same image since 9/20/18. Apparently there is either insufficient staff to handle the feature, or it has been forgotten and left to die, along with the "Trackside Photo Contest".
Too bad; it was fun to try winning the weekly contest. I also found it interesting seeing photos from other camera jockeys.
Progress is always change, but change is not always progress.
Pop over to the "Classic Trains" site if you haven't done so already. There's always a new "Photo O' The Day" and it's always a blast from the past.
There are tons of photos on Train Orders, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them professional? Just recently the webmaster on Train Orders made a post asking people to take some classes on photography or learn how to take better photos in general. When I want to see photos I always go to Flickr...
Jay
Cotton Belt MP104If you want to see lots of photos, Train Orders website is full of it. Everyday there are tons of mostly professional photos. Mike endmrw0125191810
I agree with all of you that there are many places to view and submit photos, other than Kalmbach sites. It's just that it was fun to compete in a friendly way with other forum members that I have had discussion with in the past--a sort of quaint little group that was so much less formal than the over-productive 'big name' photo sites.
And yes, I do like Flickr, and have many phots posted there (shameless plug: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim53171/). And I do enjoy reading the comments, as well as contributing my own comments on others' photos. And there are some amazing photos to be found there. I just miss the feature here.
The photo of the day was just recycling the same 3 dozen photos over and over.
The photo contests would have been better if they ditched the "vote for your favorite" polling. It shouyld have been more of a showcase, and less of a competition. Plus I never submitted because they wanted your full name (Mr. Zug Mann?) , location, EXIF data, shoe and hat size, color of your first car, etc. A great photo stands on its own, without needing to be dissected and voted upon. But that's just my opinion.
I really need to get back into photography.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
Right. A lot of repetition on photo of the day. The competition site had some good work. Why did it go? Part of Trains cutbacks of staff due to weak circulation numbers?
Have contributed to "Photo of the Day". I also have submitted photos to "Hotspots" as well.Haven't been able to get back to Fostoria or Marion.They still might be looking for regional reporters/photographers?
stay safe
joe
Deshler Ohio-crossroads of the B&O Matt eats your fries.YUM! Clinton st viaduct undefeated against too tall trucks!!!(voted to be called the "Clinton St. can opener").
I used to always look at the Photo of the Day when it was near the top of the home page. When they moved it toward the bottom of the page after a lot of ads, I quit loking for it. Maybe other people felt the same way, and with fewer clicks it got dumped.
I do miss the bi-weekly Trackside with Trains photo contest as it was originally run. I may not have entered many of them, but I still enjoyed looking at the results. It seems that when the contest went to monthly, it became harder for everyone to find the current Trackside with Trains topic.
If Trains magazine is looking for current/topical photos (taken in the last month or so) that can possibly be used to accompany a future article/topic, then perhaps somewhere on the Trains website should be a list of current/future photo needs. Instead of having a general photo contest every month, I'd think it would be interesting to know what specific photo subjects the magazine actually needs. I'd then feel like I'm photographing with a purpose.
Jeff
Photo of the Day and Trackside with Trains are both on hiatus due to some issues with the website backend system. At this time we expect them to come back later this year.
Brian Schmidt, Editor, Classic Trains magazine
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.