Trackside with Trains.com photo competition vol. 151 live to view and vote

[Matt Quandt]

The latest round of our biweekly photo competition, Trackside with Trains.com, is now live! Twelve photographers submitted images for the theme: Night. This round's reader submission comes from William Barber of Gravois Mills, Missouri.

View the selection and vote for your favorite.

[samfp1943]

Dear Matt:

                  You guys are being totally unfair TO US READERS!

   I, ( personally) am constantly amazed at the quality of photographs we find in these pages (FORUMS?). There is a very diversness that holds the readers interest and to an extent has the readers to agonize month after month over the'best' or our favorite photo could be classed as emotionally stressful!   This month's selections are a case in point. Each entry is thoughtfully done and has its' own story.

 I have said it before; picking a 'winner' gets to being a process that involves  an 'eneey,meeny, minee, moee'['for me] on the choices of entrants from the staff.  That does not also preclude the interesting quality of the individual posters here that regularly post their photographs on  this forum. 

Keep 'em coming!  I'll pack up my soapbox now.    

[Modelcar]

....My choice is Matt Martin's dramatic night photo taken from up on the engine front....The golden dramatic color, the light piercing thru the night to expose the track ahead, and of course showing motion.

But I chose William Barber's night shot with so much detail of the engine's working parts in such a dramatic appearance.....to be an extremely close second place.  I debated some time which one it should be...with myself.

Not sure just what made the chooice...perhaps, the bright color drama of matt's shot.

I must comment...this competition brought out almost all beautiful renditions of night railroad photography.  And I'm sure these really took some evaluations to set up and get it right.

[henry6]

Night photo's are the most fun in railroad photography   Unfortunately, too often, they have to be set up and timed.  Still, all these are really good.  However, especially with nothing but dark freight cars most likely behind a headling, Kathi's shot with the headlight and two ditchlights depict what most people will see of a train at night anymore.  Not that the others didn't meet the criteria or were bad, its just that Kathi's, I think, is what we see most of night railroading today.

[Mookie]

Did a little friendly comparing here at home. The Driver liked Mr. Barber's photo (3985).  I liked Tom Nanos photo. 

I control the mouse. 

[CNW 6000]

I've seen sooo many night steam shots that they've become kinda like the "wedge" shot many of us have seen (and produced).  I won't say boring...but they're not uncommon anymore, IMO anyway. 

I really liked three pictures: Tom Nanos', Tom Danneman's, and Matt Martin's.  Matt and Tom D's shots were both excellent but Tom N's actually had the moon in the background.  The fill light from the flashes and the ambient light present sure make me feel like the picture was taken in the middle of the night.  I voted for Tom Nanos.

[cx500]

I went for Tom, or Ton, Nanos.   (Which is correct - I see it spelled both ways?)  He captured the variable lighting that adds that aura of mystery to nighttime trains, while still providing just enough detail.  The moon is a nice touch to add that little extra to the sky.

John

[LU-Trains]

Let’s admit it, night photography of trains is high impact photography.  Not sure anybody has ever done it better than Winston Link, but what the heck - It’s always worth the try!

I enjoyed all these pictures, obviously some more than others but that’s the name of the game here.  I’m not really a fan of blurry train shots, daylight or night so that eliminated Drew, Matt, Andy, and David right off the bat.  Admittedly, David did have two stationary subjects, but neither WERE the train and from the looks of the sky in the background, it doesn’t really look like night to me either.

Tom Danneman and Ken’s pictures were colorful, but the steam engine pictures seem to overpower everyone else . . . except maybe Kathi’s picture.  This was a very intriguing shot.  Three star effect lights and three glistening rails and everything else left to the imagination.  A contender.

The black and whites (including Tom Nanos diesel) were the most powerful to me.  There’s something about shadows in the intricate workings of a old locomotive that simply stirs the senses.  I liked them all.  William Barber’s and Alex’s shots were very nice.  Somehow I can see Mike and Aaron out in the snow battling for position supremacy.  What a couple of super shots - however, I think Aaron won the “picturesque steam” award.

However - since I’m more of a modernist - I’m going with Kathi’s shot with my vote.

[TOMinTN]

Most of them were great...and I had a difficult time making a final selection.  After I got it narrowed down to the UP Challenger, the Denver station shot, and the Aaron Jors black and white steam shot, my Soo fondness took over and that's where the vote went.

Nice work...everyone.

Tom in Nashville

[nanosphoto]

Well, I am a touch overweight, but I've always gone by Tom. :-)

Thanks for the kind words folks!  Everyone is right, though, they're all great!  Tough decision...

[edblysard]

Wow,

Tough choice.

Whittled it down to Mr. Barbers 3985, which I had the pleasure of being in the cab while it was under steam, and Tom Nanos shot of the FP...

Couldn't stop clicking back to Tom's photo though, it is compelling and creepy and visually interesting all at the same time, which is what night, especially late night should conjure up.

Almost Halloween with a train theme thrown in for good measure.

Tom gets my vote, although William's shot would have won hands down any other time.

And Mookie reads minds!

[lhtalbot]

I went with Alex's shot. I think it was the lightning that won me over.

Well done all!   12 entries.....very well done!!

Larry in Wauwatosa

[samfp1943]

Folks:  We are pretty fortunate to have the quality of photography here, that has set such a high bar.

"...I have said it before; picking a 'winner' gets to being a process that involves  an 'eneey,meeny, minee, moee'['for me] on the choices of entrants from the staff.  That does not also preclude the interesting quality of the individual posters here that regularly post their photographs on  this forum..." 

 

An example of what I meant, is represented here in a submission by            Ryan Dadgari;

 Linked here:   http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/182241.aspx

 

[Choo Choo Aussie]

Tom certainly knows how to take night time photos.  The right amount of light and the moon added a nice touch.  Excellent photo.  Once I saw this one nothing else compared. 

[drgw17]

Someone else said it first, but the "mystery" factor in Tom Nanos's shot sealed it for me.  That the locomotive is obviously NOT operating, that it looks as though Tom came across it by chance and found its hiding place, adds a haunting, almost forbidden quality to the image, a dynamic which is only enhanced by the crescent moon in the distance.  The dark holds many secrets.  How better to express the idea of "night?"