Weekly Competition #132 - Steam Competition

Well I didn't mention railways, but clearly 'steam' means a railway loco to many people out there since these dominate the subject matter. The rest are divided between a few steam road vehicles, some contrasting street scenes and some interesting alternatives. I found it surprising that there were so few entries using steam in more abstract ways.

I'm particularly interested in composition and atmosphere in photography, so this is reflected in my comments. I also like an original take on a scene. With railway photographs, particularly steam special trains, much depends on what the weather gives you and how many onlooker there are. How you can cope with - and use - apparently adverse conditions is a photographic challenge. I realise I am a novice at this judging thing and that views on these things differ, so what I say here is, of course, just my opinion.

mayday - Plenty of impact in this one, getting over the power of the steam loco, but rather dominated by the train reporting number on the front and perhaps overcropped.

mattox - Monochrome works well and I like the balance of the composition, but mostly I love the atmosphere and so can forgive the lack of sharpness. However, for me the subject comes over more as intimate conversation than steam - we are almost eavesdropping on the couple in the foreground.

davidtrout - Plenty of steam here in a good clear shot of a great modern loco. When there are crowds around you need to make use of them, so it is a shame that the children are showing little interest - if they'd obliged it could have made the picture - but that's folks for you!

thoughton - A fun idea, but to my mind this shot is overcropped so that compositionally it lacks a strong focus. Really sharp though!

Daniel Bridge - Now here's one that's a bit different - an original shot with a tinge of humour and perhaps a story to tell. Monochrome adds atmosphere - I like it.

allbend - Spot on the theme with plenty of steamy exhaust and a great viewpoint; it's also pretty sharp for a long telephoto. One of the problems with photographing moving trains is that you have to keep an eye on the relationship of the train to the surroundings, and this shot suffers from the foreground vegetation obscuring the front of the loco - it needed to be taken a fraction sooner to avoid this.

bigcog - Monochrome has given this a great period feel of the 1950s and 60s and the cropping works well. Gives an impression of power from just a small part of the loco and I can almost hear the hissing of the wisps of steam.

Bluejohn - This is a great idea that I don't think quite comes off - there's just a bit too much smoke and steam here. Good composition though, with the driver in just the right spot.

glyn - Good record shot of a lovely piece of machinery, but the colour is a bit washed out - the image would benefit from a bit of enhancement on the PC. This really needs some live steam to nail the theme fully.

nathanever82 - Spot on the theme - a great shot and no question that this is steamy! The car headlights are perfectly positioned to give a slightly threatening feel and the white balance is excellent for a night shot.

TOZZA27 - Nice colourful vehicle - and an unusual one - which stands out against a contrasting background. This is another good static shot of a steam vehicle, but where you don't have live steam it needs something else to bring it to life as a picture, such as a well-positioned onlooker or the proud owner.

imegahy - This is a great, crisp shot, using the lighting conditions and the snow very well. Dark and dead machinery like this often produces dull shots, but here detail is highlighted on the crane, which is beautifully set off against the sky and snow. The low viewpoint has impact and the church in the background makes the shot with secondary detail. An excellent example of how to bring a static museum-piece to life. Does it match the theme? It is clearly a steam-machine and here the fact that it is 'dead' is part of the melancholy scene, so yes.

billy - Super example of how people can make the shot - a nice bit of opportunism to spot this, which would make a great caption competition. Shooting into the light has worked well, but it's a little muddy and needs a bit of work on the PC to brighten it up a bit.

rpk20d - It's steam alright, but this is another case where a little PC work would pay dividends in brightening up the colour and giving it a bit more sparkle. However, for me I'm afraid the angle just doesn't work.

johnedwinagar - Your use of the people on the engine make the shot - it's far more interesting than just a row of machines. Shame the weather was on the dull side, since this really needs the sun to bring out the colour and capture the sparkle on the boiler bands.

Peter_the_Hat - Nice sharp shot of an unusual loco 'brewing up'. I think that this would benefit from cropping top and left to put the driver and the chimney in stronger compositional points, which would give the picture a greater impact.

PENTAX1244 - A great picture, and I can see why you decided to doctor it to get rid of the power lines - shame about the fence and electrical gubbins in front of the signal box. Perfect lighting, superb sky and snow detail. The loco is positioned well and is also the perfect colour for the conditions - and you've captured the glint on the motion. It's steamy and I love it.

bosun65 - A plus point of preserved machinery from the photographic point of view is that things are usually spotlessly clean, shining and colourful. This picture takes full advantage, with the flash reflections adding sparkle, and is sharp and well-cropped. It's clearly steam machinery so is on-theme.

malcolm leader - Lovely close shot, well-cropped, and with the lighting picking up the detail perfectly (was this fill-in flash?). The steam sets the subject off perfectly - a great submission for the theme.

Dwight-Morton - Ah yes, Greenfield Village - a steam railway in the Motor City! Good, bright, sharp shot, with a wisp of smoke - clearly a steam machine. I think this might have been better either with less cropping, or perhaps without the border, which I feel rather distracts.

Hyram - It is a sharp image which has scanned well and making it sepia is a good idea for a period feel. The vegetation in the foreground is part of the image, but I think the trees behind the top of the loco distract. Is the loco in steam or 'dead'?

Paulcollins - No shortage of steam here - the winter conditions always help with that. Usually I would say that a white sky is a disadvantage but here, in combination with the steam and snow, you have used it to good effect to give the impression of the train emerging (dream like?) from the whiteness. It would have been a little bit stronger if the headboard and chimney were visible, but that's one of the hazards of drifting steam.

Technoblurb - It's the driver that makes this - you just caught his expression nicely - and there a good swirl of steam. However, it's a bit dark and dull so might be improved by brightening the image.

David - Classic three-quarter front shot of a classic loco, sharp and with the smoke and steam doing the right things - a good one! It needed a sunny day and blue sky, but you can't control the weather and did a great job in the conditions nature delivered.

PHOTOWAM64 - I thought we'd get a 'Thomas' and here he is. A nice shot of the loco with a wisp of steam, and certainly colourful, but the diesel in the background rather detracts - or perhaps threatens (but no, I don't think diesels will ever defeat Thomas!).

drofmit - A great abstract action shot. There's enough here to make it apparent that this is a steam loco at speed, including wheels, motion, boiler, nameplate and... steam. A shot of great originality.

Belinda B. - Never mind late in the day, it works pretty well in mono. It's pretty sharp and the loco number and train name stand out and make the shot.

mikew - I like the shot, with the converging verticals and the clock, I'm just not sure that its steamy enough. It might be even better with a bit of cropping top and right.

Galoot - A bit of an odd-ball picture, which appeals to my sense of the bizarre. Clever mixture of colour and mono.

Stanovich - Popular loco, Tornado, and this is a different view with the wide-angle lens emphasising the size of the boiler and giving strong converging lines on the steam at the front. An interesting effort, although not entirely to my taste.

JudithAnn - Great shot, cropping is beautifully balanced and the picture centres right on the steamy coffee.

johnriley - Good composition with a real sense of movement, from driver to driver to the starting signal, and all with plenty of action from the locos. I like the shot, but it's more smoke than steam - I'm almost choking...

Jimmy_Dean0 - Winter steam aplenty, certainly. I like the way that you have used the foreground silhouettes to give depth, but it doesn't quite come off here because the people take the eye off to the right instead of into the main subject.

So, thanks to all for their interesting submissions, which I've enjoyed looking through. Now I have the challenge of picking the winners...

1st nathanever82
Just edges in - this is an original shot with great atmosphere.

2nd PENTAX1244There's no question in my mind that this is the best of the moving trains. A steamy shot, well executed and judiciously 'doctored'.

3rd bigcogGreat use of monochrome - takes me back to those black-and-white days.


Commended

drofmit - great abstract shot.

malcolm leader - hits the theme.

JudithAnn - again, right on the spot.

Daniel Bridge - clever shot with a touch of originality.

imegahy - no live steam here, but a great composition that still hits the theme.

bosun65 - again, no live steam but a super shot of steam machinery.

David - shows it is possible to get a good 'standard shot' of a moving steam train in less than ideal conditions.

Excellent and fast judging of quite a range of photographs. Well done Nathan for an excellent photograph bang on the theme.

Mike

Yes, nice image, very well done Nathan! Excellent prompt judging as well, many thanks for that too!

Congratulations to Nathan - a most original entry and thanks to TimE for the comprehensive judging of an interesting competition.

I agree and did think about 'pruning it' but decided it would be a rather lengthy exercise

Sorry, but I don't know the answer to that one.

Congratulations Nathan, and thank you TimE for the great judging and comments.

Apologies about my poor entry Looking through my archives I only had two or three photos of any sort of steam, all of which were pretty mediocre, so I went for the silly one Taken with the kit 18-55, by the way, and sharpened with MattMatic's PS action.

WOW! Now THAT was surprising!

Thank you very much to TimE for the Judging, I really wasn't expecting this one, but i'm very very pleased!

Thank you

Good swift result Tim, congratulations on your expert judging. Its good to see a non train picture win so well done also to Nathan for not being obvious 'like wot I was.' My favourite of the train pictures was Paulcollins' steam engine in the snow.
david

Great shot Nathan and well Judged Tim, I thought your comments regards my offering were very fair and constructive.

Nice one Nathan, stood out amongst a whole swathe of train pics (mine included) with something a bit different.

Good judging Tim, and nice to get a commended.

Dan

Bang on job there Nathan, excellent picture and a very worthy winner.
Paul

Congratulations to nathanever82 and thanks to TimE for the competition and judging

Congratulations Nathan, well done TimeE for subject and judging bit over subscribed by Trains, nice original shot from Nathan to win, pleased with second as only second comp. entered.
Pete