OK, I'll keep this short, lest I be accused of being off topic... Is it just me, or do all railfan-oriented publications (books and mags) suck these days? Now before you flame me, let me elaborate.
I just finished a private e-mail on this topic, when it occured to me that there may be a more general interest in this subject. Also, it kind of ties into a thread a month back, where we were all jabbering about what a photo is worth. First, let's look at books. There ARE some VERY fine ones out there (e.g. the new SP book by Jennison & Neves, Hemphill's LA&SL, etc.), but for every one of these, there are a hundred that are just plain terrible. These fall into two categories: those that are nothing but pictures (usually crummy) with no info, and those that are nothing but text, with almost no (but equally crummy) photos. I don't want to step on toes here, but who among you can say that you HAVEN'T thumbed through a book at a store lately that just plain sucks? And yet, these things actually sell, so the authors/publishers continue to churn out more trash. What about magazines? One of them, which HAD been getting somewhat better in recent years, is starting to show some serious cracks, ever since the whole staff bailed. I'm NOT encouraged by what I see there. Many others, while running an occasionally outstanding piece, seem to be quite adept at the mundane. In many cases, the authors and photographers have done a fine job, but the pressures of 'just getting the issue to press' have clearly taken their toll on the finished product. When I want to see what a magazine article SHOULD look like, I pull out a CTC Board from the mid-80s and see an enthusiastic and energetic Dale Sanders who actually CARED about what he was doing. And those were all done by hand. Computers are SUPPOSED to make this sort of thing easier, are they not? So what's the deal? The reason I mention this, is that IF you, as I, conclude that most magazines and books suck, then what are you to do with your efforts, other than let them rot in your slide boxes? I've given up writing articles (I know some of you are cheering), because I'm tired of them looking so mediocre after having put so much effort into them. I'm tired of seeing my shots in half-assed books, and this too shall end, as I will no longer support these efforts. I guess about all I'm good for these days is the occasional shot in a McMillan calander, or perhaps the odd shot in a CTC Board photo piece. So, I ask you again, have I lost my mind, or is there something to what I am saying? I know, all my problems are due to the fact that I'm NOT a professional. That's OK, I'm quite content to keep my engineer's salary, thank you very much. Grumpy [EMAIL PROTECTED] --> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 Content-Length: 4446
