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Dan Hadley wrote: > You guys can whine all you want, sit home and not document what's happening > on today's railroads, but 20 years from now you will certainly be sorry for > doing so; true only if you continue to remain in the hobby. The rail > industry today is a charged up and happening place. Don't miss out by > lamenting the past and bitching about all of the crazyness. Get out there > and document the mess and enjoy it. Document those "one of a kind" paint > schemes on BNSF because someday when corporate colors cover every last piece > of rolling stock and power you'll be happy to have them in your collection. It's commendable that there are always enough railfans out there to document the current events, so that others can enjoy what those images represent in the future, but I look at things a little differently as well. You document things with a camera, and I create images. I do not feel the need as some to force myself to document everything in a photojournalistic fashion simply because it may be here today, and gone tomorrow. To me, the paint and the shape of the trains change, but many things remain the same. So many things in fact that I must continually look for new ways to record them on film. I do not feel pressured to 'keep up the pace' and shoot fast before I miss something. I find no joy in that, and no one is paying me to keep records for the RR industry or for history. There are plenty of us to do that anyway, whether we realize that we are doing it or not, at the time. How many full frame 'wedgies' can you guys handle? I shoot the same things that you do when they interest me, but I also have other ideas and concepts that I would like to record on film, things that are more timeless than the paint scheme of the month. Things non-railfans can relate to. Sometimes one's interpretation of appealing photography is not a harsh clash of mismatched circus colors or a string of black machinery. Some of us are also interested in the corporate images that we are recording on film, as well as the colors. From that standpoint in history, as recorded on film, BNSF is quite humorous. For those recording diversity and brightly colored things, these are interesting times, but for those recording images of RR companies at work in an environment, one circus lashup after another just looks silly. > Well, most of you. Some will still be whining about the loss of the > warbonnet scheme even then. I say let that scheme rest in peace, as appealing as it is (was), and let's move on with things. And as far a RR photography goes, I don't require a locomotive paint scheme to be identifiable (or to even have a locomotive in my shots), to make an interesting image. You sunny day 3/4 roster guys can press delete now. For example, take a look at one of Gary Zuters' latest shots on the SPORRS web site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/icicles.htm At first, it looks out of place among the 'standard' train shots, but then when you look at it, you begin to see something more, something that you don't get with a RR 'wedgie'. When I look at Gary's shot, I think of all of the vast and barren cold places across the countryside that the railroads run through and the moment in time that he captured (you lose this in a video), and a train in Gary's shot would have absolutely ruined the mood of his picture. That is art. A full frame picture of an SD40-2 is not. To document or not to document, this is the question. If you find that someone else other than yourself is always answering your question for you, then its time to move on. Dave Cohen Photographer Action Photographic Webmaster [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/home/ ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
