The shot was taken on the UP (ex MOPAC) Sedalia Subdivision at a
town called Hermann, Missouri. For those unfamiliar with the area it is
located on the south (left bank) of the Missouri River and was settled
by German immigrants in the mid-late 1800's.
The shot was taken in mid October on the return leg of a short day
trip out to Morrison, Missouri. My original goal was to get a fall
foliage shot similar to the one Dave has posted on the SPORRS page. I
had watched the sunset at Gasconade and had called it a day and started
back to St. Louis when I say looked back to read the signal. The green
approach meant I might see one more freight so I stopped. As I sat
there waiting for the train I said hell that's not a bad scene so I
fired a few shots. You've mentioned that it doesn't have a train in it
and it causes you some problems. Hell, I wanted a train in the shot so
bad I could taste it but the UP wasn't cooperating so I made due with
what was there. In retrospect I think the shot works better without a
train in it because it allows the viewer to concentrate on the vivid
color and shadows of the small town. Living near the area I think it
captures the essence of the town, a small river defined by the river,
railroad, and highway. All three transportation elements are there in
the image (it also has several wineries).
I wish I could remember the details of the shot but I think it was
done with a Nikon 2000, and a Nikon 200mm f4.0 lens, Velvia slide film,
and only a single UV filter. I sometime shoot glint shots with my
orange filter but decided against it because the light was pretty
spectacular anyway. Keep in mind the shot was taken at about 15 to 20
minutes after the sunset. I bracketed the shot by adjusting the
exposure time, but left the set the f-stop at 11. The actual exposure
as in the range of one second. (rough guess) depending on which
bracketed exposure was handed off to Dave.
Several points to consider about the shot:
When I sent my list of 10 shots Charlie had asked about in an effort
to assess what elements appealed to us I had voted this shot as number
11, for the same reasons you mentioned...no train. What I did like
about it was the color and the shadowed geometric shapes and the
"feeling" I got that said that's Hermann.
Keep in mind that SPORRS calls out railroad RELATED subjects and not
Train Subjects. Besides avoiding an acronym that sounds like it belongs
to Dick and Jane it gives us more latitude in what we can shoot. I also
think the green light suggests a train and for a railfan that
anticipation is sometimes more exciting then the actual train.
Let's not forget the slide is half the battle on shots like this and
the rest lies with the scan and editing. Dave can comment on the
particulars of that since he did the scanning and tweaking of the
image. I remember that it was a tough shot to scan due, I believe to
the high contrast of bright and dark, plus it was tough getting the
color of the image to match up with the color on the slide.
Greg Anderson
St. Louis, MO
Robert Palmer wrote:
> Fred Frailey wrote:
>
> > John, you won the contest, for goodness sake <g>, and I would
> have
> > expected more pride in your own work than your note in response
> to
> > Jeff exhibits. Myself, I am hardly qualified to even load film,
> but my
> > reaction to this year's winners was . . . HOLY WABASH
> CANNONBALL!
>
> Fred...Your writing (and it is exeptional if I might add) appears in
> TRAINS so
> often that you might as well be on the payroll, so I would expect you
> rush to
> their defense :-)
>
> Seriously, I started this topic and did not do so with the intention
> of taking
> a "cheap shot" at TRAINS because I did'nt like the photos that won.
> Since
> Charlie D. is the only SPORRS subscriber (that I know of) among the
> winners, I
> thought that it would be a good chance for us to comment what we liked
> or
> disliked about individual shots without fear of insulting the
> photographers, as
> seems to be the problem with our page.
>
> Speaking of our page, I was surprised that a shot without a train in
> it won
> SOTM !! Don't get me wrong, I liked the shot...but I guess that I'm
> still too
> focused on train pictures that include trains and have a hard time
> choosing a
> trainless photo over the rest of the images. I'd like to hear more
> background
> info on the shot and how it was done.
>
> Robert Palmer
> Pottstown, PA
>
> -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects'
> -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/
> -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved
-> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects'
-> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/
-> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved
