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Hey Everybody, John's comments make a lot of sense to me. The photos that really jump out and grab me always have a specific quality of light, or unique use of lighting and composition. I could provide numerous examples of the sort of photos that I'm talking about, and I'm sure that SPORRS members could provide examples of their own. In my area of Mississippi, a.k.a. KCS, NS and IC land, the brightest colors we see are the yellow stripes on the KCS unit's hoods. If you think about it, I may as well shoot nothing but black and white, since the power down here is black, white or gray. It takes careful composition and effective use of lighting to get even decent photos down here. Out of 100 slides, I may get two images that are decent. Sometimes it's my fault, and sometimes, I just can't get decent lighting to go with the composition. Usually, the composition is good, but the light stinks, and when the light is good, good compositions are hard to get. I especially like to include signals when possible to add a splash of color to what may be an otherwise drab scene. Although I've heard many negative comments about Velvia's super-saturated, unrealistic color, I may try it to punch up what few colors there are. As far as shooting in the summer goes, I usually restrict my photography to early morning and late afternoon. The heat, haze and humidity down here in the south, along with the severe summer sun angle, make for truly disappointing results during other times of the day. I agree with Gary Benson's position in The Art of Railroad Photography to sit back and enjoy the show between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m on cloudless days. In the summer, I usually expand that time slot to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Reporting from somewhere south of Memphis, two miles from the surface of the sun, Danny Johnson ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
