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Dave Cohen ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) was saying something along these lines: >Resist the urge to dilute the quality of your photography by only shooting >what is a correctly lit shot, not just what is in front of you at the >moment. If the light stinks in front of you, it won't be any better on >your film. Just can't stop shooting when there is a train in front of you, >you say? You're on the wrong list then. Dave, While I completely concede that the SPORRS list is dedicated to discussing the craft of shooting "high quality" railroad pictures, I feel the urge to reply to your comment above. I hate to see anyone told (and rather sarcastically, at that) not to shoot what they see in front of them, just because the shot won't end up on the cover of CTC Board or win the Trains Photo contest. I shoot during high sun. I shoot zap shots. I shoot crummy power. To be sure, in such an event, I only shoot 1 or maybe 2 frames, instead of my usual 6 or 8. But 1 or 2 frames of film is cheap. Time travel is not. I say this because you never know when what's in front of you can never be repeated. This is especially true when you're away from home. If I drive 1000 miles to shoot a railroad, I'm not going to stop shooting just because the sun is less than optimal. Sure, absolutely, it's a good time to do travelling, or seek "alternate" subjects. But if an opportunity presents itself, take it! You just never know. In 20 years, a shot of some train on some fallen flag railroad on an abandoned line passing a tower that was torn down 15 years ago will have value, even if it's not "perfect". If someone brought me a 1968-era 'chrome of NYC Sharks pulling past Preston Tower in Terre Haute (or anywhere, for that matter), my head would probably explode. I wouldn't turn my nose up at it if it was high sun, cloudy, or whatever. If it's clear enough that you can see what's going on, then the photo has value. And I'd sure be happy that the photographer stuck it out and took the shot rather than taking a nap in his car or worse yet just standing there watching it roll by without shooting a single frame. You don't have to show high sun shots to anybody. There's certainly no need to submit them to any magazines, or the SPORRS page. But you can make the best of a poor situation and take the shot. A few years hence, you may be glad you did. High sun shots will not dilute the quality of you photography sitting in a slide box minding their own business. They do not ooze forth some noxious gas that will ruin all of your sunny shots taken under happier circumstances. With that said, and with much mirth and light-heartedness as can me mustered with ASCII text, I find myself in a quandry! I consider myself reasonably capable of taking a good train photo ... but I also shoot high sun. Does this mean I can't read SPORRS anymore???? :-P Scott Scott Withrow Terre Haute, Indiana (more or less) http://www.railcenter.com ======================================================= -> SPORRS: 'Serious Photographers Of Railroad Related Subjects' -> Web Site: http://www.anet-stl.com/acphotog/sporrs/ -> Message © 1998 SPORRS® - All Rights Reserved =======================================================
