[Jocko]

Here is another one for you to get your teeth into. The Flying Scotsman, high on the Forth bridge. Sunday 15th may 2016.

   
Nikon D80, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens, Manual mode, 1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 250, processed using Lightroom 6.5.1 and Nik software.

[Browser Mike]

Hi John,
Since you made the offer I took the liberty of having a go at your shot. On my screen it appeared a little bright and the ' Old Lady ' was going up an incline. In getting my variation on a theme I have straightened, reduced exposure slightly, and made small reductions in saturation and luminance.
I will be up to the Forth Bridge and Edinburgh during June. Looking forward to getting a shot of the new bridge.
   

Cheers, Mike.

[EdMak]

Wee bit different, mainly choo choo colour, not that I have seen it. John you did well overall to get what you did. Friend was a bit disappointed with his, I thought they were fine. Ed.

[MrB]

John, your shots of the Flying Scotsman crossing the bridge really do emphasise the huge scale of that amazing structure.

In this photo, I think that the 'incline' is to be expected, as it is a result of the perspective of your shot, and it is more important (and correct) that you have not tilted the towers. I would agree that it is a bit bright, but the first edit has now introduced a reddish tint into the clouds, and both edits have enhanced the existing (incorrect) cyan tone of the steam from the loco. The clouds and the steam should be shades of grey, in my opinion, but just a bit less bright.

Cheers.
Philip

[Jocko]

I have to agree with Philip, the perspective gives the impression she is climbing, as this, rather poor photo shows.

   

I squared the original shot on the vertical join in the trusses, which squared the column and arch. And after all. She is going UP to Fife so you would expect some sort of incline!

With regard to the brightness, it looks correct to me on my calibrated monitor and even a little dark on my laptop screen. There are no washed out whites in the image, though the Histogram is predominantly Hi key. I think we have to agree to differ over what is too bright and what is not.

[delb0y]

I like both photos, Jocko, but I think they fall between two stools. The first looks (to me) to be all about the locomotive - but much of the detail is hidden behind girders - whilst the second is about the bridge, but the train is slightly out of focus and the sky is pretty much washed out. It needs the train and the sky to be both more dramatic to really highlight the majestic bridge. Of the two, the second one, is the photo that I would spend time working on - but like I said, it's then about the bridge not the train. It might work well in mono - the colours aren't adding a great deal and are quite washed out. Is it a raw file?

[MrB]

With regard to the brightness, it looks correct to me on my calibrated monitor and even a little dark on my laptop screen. There are no washed out whites in the image, though the Histogram is predominantly Hi key. I think we have to agree to differ over what is too bright and what is not.

The following point is just an observation for consideration, John:

As you imply above, the histogram shows a lot of very bright tones. In the image, the sky appears overcast and, although there are many possible degrees of 'overcast', it is not unreasonable to expect the clouds to be less bright than they are here. Hence the suggestion to reduce their brightness a bit, to shift the group of bright tones on the far right of the histogram slightly to the left.

However, you were there and you have stated, "With regard to the brightness, it looks correct to me". Of course, that is all that really matters.

Cheers.
Philip

[Jocko]

In this shot I have tried to address the bright sky somewhat. As you can see, it wasn't overcast, just the fading light of evening. I took several long range shots as the train approached the bridge, but none seemed particularly well focussed. I don't know it the problem was me, or the AF was unable to cope with the situation.

   
Nikon D80, 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens, Manual mode, 1/250 sec, f5.6, ISO 250, 420mm lens equivalent, processed using Lightroom 6.5.1 and Nik software.

[Browser Mike]

My apologies John. I had no desire to cause any offence. I had the impression that the track on the Forth Bridge was 'flat'. I therefore corrected the incline to 'flat'.
Brightness ?. I still have the opinion that many shots appear brighter when posted to the website than when on the monitor at home. I omitted to mention this.
Once again, my apologies.
Regards, Mike.

[delb0y]

This is what I had in mind for the second one, Jocko. You could do much better with the Raw file, but this is how I see it i.e. it's about the structure, not the train, but the size of the train gives scale to the bridge. Cheers D.

   

[Jocko]

My apologies John. I had no desire to cause any offence. I had the impression that the track on the Forth Bridge was 'flat'. I therefore corrected the incline to 'flat'.
Brightness ?. I still have the opinion that many shots appear brighter when posted to the website than when on the monitor at home. I omitted to mention this.
Once again, my apologies.
Regards, Mike.

It is flat, Mike. What I meant was the train was going UP the map. Up to Scotland. I thought I was being witty .

[Browser Mike]

That's a relief. It was the exclamation mark that threw me.
Cheers, Mike.

[EdMak]

John,this has potential, I like it.
Prolific output, glad you could stand the pace.
Cheers. Ed.

[EdMak]

Also like this, from a 400Kb file, pushing it a bit, should be acceptable from a RAW. or larger Jpg, done while the coffee is percolating! Ed.

[Jocko]

Ed. Like what you have done with the first one.

[EnglishBob]

Exposure on the first image looks fine on my screens. Interesting subject and a very interesting bridge.

I grew up a couple of hundred yards from the east end of the Bennerly Railway Viaduct, one of the longest wrought Iron Viaducts ever built. It still stands but hasn't carried trains in over 60 years.