Steam & Excursion > Sumpter Valley sunrise

Link to Photo

Sunrise on Sunday October 14th, part of the Sumpter Valley Photographers' Weekend Extravaganza.

Enjoy,
Matthew

The silhouetted figure really makes this shot!
Michael Allen
 

GREAT SHOT!!!  - joel
 

Thank you Michael!
I throw out the anchor where I was standing - waiting for the brakeman to come near to work the switchstand.


Shay47 Wrote:
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> The silhouetted figure really makes this shot!
> Michael Allen
>  

Thank you Joel!
Matthew

JLKirk Wrote:
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> GREAT SHOT!!!  - joel
>  

Best image I've seen from that occasion so far.  The lighting was challenging almost all day, but you sure found the opportunity there.  I wonder if the figure you took advantage of to silouette was a crew member or a photographer, can't really tell but he's standing by the switch so easy to assume he is crew.  

JBWX  

He was a crew member operating the turnout and not a photographer; all my collegues were on the photoline capturing this action.
Matthew


jbwest Wrote:
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> Best image I've seen from that occasion so far.
>  The lighting was challenging almost all day, but
> you sure found the opportunity there.  I wonder
> if the figure you took advantage of to silouette
> was a crew member or a photographer, can't really
> tell but he's standing by the switch so easy to
> assume he is crew.  
>
> JBWX  

Aaahhh...nice.....

LJG
 

Greg Maxwell, the brakeman.  He saw himself in your post and responded over on the NGDF

JBWX

mfmalk Wrote:
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> He was a crew member operating the turnout and not
> a photographer; all my collegues were on the
> photoline capturing this action.
> Matthew
>
>
> jbwest Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Best image I've seen from that occasion so far.
> >  The lighting was challenging almost all day,
> but
> > you sure found the opportunity there.  I
> wonder
> > if the figure you took advantage of to
> silouette
> > was a crew member or a photographer, can't
> really
> > tell but he's standing by the switch so easy to
> > assume he is crew.  
> >
> > JBWX  

Wonderful Matthew.  Here is a shot I took on the Sumpter Valley 20 years ago with the brakeman and his lantern silhouetted on the right.

Martin

---

Thank you Martin! Your photo is equally as stunning.
The photographic opportunities at the water tower and depot seem endless, as well as timeless.
The angle of the rising sun in autumn plays perfectly with a locomotive set up for backlit steam.
Matthew



LoggerHogger Wrote:
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> Wonderful Matthew.  Here is a shot I took on the
> Sumpter Valley 20 years ago with the brakeman and
> his lantern silhouetted on the right.
>
> Martin

mfmalk Wrote:
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> Thank you Michael!
> I throw out the anchor where I was standing -
> waiting for the brakeman to come near to work the
> switchstand.

I was going to ask how you always seem to be in exactly the right spot at the right time Matthew.  Yours is some brilliant shooting, and that's an interesting tactic I'll have to remember.  Excellent stuff!

-Tom

Tom,
I am a firm believer that there are many viewing angles to a scene, and I spend the time to walk around anticipating the action before it happens. Sometimes I crash and burn, other times I’m rewarded with something special. I enjoy seeking out the unique windows of opportunity. And having luck on my side.
Matthew


>
> I was going to ask how you always seem to be in
> exactly the right spot at the right time
> Matthew.  Yours is some brilliant shooting, and
> that's an interesting tactic I'll have to
> remember.  Excellent stuff!
>
> -Tom

One secret to good photography is to follow Matthew as he walks around.  What is harder is to try to figure out what he is thinking.  But more seriosly one of the things I really learn from is seeing how other photogs capture events that I attend.  Matthew is only one of several that I look to for new ideas.  What do they see that I didn't.  I don't know whether it is good to copy or not but I do so shamelessly when I see something I like.  I was very happy with my own results from Sumpter, but I also have seen some images others got that make me look forward to the next opportunity to see what I can do differently to improve my own photography.

JBWX

jbwest Wrote:
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> One secret to good photography is to follow Matthew as he walks around...

Ha ha ha...funny you should mention that John.  I've been doing the same thing throughout my photographic career, like in this shot of yours:
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4558219,4558219#msg-4558219
In this case, I was standing next to you and watching to see what you were seeing...finally deciding to skip this view for myself, not only to conserve my film for other ideas I had, but because I thought at the time it was a "lotta trees view".  Doh!  I was amazed to see what a cool photo you pulled out of there with your tele, so I will sure as heck look a tad harder at the other possibilities next time!

jbwest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't know whether it is good to copy
> or not but I do so shamelessly when I see
> something I like.  I was very happy with my own
> results from Sumpter, but I also have seen some
> images others got that make me look forward to the
> next opportunity to see what I can do differently
> to improve my own photography.

I think that's fair enough and there's no shame in that.  I certainly benefit from studying the compositions and advice of others.  All part of learning the craft.  I even credit the person who I got the idea from during my slide shows; for example, "here's my Ben Bachman view of the curve at XYZ a classic, and while I was at that spot, I worked out these detail shots of ABC...beautiful stuff I would not have even seen had it not been for Ben's photo there."

mfmalk Wrote:
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> Sometimes I crash and burn, other times I’m
> rewarded with something special.

Which I did at the site (above) that John turned to gold, ha ha ha!  I feel that sharing stories with masters like you, Matthew and John, is also part of the "something special" we can find long after the actual shot opportunity is gone.  So thanks again for your great advice, guys!  See you--and hope to meet you--on the next OCSR or other outing we attend.

-Tom

Ditto to what Sasquatch said.  I admire both Matthew and John's photography.  They are artists, I just take pictures.