Nat Pres Photo Of The Year.

My favourite shot of the year has to be:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oli_g_15/4809293294/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Took back in July and still havent forgot the racket it was making!!!!

 

some interesting stuff posted -although a lot of it is 3/4s in full sun. A few more "interesting" shots would be nice

I'm not sure how the voting is going to be organised- perhaps an invite should be issued to a few "pros" on here to critique the images submitted and select one they agree on?

 

My entry to the amateur category...one of my favourite of this year and a real achievement for me!



Lewis

 

First of all, the Fotopic version is not very sharp. Here is the Flickr version which is sharper.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/graham_williams/5242168684/

Second, Equipment info: Canon EOS 5D, Canon 16-35mm f2.8 lens set at 16mm. This effectively is the true focal length as the camera is a full-frame. It was taken at 1/16th sec at f16 at ISO 200.
I tried B/W, but it wasn't successful. There isn't enough texture and the cab hardly shows up. The tunnel wall and the ground show the feeling of motion much better as contrasting colours.
Not sure about the symmetry. There is virtually no more outside the crop. It was hard to fit as much in the frame as I did! It's hard to get the running plate exactly horizontal, due to the short focal length of the lens. There's not enough in the frame to crop again after any more Photoshop tweaking and I wanted to retain as much of the coupling area as I could.

On another point, I don't understand the link between pro/amateur and the equipment used.
Surely, a pro is one who gets paid for his work. (This doesn't necessarily mean that he has to earn his living from it). As everyone knows, it's the person who uses the camera, not the equipment that makes the photo what it is. I think it's fair to assume that these days, virtually all digital cameras are capable of producing good photos for the web .
OK, so I use some nice Canon 5D mk1 and mk2 bodies with Canon L lenses, however I have still got some great shots with an Ixus compact.
e.g. http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=241207
and http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=252973
and http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=214479

I have had one photo in Steam Railway in February this year (although I've never been paid for it) and I've recently sold one to a calendar. Although I consider myself to be very much an amateur, I suppose these small 'salles' make me a pro,. Mind you, I'll never make a living out of it.

This then, begs the question, what is a semi-pro? Maybe one who gets half-paid?

Anyway, thanks for the kind words.

 

That's fair enough. I thought it was worth making the (hopefully constructive) comments, but you've obviously already been there and tried that! Impressively sharp for 1/16 though I must say - especially standing on the verandah of a brake van which isn't the smoothest riding vehicle to be on! I did actually try your shot in b/w after I posted, and agree that in colour it does work better.

I totally agree. I though it was a strange idea to grade entries based on equipment. It's all about the photographer and his/her creative skill - the gear used is just tools for the job. I had a photo published a while back which I took using my mobile phone... and I got paid for it - which category would that fall into?! )

I think too that it is a bit of a misnomer to categorise 'professionals' and 'amateuers' as I feel this is slightly disparaging to talented photographers who take pictures of trains purely for their own pleasure, and not any financial gain. Pictures are pictures, and all should be worthy of the same merit whether taken by a professional or not.

As an aside it amuses no end me when you see a photter touting an expensive D-SLR with all the bells and whistles, but who plainly doesn't have a clue how to get the best out of it! Like being stood lineside in full sun - the train approaches - and the flash goes off! And I'm not joking! Perhaps I have to confess to some amount of envy creeping through here though - I'm getting by with a 400D and a cheapo Sigma lens - what I wouldn't give to walk into my Canon dealer with £3K in my pocket!

 

I think a bit of common sense needs to be applied here perhaps. I suggest we need three categories perhaps? Say

a) 'Pro's' - i.e. people who make money from their phot's;

b) 'Hobbyists' ? i.e. people for whom rail photography is a serious hobby. They don't make money from it, but do have decent kit - eg interchangeable lenses etc etc - and go out regularly in search of the master shot.

c) 'Snappers' i.e people who take a photo if something happens to be passing, tend to use fixed lens cameras etc, don't get photo's published.

(I'm strictly a 'c' and won't stand a chance against 'a's and 'b's )

Does this make sense? Cheers, Iain

 

Thank you Iain,

Maybe I wasn't thinking to straight when I wrote my post (probably something to do with the braincell being frozen!)

All I was attempting to do was to suggest we needed to clarify things a bit more, so thank you for clearing things up.

Personally I would fall into the hobbyist category - I have the kit & always try to look for/compose the shot, but sometimes you just happen to be in the right place at the right time & hit the shutter button at that precise second to achieve a dramatic shot - just like young Lewis, he calls it amateur - I call it stunning.

Dave

 

I think those categorys make a lot more sense. As has been said before, it is often being in the right place at the right time and 'known' that gets you in a magazine, not necesarially the quality of the shot - there is far more quality photographs about than magazine space!

 

I couldn't agree more with the previous comment!

 

Seems like a good idea, a chance to get some hopefully constructive comments on the photo's submitted, a bit like the photo challenge. Getting consensus from the pros as to which is 'Nat Pres Photo Of The Year' might not be easy!! On the subject of the photo challenge who was/is TWO?

 

Never did find out who TWO was in all the time I ran the challenge.

 

Who are the "pros" and why are they "pros". If "they" choose the 'Nat Pres Photo Of The Year', does this not preclude them from entering? Although they may or may not be happy with that, I have another suggestion.

Why not ask a couple of the amazing US photographers on Railpictures.net to pick a winner from the entries. As a contributor to that site, I can put forward a couple of names who produce incredible work that might be willing to do the task. The advantages of using these guys are:

1) They have a proven excellent eye for choosing a good photo. Their work is proven at a very high level.
2) They would not be disqualified form entering, since they would not enter anyway.
3) They would choose the winner on its own merits as a photograph. Coming from the USA, they would not be influenced by the subject of the photo being their favourite train/location etc.
4) They would be independent, as they would not have any allegiances towards any photographers.
5) There wouldn't even need to be categories. They would simply pick the best photo, regardless of the equipment used or who the photographer was.

 

I would have no problem with that if you wish to pursue it then I 'm sure it would be appreciated by others.

The main thing is to have some independent judges. (IMHO).

 

I thought the original suggestion was to set up a poll and then everyone would vote on their favourite? It may take a few rounds to get a clear winner, excluding the ones with the lowest number of votes each round and then have a new vote on the remaining ones, until one clearly has the highest number of votes. It may be one round is sufficient, if there are enough voters.

Personally, I think this would be a better way as it gets away from any particular individuals preference with regard to style. It might mean the winner is of a more popular, or conventional style, however.

I do find the whole pro/amateur categories a little strange. As I understand it, a pro is someone who makes a living out of their photography, a semi-pro is someone for whom it's a partial income source, and an amateur is someone who does it purely for enjoyment and receives no income. It has little to do with ability, as there are plenty of amateurs who are excellent photographers. It seems to me that what we're really saying is that we want a competition for good photographers and another for bad photographers! As has already been said, a good photographer can generally produce a decent photograph with any equipment, so equipment isn't really a way to categorise it. How 'serious' you are is also a difficult thing to categorise and has very grey boundaries. Not surprisingly, there are very few entries in the pro category, and personally, I think that many of the amateur images are just as good (if not better), so perhaps there's no need to have two categories? Just have a top 3, or similar? Surely, it's only a bit of fun anyway and an excuse for people to post some pics?

 

How about a top 12, which (with photographers' consent) could go into a Nat Pres calendar for 2011 (or maybe 2012, given the time remaining this year to produce such an item!) with proceeds from sales split between the winners' chosen preservation projects?

 

Sounds like a worthwhile exercise

 

Sounds good. 12 winners keeps more people happy than 1 (I guess only the top will get the SAY DVD)

If someone's willing to produce a calendar and it comes off, then fantastic. If not, 12 people get a prestige NatPres Photo of the Year winners award. Only thing we have to hope for is that there are enough people voting so we get clear separation of the Top 12 and not a whole load with 1 or 2 votes, which often seems to happen if the numbers voting are low.

I make it 39 submissions, so plenty for a calendar:

Sheff
BristleGWR
Paul42
Sidmouth
williamfj2
SillyBilly
Robert Heath No.6
RalphW
swanny
wehaveaproblem
Paul Grant
alts1985
davesrailwayphotos
Matt35027
jasonhull2000
Waterbuck
Alberta 45562
5944
aemmott
guard_jamie
RASDV
dace83
chrisj94
pennysteam
willig
Horwich_works
FlyingScotsman4472
Duty Druid
Neil_Scott
Oli15
lewis.maddox
Big Al
Diamond Gaz
henrywinskill
evilswans
Rob Leigh
Ianb47306
garstangpost
andymarland

Apologies if I've missed anyone off the list. Let me know and I'll edit it.

 

Finding someone to produce the calendar might just prove to be a sticking point & ultimately the final cost + P&P.

By that I mean - what size, what finish & probably what style & format.

Other than that I for one think its an excellent idea.:rockon:

 

Stevenage Loco Society used a firm in Knebworth for their calendars for 2009. I think they cost around £3 each to produce, and had 100 made initially. Obviously they weren't up to professional standards, but the quality was good enough. A4 sized, photo on one page, month view on the other, ring bound.