Railpictures Rejection

y0chang Nov 2, 2011

  1. MagicMan_841

    MagicMan_841 TrainBoard Member

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    No offense taken either way, sir.

    The thing about RP that I feel a lot of people don't get is that you don't go there and try to show them how wrong they are or how stoopid their standards are. You either dance to their music or find other venues for your photography.
     
  2. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    To me it seems as though most people simply don't understand the music this small segment of the hobby is playing. The tune does not make enough sense to follow. Such as that critique of the photo Ryan put up. There is no way to get a better view at that spot, for those of us who actually know it. Especially when action is spontaneous. So what should we do, forego it entirely? As I've said, the most people don't do this to "work" at it, they do it for fun or pleasure. It is uncommon when two concepts, work and fun, mix successfully.

    This all seems a lot like that tiny segment of purist modelers who hand lay track and look down upon those who do not as a detriment to the whole hobby. No, not the entire lot of hand layers- Just that one very small segment of them. You take away those who do not and there is so little remaining that there is almost nothing viable left.
     
  3. jagged ben

    jagged ben TrainBoard Member

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    Really? It's more like a club that chooses to adopt standards for their layout. They are not preventing anyone else from building a different one.

    There are plenty of other picture sites that allow open submissions, and anyone could build a new one. It's too bad IMO that RRpicturearchives is not easier to navigate and search, but it serves the purpose of allowing people to post any pictures, and is indispensable for researching rolling stock prototypes. The sites serve different purposes. Between the two of them we don't need to complain that Railpictures rejects submissions or that the quality of RRpicturearchives photos is 'not as good.'
     
  4. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    OOOh BoxCab, those are fighting words. Hand laid track looking down on.... Not so my friend.

    But if it wasn't for those guys and gals and those of us who want excellence pressing manufacturers to provide better prototypical train equipment... the hobby would still be playing with toy like looking trains, similar to the first N Scale productions put out by Rapido. Seriously.

    Now don't get dissed at me but do get even...LOL
     
  5. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I KNEW folks would lift from context. Read again- I wrote: "Just that one very small segment of them." I did not indict all hand layers, nor say anything against them as a whole. But that small segment does exist and it is not a "club". We have seen a few of them here on TrainBoard. One of them, thankfully, is long gone. The put downs and deprecations were harmful, not helpful. No thinking manufacturer would want such input.

    Do they improve anything? I'd need some proof they have that power to influence. We all do that as a whole. Not just one TINY, and at times noisy segment of hand layers.

    Hand lay all you want. Excel to any level desired. We have all seen the wonderful track work here from the likes of MCFujiwara and Wolfgang Dudler. No matter, we are all equally valuable to the hobby and all of us push it ahead. Not just one segment. The same is true of railfan photography.
     
  6. ccaranna

    ccaranna TrainBoard Member

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    I agree with this statement. I used to post there regularly until I realized they show much more leniency for certain photographers then others. I've seen photo after photo accepted by some photographers while others are rejected for the exact same reasons. Not sure how you get to the "in" level, or how you become part of the "chosen" who get a free pass is beyond me. I'll tell you what though, it's easy to get on their sh** list faster than a Ferrari can do 0 to 60 mph.

    Recently there was a thread about an over exposed photo which made me laugh a little, as I can find a least a dozen that are accepted by the same photographer with the exact same issues. If you have a rejection for let's say "color over saturated", I can probably find a dozen of those, too.

    I'd stay clear of that place if you value your mental health.
     
  7. GP30

    GP30 TrainBoard Member

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    I don't think I could agree more!

    In fact I find a large potion of hand-layers that I know personally do look down upon others. And when I reflect upon myself, I find that I have also been guilty of that on occasion.

    I don't hand lay to the degree of Proto:87 with the individual tie plates, scale spikes and joint bars, but I found it cheaper by the foot than buying the flex track. That is what drew me to hand laying more than exact-scale switch points, etc...

    Anyways, I gave up on Railpictures a long time ago. If you don't like it, you don't have to participate!
     
  8. PK

    PK TrainBoard Member

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    I just found this thread. Not being a knowledgeable photographer, I looked at the pics in question and while I couldn't explain all the reasons why, they just didn't "pop" for me. I'm not trying to insult anyone, they just didn't do it for me. I appreciate the explanations already given here, that's how I learn how to take better photos.

    The statement that there is no better way to get a better shot may be true, but not necessarily. I have a book, "Rio Grande - Scenic Line of the World", with some of the most fantastic RR photography I've ever seen. The author describes long treks on foot into the mountains to set up a fixed lens to take one shot of the one train that passes through the scene within the narrow window of time during the only time of year when the light was "right" for that location. If the train was late that day, he lost his shot. If the clouds rolled in, he lost his shot. If he had bad luck for a month, he lost his shot until next year. He describes throwing out 10 years worth of photos because they weren't up to the quality standard he wanted for the book. The book doesn't have pictures of some scenic areas because the sun just never hits it right. Over 4 years, he took 12,000 photos that became 145 pictures in the book. That's a ton of rejection, but the result is spectacular. He also included thanks to numerous people for allowing access to their property to get views that most of us can't get.

    My point isn't to say that we shouldn't take less than perfect pictures of subjects we enjoy or find interesting. Rather, enjoy your photos, but recognize that there's a whole 'nother level to RR photography and that's where Railpictures is aiming. While their standards can be confusing, sometimes appear to be applied unevenly and the two word rejection reasons less than clear, aiming for their standards will pay off in your photography in the long run. I've taken many photos I like, some on RP, some that were rejected, but hundreds (thousands?) that just didn't quite do it for me and I didn't even submit. I still find aiming for that level an enjoyable aspect of the hobby, not 'work', even though I haven't submitted a photo in years. It's really not much different than "working" to improve your modeling skills to get closer to some of the great work we see on this site & elsewhere, it's just a different medium.

    Paul
     
  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I did not make a blanket statement. My comment was tied to that one specific view in question. In which case, having lived in that vicinity for the most part of fifty years, I am familiar with the location. Unless you can change the geography and light at will, it is at best a difficult place. Traffic is as the railroad requires and you take what you can get.

    The site in reference may have an aim and standards, which is fine. The problem is amongst participants, with those who look down upon anyone who does not aspire to their "level" and let the world know it. That kind of viewpoint is detrimental to us all, not the other way around. Nobody must work at anything. Very, very few of us are out there with a potential future book in mind. The type of effort exemplified above borders upon fanaticism. It is great he chose to do so, but any expectation of others following that lead... Again, it is a hobby, which we enjoy to the extent of achieving personal pleasure and no more. When it becomes work, it is no longer a hobby.
     
  10. NYW&B

    NYW&B Guest

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    A few additional points not meant as critical of the photos/photographers illustrated here might possibly help explain the outcomes.

    While the rule of thirds cited upstream is indeed an important consideration in composing an image, at the same time just as in painting the details within the image must cause the viewer's eye to flow in a direction that guides him repeatedly back to the main subject, or idea, of the image and to do it smoothly. The two images offered upstream violate that premise and the viewer's gaze is misled. In reality, certain magazines are honestly seeking railroad "art", not documentary, or builders' photos.

    In the first image the completely included water tower is situated closer to the camera then the locomotive and its overwhelming size/mass is a marked distraction. While the viewer may first look at the engine, his gaze is quickly drawn away to the left of the frame to the tower. Lack of a better vantage point for the photographer's image composition/camera angle is an excuse, not a justification. For a sophisticated publication images either must look a certain accept way, or will be turned down.

    The near head-on scene of the diesel loco and its long train calls for the surrounding terrain/details to flow in a circular pattern from either side directing the viewer's gaze time and again back to the front of the locomotive. Instead, the perspective presented in the image directs the viewer's eyes down the line of cars in the train and away from the nose of the engine. Look quickly at the shot and see where your eyes go.

    Using a subject matter's surrounding to act as something that will keep the viewer's attention where the photographer/artist wishes it to go, or be, is critical in getting images accepted and published repeatedly. Most folks are not truly conscious of why certain images/paintings draw the viewer's attention so strongly and are found to be so pleasing, but it is consideration of the concepts outlined above, plus a fair number of others, that make certain images outstanding while other at first "nice" looking scenes fall into the category of just mundane.

    NYW&B
     
  11. ScaleCraft

    ScaleCraft TrainBoard Member

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    My last H0 layout was hand laid...sort of.
    TruScale, a good mix between snap-track and hand-laid.
    If I get up the energy, my 2-rail 0 scale will be TruScale, also. Have the stuff.....
    But, we could mention a whole lot more segments of the hobby than hand laid track.
    DCC operators vs conventional power?
    Folks who fully detail underbodies....and I always say to them, gee, that's neat...the only time anyone will see it is if you do something wrong...like a wreck.
    Kadees vs anything else.
    Heck, Roundhouse and DeVore couplers are far, far more prototypical than Kadees.
    Weathering. Some like it and some don't.

    Me?
    Marn-0-Stats, TruScale, Mantua couplers, Kemtron switch machines. And NO weathering.
    So there!
    Dave
     
  12. Seanem44

    Seanem44 TrainBoard Member

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    I have horrible luck with RP.net. I took a vacation to the UK last year, spent a day on the NYMR shooting photos of great steam engines. Most were rejected for being cloudy, etc. It's England! What do they expect??? Never mind that other cloudy pics of common engines make it in daily. And don't get me started on the front-coupled tank engine they wouldn't accept because it was front coupled, the way a Push/Pull set runs over there. Yeah, not one of these photos made it in. Even though they were steam engines, and of all things, in front of Hogsmeade (Goathland) Station from Harry Potter! Very few of the nearly 500 I took that day did. So nuts to them. I'm about done trying. 7 years and I have had about 15 make it in.
    a4.jpg J72b.jpg GLAND.jpg
     
  13. Jeff Powell

    Jeff Powell TrainBoard Member

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    There's your sign...After all I have read about them, I won't even give them the satisfaction of rejecting anything from me...
     
  14. Stourbridge Lion

    Stourbridge Lion TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yep, never use the site, not worth the time / effort when there is plenty of other places to upload and enjoy photos at...
     

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