trainrider47 Wrote:
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> Hi Kevin,
>
> I see your point, but if all 53 people on the
> charter decided to post even a couple of shots on
> RP, most of them would be in the same position you
> are, at the back of the line.
Fortunately, in the past, that's been fairly self-policing. The majority of photographers won't put up with the screening process or the standards on RP, so all but a small handful of the 53 are not regular RP contributors. Otherwise, I would agree totally.
> Another approach is instead of taking all three or
> four runbys from approximately the same place, get
> creative. Run the risk of having some shots that
> fail. One well known photographer on the charter
> was probably in the actual photo line less than
> 10% of the time. When his shots finally appear,
> you bet people are going to be looking at them.
> He can even be standing next to you and his shot
> will be different and recognizable as his by its
> look.
Correct. He's unique for sure. But you will not see him posting to RP. He also has an eye that can visualize what he wants before it happens. That comes easier to some people than others, and some will never master it. I may be in the latter category. I am an Engineer, not an Artist. If I'm lucky, I get calendar photos, just not particularly artistic ones.
Typically, I do try to move for each run-by, and I probably do it more than I did years ago.....because now, I have the portfolio of the "regular" shots from many lines and can afford to waste a few run-bys looking for something different. Unfortunately, with 50+ people on the charter, if you wander away looking to see if some odd angle works.....and find out there are unacceptable obstructions or some other issue, by the time you retreat to the photo line, there's no spots left that are worth a damn.....and you have lots of old guys yelling at you: "You're in the shot!!!!!!"
> RP has become a numbers game for photo of the day
> or week, but do you really need the ego boost to
> still enjoy taking train photos?
Views can be an indication of how popular an image is, assuming that the photographer puts the image up and allows the RP audience to be the judge. Unfortunately, these days, folks with big egos can campaign their photos by linking RP images to social network sites and thereby drive their photos to the home page artificially. If you follow RP, you'd think that a certain guy from Vermont is the world's greatest rail photographer, but his stratospheric views are largely the result of publicity campaigns that he wages on social media. That fellow is indeed on an ego trip.
As far as I
> know, the screeners choice is based on what the
> screeners liked, not the number of hits. Post
> good stuff and people will see it and enjoy it.
For me at least, it's not so much an ego boost as it is an acknowledgement or confirmation that I'm an improving photographer vs. a declining one. I don't have the testicular fortitude to think that my stuff is particularly great. I'll settle for pretty good.
/Kevin
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2018 01:25PM by KevinM.
