The Pros and Cons of Charters

I can understand both viewpoints in this case and empathize heavily with Kevin Madore's frustration. Even though I'm still fairly young in this hobby of railroad photography and haven't gone on many charters, I find myself constantly going way outside of the designated photo line. Of course I am careful not to get into someone else's shot, but I find that either: 1) The location of the line is a poor shot (due to mostly my more experienced understanding of the line compared to others-just a subjective opinion here) or 2) I've already gotten the shot before and do not want to have the same shot as about 50 other people.

For me in the end railroad photography is supposed to be fun. Similar to what Michael mentioned earlier, if a gun was held to my head forcing me to get the same shot as everyone else I would be fine with that simply because charters are something few get to experience and witness. What could be more fun than seeing a 100 year old machine do what she was built to do? Most railroads never run their steam locomotives near capacity so you never get a sense of what they can really do as a machine in daily operations, but charters are typically the exception.

A very well known rail photographer once had a debate with me and he mentioned that its important to have the best gear and spend money on charters so that you can outdo your "competition" (his paraphrased words not mine!). To me that kind if statement is directly against everything the hobby stands for and what makes it fun. Yes, I have pictures on Railpictures.net, but do I think the site is the end all and be all of railroad photography? No. People will notice you without you even trying if you are talented enough in their eyes. I have about 40-50 pictures on Railpictures.net and 1 screener's choice, that's it. While I appreciate the views and comments I don't lose sleep over whether someone will accept, like, compliment, or critique my picture. Outdoing others is not what I went into the hobby for, but I think a lot of people are in it just for that.

Frankly, and I know some will disagree with me on this, I think charters promote this unhealthy competition unintentionally. On the charters I have been on, I have been handed multiple business cards, and shown many pictures by individual photographers that I do not even know and without me even asking. While I understand people like to promote themselves particularly if railroad photography is a small side gig for them, I find it rather obnoxious. How would you feel if you are just looking for conversation with people who enjoy the same thing as you do, only to have an iPad, which is apparently always ready at the moments notice, shoved in your face with the individual's work? Now don't get me wrong, I have my own photography page on Facebook but I've only ever done it to promote the railroads I shoot and show the hobby as fun in the hopes that more join and if they wish to look at my photos just search "Michael J. Wilson Photography" on Facebook (shameless plug ) And the hobby definitely needs promoting. When I'm the youngest individual at a charter each time by an average of 30 years, something is definitely wrong there.

In the end, all of the regular posters on this forum have pictures that are far superior to anything I could capture, but they serve as a fun inspiration for me to try out new techniques and shots. Kevin Madore I hope even in your frustration you understand how important your pictures are for promoting the hobby and creating more art for us jealous onlookers!

Mike Wilson
Michael J. Wilson Photography
[www.facebook.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/17/2018 10:39PM by Mike.