Steam engine

I need your opinions on the quality of this shot.

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maybe adjust the lighting a smitch for the optimum lighting but id say its about spot on to perfect. nice angle and framing. also glad you didn't crop in that much. Heh, i see a modern diesel pusher too. Is that a "big boy" steamer?

Super shot. The only thing that would help here is a graduated neutral density filter to kill some of the blowout to the sky. The loco and tenders are right on exposure wise.

Nice one! A touch of sharpening would help.

wow I didnt know any of those big steam engines still ran ... nice shot

3985 is a Challenger. It was built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO). They also built the Big Boys. The Big Boys were quite a bit larger than the Challengers, but 3985 is a very powerful machine and is more than capable of pulling that train without the diesel.

Nice shot. It seems a little soft but like Frank suggested you could do a little sharpening and it would be fine.

Jon.

ah... big boys little brother.

ah, i was going to say it looked like a big boy! interesting tidbit. we have a big boy in a museam here, it's HUGE.

Yeah, that's the Challenger. It came through here last fall. I'm sorry to report that the diesel back there was needed for the grades we have out here.

Thanks for the suggestions. I shot this from the back door of another train while we were waiting for that 3985 to leave so we could follow it.
I am trying to decide if I should submit it for the UP calendar. My concerns were the ugly foregound and the washout sky. The sky I can fix, the foreground I wouldn't be able to fix and have it look good enough for a calendar.

oh definitely submit. for cropping, i'd maybe crop the pickup truck out and some of that brown bin near it, that could help cut down on the total amount of sky and blown out smoke. but yeah submit it you never know. quite frankly i think it's a near perfect shot for showcasing what it is!

Very nice shot.