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Canon DSLR Challenge | all galleries >> Challenge 105: High Contrast (Hosted by Melbob) >> Challenge 105: Eligible > Early Morning Steam
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28-OCT-2007 jnconradie

Early Morning Steam

near Pretoria, South Africa

At the start of a journey by steam train,
organised by the "Friends of the Rail",
a rail heritage preservation club.

http://www.friendsoftherail.com


other sizes: small medium original auto
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jnconradie29-Oct-2007 06:14
Thanks, Melbob. When I stood there and saw the morning sun behind the locomotive, lighting up the cloud of steam so intensely, I immediately thought "High Contrast!" :-)

No, the train was exceedingly static and in the original version the focus also quite sharp. I then played with adding some blurred (and toned) layers, sort-of along the "Orton" style of post-processing. I thought it added a bit of "feel" to a pic that would otherwise have been somewhat cold and clinical. Perhaps it worked, perhaps it did not.

(Actually three bracketed exposures merged together, otherwise the shadow side of the train would have shown no detail at all.)

Kind regards jnconradie
Canon DSLR Challenge29-Oct-2007 04:51
I like this Nico it really looks like a 'vintage' shot. The sepia toning you chose for this works very well and the composition has high contrast.

I like close wide angle shots like this that emphasise the 'aggressiveness' of the subject.
I'm not sure whether this train is moving or the steam has created the relatively 'soft' focus of this. In either case, in my humble opinion, it adds to the perception of this as a great 'old' photograph of times gone by.

~ Regards Melbob