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photo by Mike Johannessen

My photo's subject was the UP "Paranoia Special II" business train at West Oakland, in California on the night of May 21, 2002. I had to do a night shot after it stopped in Oakland since I missed it by about five minutes at a location to the south--a location it passed in daylight. I used a Canon FD 300mm f/4 lens on my AE-1 Program camera body to avoid trespassing. I do not have mirror lockup on that body, so I am surprised that the shot is not blurry, since the telephoto lens greatly amplified the vibrations of the mirror. Of course, I used a tripod and cable release. The exposure was two seconds at f/5.6 on Fujichrome Astia (ISO 100).

Mike Johannessen

Critiques

Sam Reeves:

Here is another night shot. Mike's exposure is right on, and is still very rich. However the problem of shooting with daylight balanced film under sodium vapor rears its ugly head again. This could be easily corrected by three methods, one using CC filters at the scene of the shot, or going into Photoshop and tweaking the balances to blue, and last, use color negative film and print out the yellow through your enlarger's filtration. Some prefer that yellow glow of the sodium vapor, however it will not be acceptable in a commercial application. People will want that color to be right. Ever look in a UP or SP company report, with the Steinheimer stock shots? The colors look daylight balanced without any cast. So it could be something Mike can think about next time on a night shoot. The scene itself is great. Here we have a passenger train winding up at the port where containers reign supreme. I like the inclusion of the loading towers since it gives a lot of meaning. Once again a tough subject to shoot, but Mike did well.

Sam Reeves


Wes Carr:

Maybe it's because the image seems a little too dark to me, but this image makes me question what the photographer wanted me to see in it. I mean, I know it's a passenger train in a city at night... is that all that I'm supposed to be seeing?

I find the lights in the background a little distracting, but then, if they weren't there at all it would leave a big void. Does Oakland have much of a skyline? Assuming it does, (and I'm showing my ignorance of your area by not knowing) would you have had the opportunity to frame the shot with some lit-up, bigger buildings in the background? *** Note: after receiving everyone else's critiques, I realized those background lights were the lights from container lifts in the Port of Oakland. So I'm a little slow... ***

On the plus side, it appears to be well-focused and I do like the way the light reflects off the sides of the cars. I do like the warm-ish tone... even though it's quite dark, the colors that are present lean toward the warm end of the spectrum (i.e., red and orange), which I like.

Mike, I've seen plenty of great photos that you've posted on your website. I just don't feel that this happens to be one of them. Maybe if the exposure had been longer I might like it more....I'd love to be able to see more light reflecting from the track in the foreground.

WSC


Steve Crise:

Taking into consideration all the limitations placed on Mike to get this shot, it still leaves me flat. I don't even have any suggestions on how I would have done it better if I had been there. Good exposure and all that but there seems to be a lack of a central focus to the shot. You can't see the front of the train, and you can't really see the rear either. I other views were available at this location, I think I would have settled on just a close up view broadside of the dome cars dome with some harbor lighting in the background. Tough one Mike, I think you did your best considering the situation.

Steve Crise


Paul Birkholz:

Very cool night shot. The clean passenger cars provide a nice reflection of the available light, but my favorite part is the background of the stack train and container cranes. I think I always end up at those cranes because of how dark the right side of the image is and the rear of the train. Follow the light? This would also be a very interesting shot with a set of engines here with just their running lights on and the number boards lit.

Even though I just mentioned that I like the stack train on the right I think I might have cropped some of it off to very near the rear passenger car. I think one could take both shots and maybe you did?


Frank Caron:

I'm somewhat luke warm to this image, I feel it could have been exposed just a bit longer, the dark areas to the right of the foreground are a bit of a distraction in my opinion. If I were shooting this scene I would have exposed it a bit longer, perhaps finding a elevated position capturing cars or trucks with light streaks all around the cars. The dynamic element of the image is the giant cranes looming in the distance, this provides a nice backdrop.

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