Steam returns Final set.
Posted by danudin on April 25, 2010
As the second shot above showedm and these two ratify, departure from the station is when the steam becomes most evident, Shot no 3 is the one I chose to post in my EV Gallery and PET Gallery, as I think it portrays what the day was about most, but I also liked the glimpse of the supervising Engineer I snapped as the train left the station, both appeal in different ways.
The last shot here and for the series although similar to the penultimate, seems to epitomize my feelings on this event. It is all there, it is solid and real but I hope it doesn’t all evaporate in a Translink induced piece of legerdomain brought about with Smoke and Mirrors never to return. I hope that the authorities have the wisdom and farsightedness to follow through on this endeavour and we can enjoy this spectacle many many times each year it the future.
I hope that all who have viewed this have enjoyed my Nosalgic trip into Brisbane’s (Hopefully) future, and I appreciate all the comments that have been forthcoming on the photographs. But I ask a boon in the form of comments on wether or not you think the series had impact from a Photojournalistic point of view (Good or Bad Please – both will help me in MY Endeavours) Ron
Danudin's 2010 VPW Blog 
Mary Lou said
I am enjoying your series images. In particular I like image #3 here. The steam obscuring the front of the engine makes the image very real. The color and clarity is the series is particularly appealing.
Karen S. (klsbear) said
A nice conclusion to the series Ron, and I also like the first photo though I would have like to see more depth of field so the couple was more in focus. Your focus on the train was good but the slight bluring of the couple was a tad bothersome.
Regarding your final question, I did some searching and found these two definitions (below) on Wikipedia, regarding photojournalism and documentary photograpny. I see some fit to your work in both descriptions. It’s got the timeliness, objectivity, and combines with narative and it could be said to chronical a significant or historical event, though in this case just in a local sense. However, if I had to objectively evaluate the series I would say that something is missing. You spin such a wonderful story with your words it’s nice to see the photos to illustrate the words, but if seen apart from the words many of the images would probably be forgetable for lacking emotional impact. I think the three images with the most potential all included people – the engineers in the green cabin in the fist series, and the shots of the couple and the engineer in the last series, but each has some techincal challenges that keep them from really having the necessary impact to be a “wow” image for photojournalism. As I had mentioned above, better DOF to sharpen the couple would have helped that image. The shot of the engineer might have been stronger if you were more parallel to the train, looking along the length more, and if you’d been able to get the exposure so that the engineer was less in the shadows, and I wished that I could see both men in that other shot – it would have made a better portrait if we could glimpse through that frame of a door/window as if we were peeking in. The challenge is knowing your camera so well that you can correctly capture that image you see in a split second. Now, if you were just looking for an image to submit to a newspaper to describe the event I’d say the second photo in the last series would be the winner – it’s a nice shot of the train, in the station, with the steam visible and it captures the event. It’s a nice shot of an old train. It’s not a shot that will be remembered through the ages, like the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima, but it wasn’t that type of event (and those are one-in-a-lifetime for the lucky few too).
So now I’ll turn the question back to you Ron and ask what it is that you want to achieve with your photos. You brought up photojournalism and I’d like to hear what your goals are with regard to your personal development with your photography.
From Wikipedia:
Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such as documentary photography, social documentary photography, street photography or celebrity photography) by the qualities of:
Timeliness — the images have meaning in the context of a recently published record of events.
Objectivity — the situation implied by the images is a fair and accurate representation of the events they depict in both content and tone.
Narrative — the images combine with other news elements to make facts relatable to the viewer or reader on a cultural level.
Like a writer, a photojournalist is a reporter but he or she must often make decisions instantly and carry photographic equipment, often while exposed to significant obstacles (physical danger, weather, crowds).
Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle significant and historical events. It is typically covered in professional photojournalism, but it may also be an amateur, artistic, or student pursuit. The photographer attempts to produce truthful, objective, and usually candid photography of a particular subject, most often pictures of people.
danudin said
Ask and ye shall recieve! Thanks for all this effort Karen, are you related to Edmund by any chance? And I acqiesse that I used the wrong words, PhotoJournalist is far too grandiose. I thought we had known each other well enough for you to realize that if anything I am, “The Personification of The Self Made Failure” and a Legend in my own Lunch Box. You asked “and ask what it is that you want to achieve with your photos. You brought up photojournalism and I’d like to hear what your goals are with regard to your personal development with your photography.”? In reply, I want to reiterate for about the 900th time, Fungis Just wanna Have Fun, and I am a Fun Guy! I used the PJ label just for want of a better name. I think nature and life has given me a fairly good turn of phrase, and the ability to spin a yarn and even on occassions relate events in maybe a better light than they really happened. I have only been taking photographs for around 4 years or so and I am experimenting in how to use this medium to achieve the one thing I have had some limited success at to enhance the tales. And I think I am coming to grips with it in my own fashion.
My biggest failure in life is an inability to subject myself Indoctrination by so called experts. I tend to learn best by doing rather than studying, life is never that exact, or it shouldn’t be, to my mind! I was the worst soldier our Army ever had, but possibly it’s best bad example, I did however contribute during my 20 years of service, and my hand never shook on Pay Days. Maybe one day I will find a photo that will warrant me spending endless hours in processing to get just the right shade of blue in the sky or just he right testure to the clouds, or maybe a bluer colour grass so that people will believe I have visited Kentuky, but I doubt it. maybe it is because I lived for over half a century without ever needing a camera or photograph for me to remember things (Oh I remember in full colour – Never in Black and White) or just plain laziness, but if I can get a photo to look like what I remember seeing that is great, I have picked up from all you clever people enough to be overly proud of the ompositions I am now able to produce, and if that enhances in the slightest way my ability to portray what I think of as The Greatest Place on Earth to you people living deprived in the Northern hemisphere, that is advancement and that is Living accompanied by a heap of fun.
To finish up I think I am clever enough to learn from what live throws up but I lack any genes for fanaticism or total dedication to one element of life, I want to do it all, but just good enough to be proud of the product, I don’t want or need perfection. Your Mention on the flag raising at Iwo Jima is interesting as I have heard that that was staged (I don’t know either way and am not starting a fight) but if so it loses impact as the bullets had ceased flying, the shot of that Vietnamese Girl running down the road naked due to being hit by Napalm, has real impact and the terror on her face shows nothing is staged, it has impact. So yes I will ask a guy to leave off his cap so I can show his blue and white hair, but if you see a cloud formation in my shots, they were the ones I saw, when I took the shot, if I see it as distracting I will try and frame it out if I can. I am Learning, but I am Learning My Way, I can’t learn any other way!
Just ask if you need more info, I tend to be able to express things freely with friends.
Julie McLeod said
I know the two of us don’t see things eye-to-eye, but did you say SUBTLE tinting of his hair???????????
Karen S. (klsbear) said
Perhaps that’s the mystery behind Ron’s aversion to B&W and his love of color – if this is subtle then perhaps it’s got to be REALLY BOLD to even be seen as color? Or was that your bit of editorial comment on the hair Ron?
danudin said
You got it Karen, Narrator’s Licence.
danudin said
Great discription Eh?
Jens (Jinxy) said
Love all your steamer shots Ron. In the 4th image, I think the crewman is looking at the photographer that is going to miss his ride.
~Val said
I really enjoyed this series…and the 3rd photo is this set is my favorite. That steam really drives home the power source. Thanks for taking us along!
Esther Farnstrom said
I always like a series of photos that tell a story. If I see it through the eyes of others, that broadens my knowledge. We love steamies here (DGS’s Thomas) rather than diesels, so you have picked a good subject. Every chance we get to take DGS to the train museum and Santa Train, etc. reinforces his idea that he wants to be a train engineer. Thanks for the ride!