Look out of any window, a photo from Bern, Ouest

Photographer's Note

Seen on the narrow-gauge cog railway, the Schynige Platte Railway (SPB or Schynige Platte Bahn) at Breitlauenen station: a man stares intently out of the window of the passing train.

Schynige Platte Bahn is a mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland area of Switzerland, which connects the town of Wilderswil, near Interlaken with Schynige Platte. Schynige Platte is at an altitude of 1,987 m (6,520 ft); the journey is 7.25 km (4.50 miles) and there is a height gain of 1,420 m (4,659 ft) with a maximum gradient of 25% (1 in 4). The alpine botanical garden, a hotel and a mountain restaurant are all located near the summit station. The line opened, using steam traction, in May 1893, and was electrified in 1914; but the train this gentleman was on was being pulled by one of the original steam locomotives. See the Workshop for a picture of the engine, for those interested in such things.

Shutter speed: 1/1500
Aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
Focal length: 70mm

(Title = 1st line of "Box of Rain" by Grateful Dead)

holmertz, tyro, snunney, jhm, ktanska, COSTANTINO, macjake, annjackman, adores trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

BennyV (34748) 2016-05-19 3:59

Another fine capture here, Will. Great framing with just the train carriage in the frame and the head plus its reflection perfectly placed.

Benny

holmertz (102760) 2016-05-19 4:10

Hello Will,
You did an excellent job this time (too). Very well spotted, very nicely composed and cropped and a perfectly reflected head. I am envious (again).
Best wishes,
Gert

snunney (130967) 2016-05-19 4:28

Hello Will,
The framing is perfect and the exposure ideal. Superb colours and clarity. The reflection is the cherry on the cake. Excellent candid photography.

tyro (30513) 2016-05-19 4:35

Hello Will,

What better way to enjoy the passing countryside than to poke your head out of the window - just so long as you remember to pull it back in when approaching a tunnel.

An interesting note and a brilliant photograph to accompany it! Using a long(ish) lens, you have compressed the perspective very effectively and I love the repetitive row of windows while one of those windows is occupied by the head of the man with his hands clenched on the windowframe. And his perfect reflection in the next window is brilliant! A beautifully clear and graphic image with interesting human content, lovely soft light, good colours and exceptional clarity.

And, yes, being interested in all things old and mechanical, I love your workshop picture too. Judging by the "nose down" attitude of the locomotive, it has obviously been designed specifically for hauling/pushing a train up a steep slope and how interesting that its water tanks are like panniers on the sides of the cab rather than of the common "saddle tank" type so often seen in British short haul engines. Because of the steepness of the incline, was this locomotive of the "rack and cog" type. do you know? Oops, yes it was - I've just had another look at your workshop picture and at far bottom right I can see the rack between the rails!

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. I've tried three times to write this critique and each time it failed. So now I'm trying to write it on "beta" TE - let's see if I have better luck this time. Geez, no wonder so many good photographers have left this site - will they ever get it fixed? It's so incredibly exasperating and I would have left a long time ago if I didn't otherwise really enjoy it.

GyurMaster (24838) 2016-05-19 5:06

Dear Will,

I have to agree with the others, mainly with Gert that it is a well-spotted and well composed image. At the same time I will be a hypocrite and will criticize you for something I used to commit my self: noise. I presume its a heavy crop, which - along with the presence of grain at a low iso level - also explains the quite wide depth-of-field despite of the wide-aperture. I think while grain is a feature of analog pictures, in case of digital its not that beautiful. Don't get me wrong it is an excellent capture, what I wrote down is only my obsession. :)

Best Wishes,
Gy.

Nicou (193806) 2016-05-19 5:08

Hello

quelle vue fantastique quel portrait de cet homme en double avec le reflet et ces portes rouges et ce petite vitres superbe.
Bravo et amitié
Nciou

Sergiom (117241) 2016-05-19 5:09

Bonjour Will,

J'aime beaucoup cette composition. Tu as bien vu le sujet et réagit très rapidement. Le reflets est aussi net que l'original.Superbe ligne de fuite et très beau rendu des couleurs.

Amicalement

Serge

fabianoleite (13575) 2016-05-19 5:21

Interestin and well managed photo. The head with its reflection made a nice subject, well placed and highlighted, and the redness of the trains provides a good frame. Very good, congratulations!

macondo (20449) 2016-05-19 9:52

And I believe it goes 'any morning, any evening, any day. Maybe he sun is shining, birds are winging...'
Recognised the title words before I even took in the photo, Will. One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite albums ever. Was only giving it a multiple repeat play in my car a couple of weeks ago. I've memorised nearly every song over the last 40-something years.

Anyway, on to the photo. Great well timed capture of the protruding human element set against the vertical pattern of the windows and shiny metallica. I particularly like the reflection.

Keep on Truckin'
Regards
Andrew

jean113 (27893) 2016-05-19 13:44

Hello Will, how clever of you to achieve just the right angle, so as to capture the mans' reflection, so we see two of him!
The tight crop is great with the lines of the windows and door handles creating a good graphic effect.
Thanks for sahring, regards Jean.

lousat (139308) 2016-05-19 21:11

Hi Will,great close up showing us this man watching out from the train,i like a lot the geometric perspective and the fine quality of details too,well done.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

emka (158204) 2016-05-19 21:25

Hello Will, Well spotted this man looking out of the train window, fine reflection is the winner here. And such toy trains is a nice attraction.

WArm regrads from Belarus

MAlgo

CLODO (45116) 2016-05-20 1:22

Hiya Will

Nice perspective with the rythm of the windows, broken by the face at its reverse reflection, and I like how his hands grab the window.
Best regards
CLODO

jhm (211736) 2016-05-20 2:47

Hello Will,

Thank you very much for your kind words at my picture.

You was on the perfect moment on the perfect place.
We get a fantastic portrait of the man in the window, I know very well narrow-gauge, on 500m of my home drive every weekend a train with tourists, a railroad of but 2.1km.
Very well composition, and excellent colours.
Nice done, TFS.

Have a nice day,
John.

Tue (92442) 2016-05-20 12:14

Hello Will,
Great photo, very well seen! It's really great to see the man just sticking his head and hands out of the train. Wonderful reflections too and I like the other details and colours of the train a lot as well.
Lars

ktanska (44790) 2016-05-20 12:53

Hi Will,
Intense stare, and the reflection make this quite special. Good tight framing where use of tele gives good composition of those window frames.
It is a fantastic railway with a lot of vintage equipment.
Kari

COSTANTINO (116560) 2016-05-21 5:31

Hello dear friend and have a nice time
excellent artistic photo
your idea is really great because
you created a first class photo
in quality the reflection is unique
like the cherry on the cake
welldone
regards
Costantino

gervaso (28177) 2016-05-24 4:36

Hello, Will!

Interesting and original photo of this man and his reflection on the window of the train! The tight framing is excellent here, and so are the light, colors and sharpness! Very nice composition! Excellent job!

peterpap (2863) 2016-05-30 10:46

Hi there,
this is a great picture, funny and strange. I like the framing too. Well seen.

macjake (98456) 2016-05-31 1:07

Hi Will
this one made me laugh :)
its all about the reflected image in my opinion, its funny how the reflected image is without its neck and hands.

is it just me? its quite comical and visually interesting!
cool capture
cheers
craig

carlo62 (81265) 2016-06-02 8:03

Ciao Will
le tue foto sono sempre molto originali per TE.
Questo signore è molto concentrato e la sua espressione non ti è sfuggita, ma hai aggiunto anche un ottimo taglio verticale che ha compreso la diagonale dei finestrini e il volto riflesso che crea un eccellente punto di interesse.
Saluti
Carlo

PS si, ho utilizzato un filtro polarizzatore, ma non sono riuscito a scrivere la descrizione nelle note.

annjackman (23019) 2016-06-02 9:41

Hello Will,
Well, we both have posted pictures of men hanging out of train windows! Love the reflection and the tight crop. It all works perfectly.
Best wishes, Ann

Juzo (2151) 2016-08-06 3:59

Hi Will,
A great piece of timing and the composition works out just great. I hope all is well.
Justin :-)

adores (46979) 2016-10-16 13:46

Hi Will!
I like this composition a lot, his serious expression, the reflection... even the colours of the train. Really well captured, on the right moment!

beatrox (876) 2016-10-23 10:17