Cool Train Pix (All Photos by Invitation Only)

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About Cool Train Pix (All Photos by Invitation Only)

Mission

Here are some of my favorite photographs of trains, railroads and railroadiana that are...well...cool. Thanks to everyone who has accepted my invitation to post pictures here. Please note that all photos in this group are by invitation only.

Do I have to comment or fave pictures?

Nope. Just enjoy them.

Is there a comment code you want me to enter.

Nope. I hate those things.. Again, just enjoy the pictures.

OK, just precisely HOW should I enjoy them?

I'd suggest using the slideshow function. Viewing these pictures on black is very nice.

Do I have to join the group?

Not if you don't want to. This really is simply intended to be a place to see wonderful railroad photography. Enjoy. Really.

Didn't you have a blog for this?

Yes. And that blog is changing and will eventually have no pictures, other than mine, and just be a pointer to the recent pictures in this group. Your pictures added to this group will not be used on that blog. Fear not.

Why are you closing the blog?

It was too much work, for one thing. You'd be surprised at the amount of bookkeeping involved. Plus I can invite a more diverse group of photographs to this group. There are some other issues too. But mostly, it will be WAY easier.

What happens to the pictures that are already on the blog?

I'm slowly going through them and inviting most of them to be in this group. After that is finished, the blog will pretty much vanish except for links to the latest pictures in this group.

How do my pictures get invited?

I surf Flickr for cool railroad pictures. But the best place to put a picture that you think belongs in this group is in Railroad Photography Gallery International. I review EVERY picture posted to that group so I'll see it.

Please note that I don't want to be that guy that you hate because you submit pictures that I don't invite. The pictures have to "move" me. If yours don't, it just means I have bad taste, or I'm an idiot. So please don't request that I look at your stream, suggest a picture, or recommend the image of someone else. Please let me find them. And, as mentioned above, if you submit them to Railroad Photography Gallery International., I'll see them for sure.

But keep in mind that I'm really, really picky. I'd say, even in pictures submitted to Railroad Photography Gallery International., I still only invite maybe one in twenty.

What kind of pictures do you invite?

If you were to look at the pictures I've invited, I think there are some patterns:

1. Interesting lighting, skies, weather, perspective, locales, points of view, and colors

2. Spectacular scenery, smoke and steam, glints, sunsets, unusual events, antique trains, grand station interiors, artsy images, close-ups, textures, night shots, people, etc.

3. Most of the pictures I've invited follow the rules for proper composition including the "rule of thirds." And they are usually sharp, well exposed with good contrast, and striking colors without a lot of post processing (other than BW conversion).

4. And then there are other pictures that are, just cool. There's no rhyme or reason. Some pictures hit me and some don't. If yours doesn't hit me, remember, I'm an idiot.

What kind of pictures won't you invite?

I generally don't invite the wedding-party-on-the-railroad-tracks, fashionably-dressed-melancholy-woman-in-the-railroad-yard or people-sitting-by-the-tracks-with-their-suitcase shots.

I also won't invite pictures where the photographer has been clearly acting in an unsafe manner, or if the people in the photograph are being unsafe (like standing on a railroad bridge with shiny rails).

And sometimes I don't invite really good shots because I want to change things up. You can only see so many glorious steam shots with the plume crossing the horizon behind a heroic locomotive. So sometimes I'll skip good shots because I've just seen too many of them in the last few days.

And if it's a 3/4 shot of a locomotive centered in the frame with boring light and a concrete sky, forget about it. Unless it's cool.

What if I'd prefer not to be invited to post to this group?

No problem. Please let me know and I'll try to avoid it. I may still make a mistake in the future and I apologize. Please consider it a compliment and ignore the invite - you won't hurt my feelings one bit. Please feel free to contact me. www.flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/

How do I make sure I see all the pictures you post?

I'd suggest using a "reader", like Google's. Then subscribe to this group's pool. That's the way I do it and it works pretty well.

I also post entries on the blog to give you "bookmarks" to recently added pictures.
cooltrainpix.blogspot.com/

I have questions.
Feel free to contact me. www.flickr.com/photos/jimfrazier/