{"id":14155,"date":"2016-02-29T06:34:26","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T11:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=14155"},"modified":"2016-03-01T18:42:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T23:42:12","slug":"tracking-the-light-secret-photo-tip-the-one-you-want-to-read-but-dont-want-to-hear-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/tracking-the-light-secret-photo-tip-the-one-you-want-to-read-but-dont-want-to-hear-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracking the Light Leap Day Special: Secret Photo Tip (the one you want to read, but don\u2019t want to hear about)."},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the years I\u2019ve traveled with dozens of railway photographers with whom I’ve\u00a0\u00a0learned elements of railway photography.<\/p>\n

Among the most important lessons I\u2019ve learned, one has has very little to do with specific railways, locomotives, signals, or old stations. It doesn\u2019t specifically relate to different types of equipment\u00a0and\u00a0isn\u2019t really about cameras, types of film, or the definitive virtues of one media versus another.<\/p>\n

Normally, I avoid philosophical preaching\u00a0and I remain\u00a0reluctant to instruct people how to conduct their affairs.<\/p>\n

However, I think\u00a0this\u00a0tip may help some\u00a0photographers\u2014this is if they choose to accept it and react to it.<\/p>\n

So, what is it?\u2019<\/p>\n

When you’re out making photographs avoid your\u00a0invisible barriers\u2014\u00a0those things in your head that discourage\u00a0you from being in position to make great photographs.<\/p>\n

In other words try to avoid letting your arbitrary personal opinions, feelings or established prejudices from materially interfering with your focus on photography.<\/p>\n

By ‘invisible barriers’ I mean things you can control\u00a0and not personal obligations, physical limitations or other real impediments. The invisible barriers are what some people\u00a0call ‘foibles’.<\/p>\n

Some examples:<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like to get up early.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I like to eat a full breakfast before making photos.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like cloudy days.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like engines that are running long hood forward.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like traveling more than 45 minutes from home.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like driving in rush hour traffic.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like locations that are too close to rivers.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I hate the cold\/heat\/wind\/dry air\/rain\/snow\/dust storms\/tornados.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I only like passenger trains\/freight trains\/short lines\/mainlines\/Alco diesels.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t like tree branches.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I only like trains climbing grades with a defined row of hills in the distance.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018I like bright sunny days.\u2019<\/p>\n

Any or all of these things may be true for you. However, \u00a0when any of these things get between you and a photographic opportunity, your photography may suffer.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>
Not the dreaded single diesel long-hood forward!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"In<\/a>
In 1994, I spent three rainy days in the Oregon Cascades. It wasn’t comfortable, but I was offered a host of incredible photographic opportunities. For me the results were worth the trials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you want to push your boundaries consider reconciling those arbitrary foibles that may be preventing you from being in place to get\u00a0\u00a0the best possible images.<\/p>\n

Being in-place is key. If you are not there, you can’t a make photo. All the excuses in the world are no substitute for being there:\u00a0so, Be There.<\/p>\n

Push your limits. Get over the small things that are your\u00a0invisible barriers. Work out what\u00a0may be keeping \u00a0you from your optimum\u00a0photographic potential.<\/p>\n

Not a good\u00a0tip? Here\u2019s a question:<\/p>\n

When\u00a0documenting a scene what’s the benefit of allowing invisible barriers to shape your photograph or prevent it?\u00a0Answer that for yourself, not for me. I’m just giving tips.<\/p>\n

Tracking the Light Posts Daily!<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years I\u2019ve traveled with dozens of railway photographers with whom I’ve\u00a0\u00a0learned elements of railway photography. Among the most important lessons I\u2019ve learned, one has has very little to do with specific railways, locomotives, signals, or old stations. It doesn\u2019t specifically relate to different types of equipment\u00a0and\u00a0isn\u2019t really about cameras, types of film, or … Continue reading Tracking the Light Leap Day Special: Secret Photo Tip (the one you want to read, but don\u2019t want to hear about).<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[4537,7535,3327,3326,3328,3325],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/SP_Oregon_Cascades_Field_Hill_Jun13-1994_KMBrian-Solomon_581861-2.jpg?fit=3485%2C1148","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-3Gj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14155"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14155"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14348,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14155\/revisions\/14348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}