Then and Now: Silver King, 1964, Sir Nigel Gresley 2014. Silver King is a bought negative left largely unretouched, with the loco looking like a workhorse

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Silver King, 1964, Sir Nigel Gresley 2014. Silver King is a bought negative left largely unretouched, with the loco looking like a workhorse - in fact they sometimes looked a lot worse-for-wear than this. Sir Nigel is my shot taken on a special shoot when Didcot Railway Centre brought 'The Blues Brothers' together - three very different locos all in blue livery. Doesn't it look a bit 'over-restored'? I thought they make a good comparison - its very difficult to find a restored engine that looks like a genuine workhorse nowadays (a few are allowed to get a bit grubby, but not many).
Anyway, how do you like this simple composite - could I, or should I, have done more with it? Any suggestions or comments welcome.

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rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Well done. I like what you've done here.
--Bob

magnetoman wrote:

Silver King, 1964, Sir Nigel Gresley 2014. Silver ... (show quote)

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

rmalarz wrote:

Well done. I like what you've done here.
--Bob

Thanks Bob, glad you like it.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

You're not short of original ideas, that's for sure

. Putting my nit-picking hat on (again

) I would suggest having the coloured locomotive not so near the edge of the frame. You should try to find room for both nearer the middle. And the background B&W is a bit on the soft side, which could be fixed with a bit more contrast. You could still have a faded vintage look without losing so much contrast. And don't worry about the new version looking too pristine. They were all like that when new.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

R.G. wrote:

You're not short of original ideas, that's for sur... (show quote)

Yes, I was aware that Sir Nige is too far left - there’s another loco lurking there so I chopped it out. The other limiting factor is the background shot. There’s only so much of it, so if I moved the rear loco leftwards, the whole gets a bit out of balance. Then there’s the matter of connecting old and new rails at the same angle and gauge. And I just wasn’t sure how far to go with the background fade. It is my first attempt at a concept that I’ve been thinking about for a while, so I’ll probably be having another bash at it. Thanks for taking a serious look at it RG, I appreciate it.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I think you have a great subject and idea to put them together. This makes quite an image and I think you can still have the vintage effect if you maybe make the black and white part sepia or the whole thing after the color part is added. Not sure how that would look, but I think increasing the contrast like R.G. mentioned would help and then the sepia would put the old yellowed tint in it.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

manofhg wrote:

I think you have a great subject and idea to put them together. This makes quite an image and I think you can still have the vintage effect if you maybe make the black and white part sepia or the whole thing after the color part is added. Not sure how that would look, but I think increasing the contrast like R.G. mentioned would help and then the sepia would put the old yellowed tint in it.

Hmmmm...I did think about sepia, maybe I’ll give it a try. Thanks for contributing, it’s appreciated.

DaveC1 Loc: South East US

magnetoman wrote:

Silver King, 1964, Sir Nigel Gresley 2014. Silver ... (show quote)

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Fascinating. Some of the problems you and others have could be solved a bit via cropping. Top to the heat plume. Right to remove the box. Bottom as you like. Each makes the color more prominent I think.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

DaveC1 wrote:

Glad you like it Dave!

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

artBob wrote:

Fascinating. Some of the problems you and others have could be solved a bit via cropping. Top to the heat plume. Right to remove the box. Bottom as you like. Each makes the color more prominent I think.

I always want to include too much Bob!

pfrancke Loc: cold Maine

I like your treatment very much, particularly how the B/W portion washes out to a mild grey.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

pfrancke wrote:

I like your treatment very much, particularly how the B/W portion washes out to a mild grey.

Thank you Piet, I’m glad you like it.

Dave Chinn

I like your concept very much Dave !!! The box down in the lower right portion of the frame is my only nitpick, and is no deal breaker whatsoever.
Dave

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Dave Chinn wrote:

I like your concept very much Dave !!! The box down in the lower right portion of the frame is my only nitpick, and is no deal breaker whatsoever.
Dave

Some have suggested cropping it out Dave - but it might be better cloned out to leave some space in front of the loco. The real problem is as outlined by RG I reckon, the blue chap is too far left. I do have other shots so there may be something better in my files. It’s a theme I’ll probably return to in time. I’m a bit too busy at present, and another shoot at Didcot on Sunday evening means more shots to deal with, but I’ll get back to it eventually! Many thanks for looking-in, and your comments.
Dave.