Tom!
I thought I submitted a critique to this like 3 days ago?! I just logged in again this morning to see it hadn’t been posted. Looks like I hit the “save draft” button not the “submit” button.
My bad!
To the critique:
[attachment=3:2qle95al]IMG_2737_1_critiqued.jpg[/attachment:2qle95al]
1:
My first thought was that the whole frame is crooked. Given this is advanced composition you should really be getting your horizon lines nice and straight.
2:
In a very static image and you should be using a tripod there is no need for such a high ISO. you shot this at ISO 2500. As a result there is lots of unnecessary noise in the image as you can see near the #2.
3:
I feel like the vine should either be more prominent or not there at all. You see the green leaves a few feet down the track? They would have been a nice foreground element. As it stands now the vine near the #3 is just a distracting element and you know how those are not good!
4:
This is a nice big interesting foreground element and it really sets a nice pattern. Just be careful not to have the only lens flare right over top of your main area of interest.
5:
The leading lines in this image are so powerful that it almost feels disappointing when you look down the tracks and don’t see anything. I want to see people, or trains, or a building or something at the end of these beautiful lines!
6:
The strongest and best element of this image the leading lines. They’re great. Just be careful because they can dominate so much that they lead peoples eye’s to nowhere as mentioned above.
Here are some similar examples that you may find interesting:
[attachment=2:2qle95al]train-example-01.jpg[/attachment:2qle95al]
photo by marcygallery
[attachment=1:2qle95al]train-example-02.jpg[/attachment:2qle95al]
photo by pagedooley
[attachment=0:2qle95al]train-example-03.jpg[/attachment:2qle95al]
photo by mysza
Note the interesting use of color, perspective, leading lines, and composition in these images.
Overall you’ve done fairly well here Tom.
Next time make sure you use a tripod, a low ISO, and really take a careful look at what makes it inside your frame.
Onward!