Whitby steam August 2013

[John Ashworth]

Photos taken in Whitby by my old mate Gareth Richards last weekend.

Looking at these, it struck me once again that photos taken by a good photographer (which Gareth certainly is) who is not a railway enthusiast can often be more interesting than those taken by a specialist railway enthusiast, which often tend to be a little stereotypical. A non-railfan often seems to see angles which an enthusiast ignores, and also sees the value of people and objects which make the photo more interesting even if they don't end up with an unobstructed front 3/4 view of the loco.

[Ian Roberts]

John,
I agree with your comments on photographs taken by a photographer versus photographs taken by an enthusiast, even though we may both be using similar equipment.
I would take it further and say there is also a difference in perspective between railway enthusiasts who started their photography when steam was still plentiful and those who started in the diesel era.
My experience is that I can't take a good photograph of a diesel since it requires much more composition, if it to display the movement that was self evident on a steam loco.
It may also be emotional in that the subject is more appealing to me when it is steam.