North Bay Area (CA) Amtrak Trains

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OK, since you specifically asked for feedback, I'll give you some.

(BTW, thats how it works here, we don't allow folks to be critical of photos or videos unless the photographer requests it. Some folks are simply posting "Hey look what I saw!" shots and don't want/need critiques)

Two things stand out for me.
1) Editing could be just a touch tighter. Cut, cut, cut and cut some more. You'e done pretty well at it for the most part, and it's a fine balancing act. You need a bit of time to establish where you are and what you're seeing. But in some places it could be a touch tighter, like at 1:15. Maybe lose the first few seconds there?

Here's something to consider about that. It looks different when not viewed full screen. So a tiny train approaching in the distance doesn't have the same impact.

2) Your transitions in the later part don't work for me at all. 3:45 for example. It looks like your camera lost focus lock. Instead, fade to black or use some other transition. It is good to indicate it's not one continuous scene, but the soft focus with it still being the same scene doesn't flow for me.

So what did you do right? Nice angles. Sharp photos. Rock solid tripod work. Editing is good overall, I'm talking about losing a second or two here and there, in general it's fine. You've got a very solid video there.
 
Thanks Bob, I appreciate the feedback! Very constructive indeed. To be honest, I feel the same way you do on the later part of the video. The light was fading in and out because of clouds and high-noon light isn't great for trains in the first place. Fade to black and/or others are a good way to break scene. I'll be back with more!
 
Thanks Bob, I appreciate the feedback! Very constructive indeed. To be honest, I feel the same way you do on the later part of the video. The light was fading in and out because of clouds and high-noon light isn't great for trains in the first place. Fade to black and/or others are a good way to break scene. I'll be back with more!

Thanks, it's not so much about which transition to use as it is which one not to use. Because you're not changing scenes, the soft dissolve really looks like your lens was "hunting" for a moment, trying to find focus. At first I was thinking "Wow, he missed that in editing, why didn't he cut it out?" The same technique might work fine, if you were shifting to a different scene. Generally speaking, I feel that the best dissolve is one that doesn't get noticed. I'm also a fan of limiting your styles to one or two for any specific production, unless you have a specific reason to change them.

We have a yearly railfan slideshow event, and the producers ended up saying something like "no more than 5 transition styles max!" They were digital slideshows, and so you'd see a transition every few seconds. Some of the participants seemed bound and determined to use every fade and wipe ProShow ships with, the cheesier the better. Also, they'd make them long, so you felt like you were spending more time watching the fades than you were viewing the slides! Aarrgh! At least you didn't fall into that trap, yours are fast and subtle.
 




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