Atherington Victoria & East Yard.

Very nice dioramas.  I like how they show proper operational activities. Such situations were as important for the railways as the running of trains, but we don't often show them in cameos like this. The tea chests look good - knowing how long it takes to make just a few, yours must have been quite a time-consuming task! 

 

Nice "staging" and photography too. The tea, timber and truck loading scenes are quite dynamic and interesting views. I know we are supposed to have our figures in restful poses to avoid that "frozen in time" look, but I think for a dedicated photo series like this it can work to have some figures in action.

Thanks as always @Mikkel for your attention and kind remarks.  The paradox about figures struck me when first I started taking photographs.  When running trains one has restful poses, but these look less interesting than 'action' figures in one's photographs.  This was an excuse to draft a two-part list, of characters found in a goods yard and what they could be doing both 'in motion' and 'at rest'.  I would give examples, but I can not put my finger on it at the moment.  The only one I remember is two shunter poses, one leaning on a pole and the other reaching over buffers to uncouple wagons..  Composing the list also lead to ideas for tableaux and the multitude of lorries required for the different goods.

 

One day I might have time to play trains. 

That's a good example with the shunter. There's also the 

 

I've only just noticed the header picture, that's quite nice too - especially with the figures coming in from the left, which adds to the impression of a moving scene. The more you look at these photos, the clearer it is how well composed they are.

 

Maybe this sort of thing is itself a way of playing trains? Especially if it involves scenes like yours which are really what the railways are all about.

 

Edited August 31, 2021 by Mikkel