# The jacobite **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** landscape, non-nature\ **Created:** [October 19, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641 "2026-10-19T11:05:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Karl\_Zuzarte](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@Karl\_Zuzarte](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Karl_Zuzarte)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/1 "2026-10-19T11:05:59Z")
![Original - _DSC8906-Edit.jpg](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/b/0/b0c04764b53bc1cba4272c36e2d1139c94440a68.jpeg) _The grand, as shot_ ![More personal](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/4/a/4aaebcb3f90a4469987e0cd071ffa9b18274a2c9.jpeg) _More personal_ ![Panoramic](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/5/b/5b0d08908e03d11a7abb3ec36a3c0ce1b9913475.jpeg) _Panoramic_ **Critique Style:** In-Depth The photographer is looking for deeper feedback connected to their intent, creative direction, and specific questions. **Feedback Focus:** Artistic + Technical ### About This Image This is the famous Jacobite Steam train on the Glenfinnan aqueduct in Scotland - typical Scottish weather with rain sun and clouds - all adding to the experience. Fortunately the rain let up whist the sun came through to capture this from a vantage point ### Why This Image? I went to Scotland to capture Autumn colors in the variable atmospheres there - the colors in themselves were disappointing - especially the reds - I guess I got spoilt by the exceptional New England colors here ### What I’m Trying to Express or Explore The Jacobite itself - do the crops suggest bringing it out better ? The original, does better describe the atmosphere there ### Where Feedback Would Help Most The rain does saturate the colors - too much ? Contrast - a little heavy ? I do plan to print this for my camera club competition ### Technical Details **The grand, as shot** Camera: NIKON Z 9 Lens: VR 24-70mm f/2.8E Focal length: 52mm Shutter speed: 1/640s Aperture: f/8 ISO: 640 **More personal** Camera: NIKON Z 9 Lens: VR 24-70mm f/2.8E Focal length: 52mm Shutter speed: 1/640s Aperture: f/8 ISO: 640 **Panoramic** Camera: NIKON Z 9 Lens: VR 24-70mm f/2.8E Focal length: 52mm Shutter speed: 1/640s Aperture: f/8 ISO: 640 ![_DSC8939-Edit](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/d/6/d6d9e82d55a490ff1692421b4b909b7030b01b86.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Huw\_Thomas](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/huw_thomas/32/87850_2.png) [@Huw\_Thomas](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Huw_Thomas)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/2 "2026-10-19T12:54:19Z")
Hi @Karl_Zuzarte Lovely atmospheric shots. Like all critiques here this is just my opinion and please feel free to disagree. The crops as always tell the story YOU want to tell, and sometimes you can’t tell it all with one crop. This steam engine crossing a picturesque viaduct in a glorious Scottish Glen. The close crop is about the engine and viaduct and reduces the location wow factor, the panorama just gives you more viaduct and proportionately slightly less train, and a similar very much reduced “mountain”. If you title the image “Jacobite Steam” one of these will probably be better scored than the original. If you title it Glenfinnan Viaduct (not aqueduct please 😮 ) the panorama is the most likely to be appreciated My preferred one is the first - enough train , plenty of viaduct and magnificent mountains (I like trains but I’m not a train fanatic). Saturation - again a personal opinion - Camera Clubs, and judges love oversaturated images - they want WoW, Shock and Awe! They are used to judging and selecting with a few seconds an image and they require bold over saturation to get the wow. Your choices of saturation are, to my eye not overdone . My non camera-club-judging eye would desaturate as per image. I have also “corrected” the horizontal very slightly by a few degrees. Yours may well have been level but my eye was most comfortable with a few degrees clockwise rotation as provided with “auto horizontal” in LR 3 great crops of a Wonderful image Huw Processing example based on the original image: ![processing example](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/f/b/fb2499b6dcd30ace26e6d16415e48ae84ff03be8.png) ---
**Author:** ![Karl\_Zuzarte](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@Karl\_Zuzarte](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Karl_Zuzarte)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/3 "2026-10-19T13:16:13Z")
A few seconds later… ![_DSC8939-Edit](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/3X/d/6/d6d9e82d55a490ff1692421b4b909b7030b01b86.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Keith\_Flood](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/keith_flood/32/77197_2.png) [@Keith\_Flood](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Keith_Flood)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 1:44pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/4 "2026-10-19T13:44:33Z")
Karl, Image 1 - “The Grand” is my favorite. The passenger steam train making its way around the viaduct under the cloudy sky and fall color makes this a classic and even, romantic scene. I like the first image for the grand scene which suits the mood I described. I think any crop would have be tight to the train and show more of the viaduct height to add drama and a sense of wow, telling a different story about the steam engine and passenger train of a bygone era. For my tastes, I would reduce the vibrance or saturation just a bit. But as Huw said, for a camera club competition your version might stand out better for competition. I joined a camera club and I only lasted a month, not my cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![tom.marin](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/tom.marin/32/72972_2.png) [@tom.marin](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/tom.marin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/5 "2026-10-19T14:35:39Z")
Hi Karl— I think The Grand, as shot is my favorite as it feels the most balanced to my eye. You captured not only the main event of the train but was able to include the subtle foreground ground cover and bridge along with a bit of the sky. All this adds up to a more complete image. I’m usually all for closer in shots or panoramic but in this case I think more is more! Whether areas are over saturated I would leave that up to you as I have never been there. I think you’ve captured an amazing photograph! ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Fach](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/bill_fach/32/78290_2.png) [@Bill\_Fach](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Bill_Fach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/6 "2026-10-19T14:50:34Z")
Karl: I’ve had a love affair with trains since I was practically an infant and my father spent time in Scotland during WWII and spoke fondly about it so it’s been high on my bucket list. With that said I’ll take one of each please. These sooooo make me want to be there. Most excellent x 4. 👍 👍\>=))\> ---
**Author:** ![Preston\_Birdwell](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/preston_birdwell/32/374_2.png) [@Preston\_Birdwell](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Preston_Birdwell)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/7 "2026-10-19T17:22:39Z")
I am favoring the “grand” view as well. I think it speaks to romantic nature of Scotland. I do think the saturation of the hillsides should lie between @Huw_Thomas idea and the original image. I like the other crops because they tell different stories, but I’m still on for “grand”. -P ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Brooks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_brooks/32/390_2.png) [@Allen\_Brooks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Brooks)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/8 "2026-10-19T18:42:00Z")
Another vote for the grand, Karl. My first thought was “Hogwarts Express” from _Harry Potter._ Personally, I like the saturation as seen in the first image. With the yellow being saturated, my eye is drawn from the train. ---
**Author:** ![Karl\_Zuzarte](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@Karl\_Zuzarte](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Karl_Zuzarte)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/9 "2026-10-19T23:49:30Z")
Thank you @Huw_Thomas @Preston_Birdwell @Allen_Brooks @Bill_Fach @Keith_Flood @tom.marin I agree - yellows in lower half are more saturated. This last image has a stronger base. I had stopped competing at camera clubs but a friend of mine suggested that I need to share my work with the club - so now i enter an image here and there - this one I really like - I planned for this . I have been judging competitions and make it a point not to go for impact necessarily ---
**Author:** ![richard27](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/richard27/32/62934_2.png) [@richard27](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/richard27)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/10 "2026-10-20T00:22:12Z")
What a wonderful photo! I absolutely love all versions but my initial reaction favored the first, which shows the wide expanse of the landscape, and last photo you uploaded, which shows more of the train and steam engine. If I am reading your description correctly the Jacobite Steam train is the overriding subject of the photo, although the colors and moody sky add to the beauty. I am partial to trains, which may explain why I like the final photo you posted, which shows the entire steam engine, tender, and passenger cars, a nice plume of steam, with the colorful landscape sky. I don’t think the saturation is too much. ---
**Author:** ![Igor\_Doncov](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/igor_doncov/32/579_2.png) [@Igor\_Doncov](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Igor_Doncov)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/11 "2026-10-20T02:20:14Z")
The one titled ‘a few seconds later’ is my favorite. I think having the train viewed from the side is better than from the front. That’s a good composition. Bringing the highlights down just a tad on the steam gives it more volume. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Friel](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/mike_friel/32/28003_2.png) [@Mike\_Friel](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Mike_Friel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 5:54am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/12 "2026-10-20T05:54:50Z")
I agree with Igor, as we see the locomotive in all its glory; and the smoke frames the whole train without concealing any of it. The sky is more moody too. I’d just remove the mast from the hilltop. ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/13 "2026-10-20T15:27:07Z")
I love the blend of man made and grand landscape in this image, Karl. The grand version works very well, but my personal favorite is the panoramic for the emphasis on the curve of the causeway or whatever it’s called for railroads. Both work very well and I think it’s just a matter of personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_H](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/ryan_h/32/60971_2.png) [@Ryan\_H](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Ryan_H)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/the-jacobite/52641/14 "2026-10-20T17:57:16Z")
Hi Karl, My points go to The Grand, it’s a great mix of Glen and Railway, with a bias towards Glen. Maybe slightly reduce the vibrance, it has plenty of punch and Wow factor as it is. A great shot of a wonderful location