Jörn Henn
@joernhenn
Best of the week 3 at #nomadict 2022
Four years ago, I went to the Harz Mountains with one of my photo buddies. We checked the schedule to know when the trains would be passing the specific spots. As it was the first time for me to take photos of an old train driving, I was kind of nervous. When the train finally passed I took some shots and when checking them afterward, I realized that they were all quite bad… I felt very disappointed.
The next morning — still upset about my failure from the day before — we waited at the train station to go with the steam train. Having my failed photographs in mind, I decided to try to take some photos when the train would arrive. My buddy wanted to stay inside the station since it was extremely cold and snowing, but I went outside and placed myself some steps into the woods. A few minutes later, I found a nice spot, the train arrived and I took my chance.
Despite the effort, when I checked the results back home, I didn’t think that this particular shot was really striking. There was one “famous” shot of this train at that time, which was pretty outstanding in my opinion. Probably this was the reason I didn’t see the value of the shots I had taken myself.
"Now, some weeks ago, I checked my Harz Mountain pictures again and rediscovered this shot. I was pretty amazed, to be honest. It was like finding a little treasure unexpectedly."
What I like the most when taking pictures of these old trains is the steam coming out of the train’s chimney. I wanted to frame the steaming train with the snowy winter forest scenery and with the edit put the focus even more on the train and the huge cloud of steam produced by it. The surrounding forest shouldn’t be that important, which is why I edited it a little darker and lightened up the train and its pillar of smoke. I tried several edits, but the one that won the Best of the Week was my favorite.
Going through your photos and edits from a while back is really helpful. When I recently saw some of my older edits and photographs and I realized that my editing and my photography skills changed for the good. I guess my constant traveling and therefore taking more and more photos, has helped me develop. Although I’m sure meeting other photographers is the main reason for my growth.
In the last two years, I met some really talented photographers where I was living. Traveling and shooting together and talking about techniques has been quite helpful.
Besides, publishing my photos on Instagram, working on my techniques by watching Youtube videos, winning these kinds of competitions like the Best of the Week from Nomadict and the constant comparison with other photographers are kind of an engine for my photography skill improvements.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned with this winning photograph, it’s that an instant banger shot is not always the one going to win. Some thoughts, designs, or photographs need to rest for you to see the value of it and know how to leverage the potential. Just put them away, into a specific archive or so. Checking your own results after some months or even years will give you an absolutely new perspective on your own work!
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