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‘Don’t take photos on train tracks.’
If you feel like you’ve been hearing this message a lot lately, it’s because you have. And it bears repeating because apparently, it hasn’t gotten through. Not even a month after another tragic, well-publicized incident, National Geographic is coming under fire for posting a photo of a woman standing on train tracks at sunset to its Instagram account.
One more time for everyone in the back: Don’t take photos on train tracks.
Taking photos on active train tracks, or putting your subjects on train tracks, is illegal and dangerous. As a recent Today Show segment reminded us, despite their size trains are surprisingly quiet and may not be heard until it’s too late.
Plenty of Nat Geo’s Instagram followers have apparently heard the message and taken it to heart, judging by the numerous negative comments posted in response to the photo. But many other commenters are expressing approval, and the photo has well over 485,000 likes. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding this particular photo, publishing it to a much-respected and much-followed account could lead others to think taking this kind of photo is a good idea.
Unfortunately, there are many, many examples of why this is not a good idea.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)