On my Autumn 2003 visit to California, I spent many days traveling on and documenting the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

Of special interest was the ever-popular F-Line that runs between Castro Street and Fisherman’s Wharf using a collection of historic streetcars, many of which are owned and maintained by the Market Street Railway.

On a pleasant October afternoon, I made a series of black & white photos of an F-Line PCC taking the dogleg from Market Street to the Embarcedero.

Soft Mediterranean sun made for perfect conditions for Kodak Tri-X, which I exposed using a 1950s-vintage Rolleiflex Model T. A roll of 120-size Tri-X would allow for just 12 square frames, so I’d compose each image carefully.

The Rollei’s square format enables distinctive images. While some photographers might shoot square and crop rectangular, I prefer to work with the square frame to make the most of the shape and present the images full-frame (without cropping).

Tracking the Light explores railway photography!