Tag Archives: #LUAS

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LUAS—Twenty Years On

This year will mark twenty years of LUAS tram operations in Dublin.

Construction began several years previously, and the first trams arrived in 2002 and were stored at the Red Cow tram depot prior to service.

I was away from Dublin for most of 2004, but returned briefly in April, where my friend Hassard Stacpoole invited me on a pre-service tour of the new Green Line, and then again in November that year, just a couple months after services began on the east-west Red line.

I made the photos in this selection of the Red Line extension to the Point Depot using my Lumix LX3 at the end of March this year. This route opened in 2009.

Over the coming weeks and months, I plan to present some of my many photos of the LUAS expose during its early months of operation. These are among the 1000’s of slide I brought back from Dublin on our recent trip.

The LUAS at Mayor Square as view from inside a coffee shop.
The LUAS at Mayor Square as view from inside a coffee shop.
The LUAS at Mayor Square as view from inside a coffee shop.
I barely recognized the LUAS stop at Spencer Dock. The urban landscape has been completely transformed in just a few years.
I barely recognized the LUAS stop at Spencer Dock. The urban landscape has been completely transformed in just a few years.
I barely recognized the LUAS stop at Spencer Dock. The urban landscape has been completely transformed in just a few years.
It is difficult for me to comprehend, but this space was once occupied by an Irish Rail freight yard. Although made from a different perspective, I have photos of the yard—topic for another post on another day.
It is difficult for me to comprehend, but this space was once occupied by an Irish Rail freight yard. Although made from a different perspective, I have photos of the yard—topic for another post on another day.
It is difficult for me to comprehend, but this space was once occupied by an Irish Rail freight yard. Although made from a different perspective, I have photos of the yard—topic for another post on another day.
An outbound tram approaches The Point. The old row houses to the right of the tram are all that’s left of the old urban scape.
An outbound tram approaches The Point. The old row houses to the right of the tram are all that’s left of the old urban scape.
An outbound tram approaches The Point. The old row houses to the right of the tram are all that’s left of the old urban scape.
At 22 years old, the 3001/4001-series trams may be reaching the end of their useful lives.

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Dublin LUAS at Georges Dock

Dublin’s LUAS tram system opened twenty years ago.

I recall photographing the original construction of both Green and Red Lines.

The Red Line extension through the Docklands to the Point opened in 2009, which makes this route 15 years old.

Last week, Kris and I stayed near Georges Dock (on the Docklands extension), and made several trips on the LUAS around the city.

The original 3001-series trams are beginning show their age. It’s fascinating for me to have witnessed the maturing of the trams and the growth of the system. I’ve been photographing LUAS trams since before the system opened, with some of my eariest images dating back to 2002, when the trams were were stored without numbers at the Red Cow depot.

I made these images with my Nikon Z7-II.

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JPG versus Adjusted RAW

Ten years ago, I made this view with my Lumix LX3 of a LUAS Green Line tram crossing over a boat in Dublin’s Grand Canal.

Last night I imported both the in-camera JPG and the camera RAW files into Adobe Lightroom.

I scaled the in-camera JPG, but made no changes to the appearance of the image.

However, I did implement a series of adjustments to the camera RAW file in order to improve the overall appearance of the photo.

Notice the difference in sky detail and the relative contrast of the canal with the surrounding scene, as well as improved color temperature and color saturation.

Lumix LX3 photo at Charlemont on the Grand Canal, 13 March 2013. Scaled In-camera JPG, no changes to contrast, color, or other visual parameters.
Photo created from adjusted Camera RAW file. Note sky detail.

Lightroom Work Window showing color adjustments to the Camera RAW file.

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LUAS on Provia—18 Oct 2022

A month ago—LUAS on Provia—18 Oct 2022—I made these photos of LUAS trams working the Green Line in the Dublin City Centre using a Nikon F3 with Provia 100F (RDPIII) color slide film.

During our trip to Ireland I exposed 7 rolls of film along with hundreds of digital photos. This is just a sampling of a few photos from our last day in Dublin.

Last night, I scanned the slides using a Nikon LS 5000 (Super Coolscan5000) slide scanner powered by VueScan software and then imported the scanner’s hi-res TIF files into Adobe Lightroom for minor color and exposure corrections.

I find that film offers a different quality of image, which is part of the attraction. But, I also find that working with my old Nikon F3s produces different compositions than I get when making photos digitally. So despite the inconvenience of carrying both film and digital cameras and the comparatively high cost of exposing color film, I continue to work with both film and digital media.

Fuji Provia 100F slide exposed using a Nikon F3 with f2.5 105mm telephoto lens.
Fuji Provia 100F slide exposed using a Nikon F3 with f2.5 105mm telephoto lens.
Fuji Provia 100F slide exposed using a Nikon F3 with f2.8 24mm wideangle lens.

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Ad Trams in the Dublin City Centre.

Over my many visits to Dublin since the start of LUAS tram services in 2004, I’ve made many photos of the various specially decorated LUAS advertising trams that grace the system.

Over the last few days wandering the streets of Dublin, I’ve continued my LUAS photography and focused on a few of the Ad trams that add to the color of the City Centre.

I made these views of Sky television wrapped trams using my Lumix LX7.

Southward Green Line tram crossing the Rosie Hackett bridge over the Liffey
Closer view at the Rosie Hackett bridge.
Eastward Red Line Tram on Abbey Street near O’Connell Street.
Eastward Red Line Tram crossing O’Connell Street.
Westward Red Line Tram on Abbey Street at the Jervis stop.

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Big Bus LUAS Tour-the Sequel

Here’s a follow up to yesterday’s Post.

Another tip: So when selecting the appropriate Big Bus Dublin, it is helpful to find a relatively empty tour. Not only will the give you the best seat in on the bus (up top, at the back), but also great freedom to move around to capture the best angles.

The first bus of the day tends to be crowded, while I found those mid afternoon to have ample space.

I made these views with my Nikon Z6.

LUAS at College Green from the back of the Big Bus tour.
LUAS near College Green from the back of the Big Bus tour.
LUAS and the Aircoach at College Green from the back of the Big Bus tour.
Heuston Station, Dublin.
Heuston Station, Dublin.

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Sneaky Tips Part 1

Here’s an interesting way to make elevated views of Dublin’s trams: ride at the back of an open-top tour bus.

Kris and I bought 48-hour tickets for the Big Bus Dublin, which provides a half-hourly hop-on hop-off service.

This was primarily a way for us to play tourists in Dubln, but I quickly found that it offered an excellent means to photograph the LUAS.

We traveled on three different types of buses. The variety that was most effective allowed me to shoot over the railing at the very back of the bus. Some of the more modern coaches didn’t have this feature, so you should choose your bus carefully.

I made these photos using my Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera with a 24-70mm zoom.

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High Contrast Trams

Yesterday evening (September 22, 2022), I made a few photos of Dublin’s LUAS trams using my Nikon Z6.

It had been raining much of the day but about 6pm the sun came out, making for some interesting but high contrast scenes.

Back in the old days I’d have worked with black & white film to make the most of this type of lighting, and controlled the contrast chemically. Now, I’m applying contrast controls digitally to my Nikon’s NEF (RAW) files using Adobe Lightroom.

Do these photos work?

If they don’t, I’ll take more later.

LUAS tram on Parnell Street in Dublin. JPG from the unaltered NEF file (No changes to color, contrast, exposure etc).
LUAS tram on Parnell Street in Dublin. This is my adjusted version of the same NEF file. I’ve paid special attention to the sky using Adobe Lightroom’s built in ‘select sky’ mask.
Abbey Street in Dublin. JPG from the unaltered NEF file (No changes to color, contrast, exposure etc).
Abbey Street in Dublin. JPG from the adjusted NEF file.

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LUAS Focus

On the evening of August 12, 2015, I made this pair of images of Dublin’s LUAS light rail at the Museum stop on Benburb Street.

I was playing with very close focus for effect. By manually setting the focus in the second image, I selected a focus point on the stone wall, while allowing the tram to dissolve in a sea of blur.

In post processing I corrected the color balance to compensate for the intense yellow-orange tint of the street lights.

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Ten Years Ago May 11th

On May 11, 2012, I made this digital photo with my Lumix LX3 of a LUAS Tram (dressed in Emirates advertising) passing Arnotts department store on Abbey Street in Dublin.

Less than two weeks ago we visited Arnotts on a shopping trip.

Now back in New Hampshire Arnotts just seems like a dream.

Exposed using a Lumix LX3 on May 11, 2012.

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A Day Late: my double save from 11 April 2012.

My old Lumix LX3 had the ability to save a handful of photos in the camera’s built in memory (without an SD card).

This was a great benefit, especially in those moments where suddenly I realized that, “Oh Sh!#! I left the SD card on my desk!”

Not a problem, the camera would store the image internally for downloading later.

On 11 April 2012, I had one of those unforgettable “Oh Sh!#!” moments when I’d spotted a colorfully painted LUAS tram on Abbey Street in Dublin and when I went to photograph it the camera advised me I was saving to the internal memory.

Phew!

That was ten years, and three Lumixes ago.

However, not only did the camera save the photo, but it was able to save both as a JPG and as RAW. And this was lucky, because a pesky afternoon cloud had just drifted in front of the sun, so my photo was very constrasty and slightly underexposed. Working with Lightroom I was able to lighten the original photo, correct the color temperature, and level the image.

My scaled but otherwise un-adjusted Lumix LX3 RAW photo.
This image was created by working with the RAW file in Adobe Lightroom to bring up detail in shadow areas, correct the color balance and level, and lighten the overall exposure while retaining desired color saturation.

No hope with getting that kind of double save if you forgot to put film in camera! (Been there, done that!).

In two weeks time, I hope to be making use of my latest Lumix on the streets of Dublin!

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Kingsbridge (Sean Heuston Bridge) at Dusk.

In several recent Tracking the Light posts, I displayed photos of Dublin’s LUAS trams crossing the 1820’s era cast iron River Liffey span.

In this March 11, 2014 Lumix LX3 photo, the bridge, rather than the tram crossing it, was the emphasis my photography.

My old LX3 was a wonderful and convenient tool for making urban images. Although more difficult to use, looking back I think it produced better compositions than its LX7 successor. That said, I’m on my 3rd Lumix LX7!

This view is a scaled, but otherwise unaltered version of the LX3 Jpg file made 8 years ago today.

exposed for 1.3 seconds at f2.5.

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Sky in the Shadow of Guinness

On March 2, 2015, I walked across the Sean Heuston Bridge (formerly Kingsbridge) toward Heuston Station.

I’ve crossed this 19th century cast iron span over the Liffey perhaps a 1000 times (maybe more) during the many years I spent photographing Dublin.

LUAS tram 3019 decorated to advertise Sky Fibre (cable television) was working westbound toward its station stop at Heuston when I made a snapshot with my old Lumix LX7. The Guinness Brewery at St. James Gate looms to the left.

This is the camera JPG, scaled for internet presentation without modifcation to color balance, color temperature, contrast or sharpness.

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New Trams: April 2002

Although Dublin’s new LUAS tram system would not commence operations for another two years, in April 2002 the first batches of Alstom Citadis trams had already arrived.

I was invited on a tour of the Red Cow depot as a member of the Irish Railway Record Society, and made this view of tram 3013, which at the time was a ‘short’ three-section tram.

Recently I scanned this negative along with numerous other images exposed on the same roll of film. It’s amazing how much has changed over the last twenty years in Ireland.

LUAS Red Cow Depot, Contax G2 photo, April 2002.

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LUAS at Museum

Seven Years ago: on the evening of September 14, 2014, an inbound LUAS Red Line tram makes a stop at Museum on its way to the Dublin City center.

I made this photo by placing my Lumix LX7 on the footpath to steady the camera for a comparatively long-exposure, while proping up the lens with the lens cap to obtain the desired level.

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—THREE PHOTOS—LUAS Vodafone Tram at Dundrum

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The impressive cable-stayed suspension bridge at Dundrum is one of my favorite places to picture Dublin’s LUAS Green Line.

A week ago, I timed my arrival at Dundrum to coincide with the passage of the Vodafone advertising tram that wears a colourful temporary livery.

There was perhaps 10 minutes left of sun in the Irish winter sky.

Photos exposed using my Lumix LX7

At left is the old Dundrum railway station—LUAS Green Line operates over portions of the old Harcourt railway line.

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St Stephens Green View

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The view from Dublin’s St. Stephen’s Green Shopping Plaza  The Food Village  food court is among the best vistas to picture LUAS trams in the city centre.

This offers an elevated view of the St Stephens Green prominently featuring the Fusiliers Arch on the Grafton Street side of the park.

I like the view because it was featured on an early 19th century hand-tinted postcard the also included trams, albeit those of the previous lineage. (The Dublin city centre was without trams from the 1940s until 2004 when LUAS commenced operations).

The S-bend in the tram route seen here was opened as part of the Cross City Green Line extension a couple of years ago.

The other day I met fellow photographer Mark Healy for serious image making discussion over a cup of tea while waiting to photograph some of the LUAS advertising trams that now prowl the Green Line route.

I exposed these photos using my Lumix LX7. The challenge of this location is obtaining a satisfactory image through the window glass. I used a very wide aperture, which offers low depth of field to minimize the effect of the glass.

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