On April 25, 2017, I made this view of a tram in Basel, Switzerland.
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Tag Archives: Tram
Warsaw, May 1, 2002.
On May 1, 2002, I arrived in Warsaw, Poland on the overnight sleeper from Dresden, Germany.
Working with my Nikon F3t with 24mm Nikkor lens, I exposed this Fujichrome Sensia 11 (ISO100) view of a tram at a junction in the Polish capital.
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View from Insomnia: TESCO TRam at Jervis
I was having a cup of tea and I made these views with my Lumix LX7 of a Dublin LUAS tram decorated for supermarket chain TESCO.
The tea wasn’t bad, it helps with the jet lag.
But tea lag (lack of tea), that can be serious!!
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Lisbon Historic Tram—Something Missing? (Two photos).
During my April Fool’s Day photography of Lisbon’s tram lines, one old tram stood out from all the others.
What’s missing on this tram working line 28?
Photos exposed using a Lumix LX7.
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Lisbon: narrow streets and trams—Part 1.
This could be a book, or at least part of one.
Lisbon is visually intense and everywhere I looked I saw photos to be made.
This is the first is multi-part series of photos that I made on Lisbon streets on 1 April 2019.
Exposed on Fuji Acros 100 with a Nikon F3, processed in Rodinal.
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LUAS Yellow ad-tram at St Stephen’s Green.
Last Friday (22 March 2019), Mark Healy and I met in the Dublin city centre to seek out an elusive tram, recently dressed in a yellow advertising livery.
A steady rain was falling by the time we found it.
I made these photos with my Lumix LX7. In post processing, I adjusted the camera RAW files using Lightroom to improve colour temperature, make the contrast more appealing, and restore texture to the afternoon sky.
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LUAS in the Rain at Heuston.
Sometimes there’s great photos to be made in the rain.
Exposed hand-held with my Lumix LX7 at Heuston Station in Dublin.
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Sunday Morning: LUAS Cross City near College Green.
A beautiful thing about Dublin on a Sunday morning is the relative lack of traffic.
Not so pretty is the rubbish, broken glass and other carnage that tends to litter the streets following a lively Saturday night.
To make the most of the scene on Westmoreland Street looking back toward at College Green, I used my FujiFilm XT1 with 90mm and made low angle view of a northward LUAS tram passing the 18thcentury façade of the Bank of Ireland (right).
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Under and Over in Dublin.
I made these views the other day on Beresford Place near Bus Aras in Dublin.
An outbound LUAS tram on the Red Line had stopped for traffic Gardner Street, while a southward DART suburban train rolled across the Loop Line Bridge on its way from Connolly Station to Tara Street.
This is the sort of common scene that is repeated hour after hour, day after day, and yet only rarely get recorded.
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Kingsbridge Silhouettes—Lessons in Sunset.
As the sunset on Dublin, Monday a week ago (15 October 2018), I used my FujiFilm X-T1 to expose several series of silhouettes as LUAS trams crossed the old Kingsbridge (now formally Sean Heuston Bridge) over the River Liffey.
My goal was to capture the rays of sun bursting through the windows of the tram cars.
I only had a few minutes where the sun was in the optimal position, and luckily LUAS was operating trams on short headways, so I had several opportunities.
My camera was set for ‘turbo flutter’ (continuous high or ‘ch’ on the left-hand dial) which exposes a rapid burst of images when pressing the shutter button.
By exposing for the sky and sun, I allowed the shadows to become an inky black. Using the smallest aperture (f22 on my 90mm lens) creates the sunburst effect while also allowing for better definition of the sun in the sky.
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Dublin’s College Green with Tram—Fuji Acros 100.
The Green Line Cross City extension cuts through College Green, one of Dublin’s most pictured intersections.
I made this view in August 2018 using my Canon EOS 3 with 40mm lens on Fuji Acros 100 black & white film.
This I processed by hand in a Paterson tank using Rodinal Special liquid developer concentrate mixed 1 to 31 with water for 3 minutes 45 second at 68F.
The negatives were scanned with an Epson V500 flatbed scanner, and contrast was nominally adjusted in post processing to make for a more pleasing digitally presented image.
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Purple Tram Harcourt Street.
There’s a purple tram prowling Dublin’s Green Line.
The other day I was on my way over to John Gunn’s Camera Shop on Wexford Street and I made these photos with my Lumix LX7 of LUAS trams gliding along Harcourt Street.
This is a perfect place to pose modern Citadis trams against a backdrop of Georgian Terrace houses.
To compensate for flat lighting, with two of these three images I made some minor manipulations in post processing to boost sky detail, lighten shadows and improve contrast.
That means one of the images is simply the unaltered camera-JPG. Can you guess which one that is?
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Modern Alstom Trams in an Old French City; Valenciennes—22 April 2016 Part 2.
As a follow up to this morning’s post on SNCF at Valenciennes, I thought I’d post a few Lumix LX7 photos I made of the city’s modern tram system.
This is a show-case system of Alstom’s tram technology and features street running, trackage in grass-covered central medians, and tram lines on old SNCF railway lines.
The Citadis trams are very similar to those employed on Dublin’s LUAS network, albeit with different styling.
The day started out with pale thin sunlight, which was gradually replaced by a even dull overcast.
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See my earlier post:
On this Day in 2016; Valenciennes, France.
Gliding along in Prague
Working with my Lumix LX7, I made this hand-held photo on a tram in the Czech capital Prague in October 2016.
The Lumix LX7 is small a lightweight camera with excellent optics, making it ideal for urban images.
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Rainbow with Dublin’s LUAS-3 Photos.
On 2 October 2017, I was walking the LUAS Red Line in Dublin. The sun was out but a dark cloud was fast approaching from the north.
I could I see the rain coming.
While watching the sky, I met fellow photographer Ciarán Cooney. He too was watching the lighting conditions unfold, but was heading for the tram.
He said to me, “I have bad luck with rainbows. I suppose I’ll see this on Tracking the Light!”
A minute later he boarded the LUAS tram that appears in these images.
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Taking a Spin on Rome’s 19—Five new photos.
Rome’s tram line 19 still uses some pretty old streamlined cars.
Not only do these make interesting photographic subjects, but because they have opening windows the make for a great way to see (and photograph) Rome’s neighborhoods.
I wonder how many cities in Europe still have trams in daily revenue service that are more than 65 years old?
I made these photos in September 2017 using my Lumix LX7 and FujiFilm XT1 digital cameras during a spin on the 19 while exploring Rome with Honer Travers.
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LUAS Trial on Culture Night—22 September 2017.
It was the annual Dublin Culture Night Event when dozens of establishments open their doors and/or host special events free for the public.
I was making my rounds, and I happened upon a LUAS 4000-series tram making trials of the new Cross City trackage.
I believe in taking advantage of photographic opportunity when presented, and I made these views using my Lumix LX7.
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Tram on O’Connell Street in Dublin: LUAS Cross City Trackage Trial
On Friday August 18, 2017, Mark Healy and I met to document a LUAS 5000-series tram trial on new Cross City trackage.
This was my first experience seeing a tram working recently completed Cross City trackage.
Mark and I have been documenting LUAS Cross City progress for more than two years.
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Three views of Köln trams at Bruck Mauspfad.
April soft sun in suburban Köln made for nice light of the modern trams. All three views at Bruck Mauspfad on the northeast side of the city.
Tracking the Light is on AutoPilot while Brian is traveling.
Geneva Tram in Traffic.
I made this view in Geneva, Switzerland in April 2017. A tram waits in morning traffic. By using a telephoto perspective, I’ve compressed the scene and exaggerated the effect of the traffic jam.
Tracking the Light is on AutoPilot while Brian is traveling.
Sunrise Glint; Trams in Rome.
On April 6, 2017, I was up early to make photos of streetcars plying Rome’s streets.
Here, I’ve taken position where streetcars nip beneath the throat to Rome’s main passenger terminal. My goal was to work with the rosy rising sun to make some glint photos using my Lumix LX7.
These photos are all from the camera produced Jpg files. A little work in Lightroom might make for improved presentation, but that’s a topic for another day.
Any favorites?
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Nocturnal Basel Tram Pan
Using my Panasonic Lumix LX7, I exposed this pan photograph of a city tram on the streets of Basel, Switzerland in April 2017.
I’d set the camera at ISO 250, and with the ‘A’ (aperture priority) mode set the aperture to its widest opening (f1.7), which allowed for a shutter speed of 1/8 of a second.
By panning (moving) with the tram, the relatively long shutter speed places the background in a sea of blur while keeping the tram car comparatively sharp.
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Roman Trams
Well sort of.
Rome is one of the world’s most pictured cities, yet rarely does its tram network feature in photos.
So, on my brief visit to Rome I made many photos of its colourful urban rail-transit system.
Where else can you see multiple tram lines pass through a 3rd century city gate? Thanks to Stephen Hirsch for suggesting this photo location at Porta Maggiore.
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Milan Peter Witt at Dusk.
It was a drizzly dusk two weeks ago (April 2017) when I used my Lumix LX7 to expose this image of a Peter Witt streetcar in Milan, Italy.
With the Lumix set at ISO 200; my exposure was f1.8 at ¼ (using ‘A’ mode that allows me to select the aperture, while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed).
I’m fond of making night shots where there’s still a hint of colour in the sky.
For the next week Tracking the Light will be on Auto Pilot while Brian is traveling.
Dublin’s LUAS at Smithfield—March 2017.
Last week I used my Lumix LX7 to exposed this view of an eastbound tram on the LUAS Red Line at Smithfield.
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Helsinki Tram—long pan.
In Aug 2001, I used my new Contax G2 rangefinder to pan this Helsinki tram. A version of this image was published as two page spread in April 2005 Trains Magazine.
On Thursday 9 March , 2017, one week from tonight I’ll be giving my Illustrated Lecture called Night Trains, Pendolinos, Iron ore, Timber and Trams to the Irish Railway Record Society in Dublin.
This will be delivered at the IRRS premises near Heuston Station in Dublin (opposite the entrance to the car park). I will begin at 7:30pm (1930).
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Tracking the Light Special Post: LUAS Green Line Service Suspension—7 October 2016
Today (7 October 2016), Dublin’s LUAS Green Line was out of service owing to an unspecified disruption.
Mark Healy and I were exploring progress LUAS Cross City works near the St. Stephen’s Green, where we found no-less than four Alstom Citadis trams inoperable and parked.
As of 2:45pm, LUAS was reporting that Green Line service remained suspended.
More recent reports indicate it could be Saturday morning before service resumes.
See: https://www.luas.ie/travel-updates/
I exposed these photos of the stalled trams using my Lumix LX7.
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Real Photo of Photo Collage of Trams on the side of a Bus—Dublin, September 2016.
I’m serious.
An historic photo of trams on O’Connell Street has been displayed on the side of a tour bus that’s on for the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin.
Also, a more modern image of a tram is part of the collage of images.
My view is an abstraction. I exposed this using a Nikon F3 with 50mm Nikkor lens on Ilford FP4 (35mm black & white film).
I processed it in Kodak HC110 using ‘dilution B’ (1:32 stock to water), stop, fix, wash dry (with various intermediate steps). Then scanned with an Epson V500 flatbed scanner for presentation here.
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Missing Photo File: Dresden, April 2002.
On 30 April 2002, I found myself in Dresden and perishing low on film.
I’d been photographing in Poland and Slovakia for the better part of two weeks and underestimated how many photos I’d make. (Those who know me well, will recall this being a common occurrence on big trips).
Anyway, I’d found a shop with some black & white film, and exposed a roll of HP5 using my Nikon N90S, (trying to stretch out what little slide film I had left), and making parsimonious use of my 120 film.
This had me in a knot, as Dresden is a visually fascinating place, and I was seeing images everywhere I looked!
When I got back to Dublin, I processed the roll of HP5 in ID11 (Ilford’s relative equivalent to Kodak’s D76) and sleeved it, but I never got around to making prints.
The other day (May 2016), I was searching for some German tram photos, when I rediscovered this roll mixed in with a host of other unprinted B&W negatives from the mid-2000s.
What immediately caught my eye was this silhouetted image of a preserved four-wheel tram. Searching the internet, I can conclude this is a museum car operated by the StrassenbahnmuseumDresden.
This group has a website:
http://www.strassenbahnmuseum-dresden.de/index.htm
And a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/StrassenbahnmuseumDresden
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SNCF Valenciennes‑Revisited (April 2016). Six NEW photos.
Last October (2015), I visited Valenciennes in northern France. I stopped by again a few weeks ago during my April 2016 wanderings in France and Belgium.
In these views I focused on the old Chemin de fer du Nord Station (SNCF’s Gare de Valencienes) and the surrounding environment.
Using my FujiFilm X-T1, I made images that feature the old station as both subject and background. Notice how selective focus and use of light shifts the central interest from the old building to the tram.
Outback of the station, there are, of course, SNCF trains and an impressive array of trackage that make interesting subjects in their own right.
Together, the building, trams, SNCF trains and trackage make for a scene, but one not possible to adequately represent in one image. Thus this myriad collection of images. This is a work in progress.
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Strasbourg: 10 photos of Low Floor Trams in a Sophisticated European City
It was a pleasantly warm Spring day when I set out with Lumix LX7 in hand to make a few photos of the Strasbourg trams.
Strasbourg was among the first French cities to re-adopt the electric tram, and in 1994 introduced an elegant modern tram system using a pioneer type of low-floor car (the first batch were built by ABB) called the Eurotram.
I’ve been meaning to visit Strasbourg for a long time, but only recently managed to finally get there.
Any favorites from this selection?
Europe’s Most Colourful Tram City? Lots of NEW photos!
I’ll offer Freiburg as one of Europe’s most colourful tram cities.
The combination of variety of cars, a range of paint liveries (advertising and otherwise), interesting trackage plus varied and interesting historic backdrops makes Freiburg hard to top.
Any suggested contenders?
Photos below exposed in April 2016 using my FujiFilm X-T1 digital camera.
Freiburg, Germany: New Tram on Cobblestone Streets.
Freiburg has a complex tram system with a great variety of equipment.
I made this view with my Lumix LX7 a week ago that features a new CAF tram gliding along cobblestone streets.
More Freiburg trams in future posts.
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Railways Under and Over; Tram and Train, Prague 2000.
Here we have two forms of railway transport in an active image.
I’ve always liked photos that show transport on two levels (or more). This photo worked out well. I caught a tram passing below a steeple-cab electric in suburban Prague in early June 2000.
What makes the whole image more interesting is the tram passenger flagging the car to stop. This puts a bit life in the photo.
Incidentally, if you haven’t been there, Prague is one of the great tram cities, and offers endless opportunities for photography.
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Belgian Coastal Tramway—Revisited.
Last weekend (October 3, 2015), I made my second visit to the Belgian Coastal Tramway (LIJN Kusttram). This tramway is one of Europe’s more unusual railways. It’s a narrow-gauge electric interurban line that connects towns and cities along the Belgian coast using modern trams.
The setting is peculiar to my eye, as much of the coast is characterized by mile after mile of high-rise apartments that face North Sea beaches. Between resort areas are heavy port facilities, such as that at Zeebrugge.
On my first visit, back in March 2013, I traveled from Ostend to the south end of the line near the French border. Back then it was gray, cold, and exceptionally windy. In other words, it was a complete contrast to last weekend, when it was warm, sunny, and comparatively still.
During this more recent visit, I explored the North-end of the line with some of my Irish friends who are now living in Belgium. At no point did my two journeys on the coastal tramway overlap.
One of these days I’ll need to visit again, and travel the line from end to end. I’ve by no means worked the most dramatic or most characteristic locations on the line.
Interestingly, I’ve seen relatively few published photos on the route, which makes it a bit more mysterious, and perhaps more interesting to explore.
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Tracking the Light EXTRA: VIRGIN LUAS on Dublin’s Streets.
To quote the phrase, Just Sayin’.
Twice over the last 24 hours, LUAS tram 4012 has caught my attention. This wears the latest of recent advertising liveries.
The red lettering helps makes for more interesting photos, although the lighting was pretty poor. I’ve had to make a variety of contrast adjustments in LightRoom to put a bit of zest into otherwise flat street photos. Silver trams on a dull day.
My opportunities to photograph 4012 are relatively limited. Maybe the sun will shine tomorrow, but then again if doesn’t I have my ‘safety shots’.
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