{"id":7987,"date":"2014-08-31T02:37:19","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T06:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=7987"},"modified":"2014-08-25T04:05:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-25T08:05:26","slug":"take-a-ride-on-the-sncb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/take-a-ride-on-the-sncb\/","title":{"rendered":"Take a Ride on the SNCB"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charleroi to La Hulpe.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My time in Charleroi had come to a close. My next destination was La Hulpe in the suburbs south of Brussels. While I anticipated taking an Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges (Belgian National Railways or SNCB) train to Brussels and changing trains there, the ticket seller convinced me to try another option.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cheaper and faster to travel to Ottignies<\/a>.\u201d Ok, why not.<\/p>\n

When I went up to platform 3A at Charleroi Sud, what appeared to be the oldest train in Belgium rattled in to collect me.\u00a0I ended up riding a line I previously didn\u2019t even have on my map (this turns out to be line 140).<\/p>\n

While the train\u2019s inside was nicely refurbished, it retained openable windows, a rare treat in today\u2019s world of train travel.<\/p>\n

No sooner than I boarded the train and the rain began, again. But after a while the sun came out and so I made a series of images using my Lumix LX7, which I was able to hold out the window at arms-length \u00a0while keeping a sharp eye on the rear display screen.<\/p>\n

\"Exposed<\/a>
Exposed with a Lumix LX7 with built in neutral density filter engaged, 1\/3 second at f8, 80 ISO. Handheld with aid of built in image stabilizer. Looking away from the direction of travel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the Lumix LX7s features are a built in neutral density filter and image stabilizer. This allowed me to make relatively long exposures in bright daylight while keeping the camera steady.<\/p>\n

SNCB\u2019s track is flawless, and the heavy aged train provided a solid, nearly vibration-free ride, allowing me to\u00a0expose\u00a0a series photos using\u00a0long shutter speeds intended to blur the tracks and countryside while keeping the train sharp.<\/p>\n

Hooray for old trains on good track!<\/p>\n

\"Exposed<\/a>
Exposed for 1\/8 second at f8, 80 ISO with neutral density filter. The ND filter cuts the exposure by two full stops, so without it my exposure time would have been about 1\/30 of a second. Enough for a bit of blur, but not enough for the appropriate effect.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tracking the Light<\/a>\u00a0posts\u00a0new\u00a0material\u00a0every\u00a0morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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