Prague

Here's a somewhat unusual shot I got seconds before a heavy rainstorm hit, of Fall leaves actually airborne. The real scene was even more dramatic, by I had to reset my camera and in the time I lost I was left with a less dramatic shot. I hope you don't mind. :-) In the foreground you can see Nadrazi (train station) Branik, and in the background you can see the Branik Pivovar (brewery), which is also known by several other names. Although it was recently acquired by Staropramen, and rumors flew about its shutdown, it doesn't look abandoned yet. Just in the past week (third week in November, 2006), I've seen exhaust coming from the smokestack and employees coming and going.

This shot is taken facing the opposite direction from the Narodni Divadlo shots. We're looking towards Ujezd, and the Hladova Zed is visible on the left on Petrin Hill. These photos aren't exactly in order now since I had to repost this one with corrections. I took this one between the Narodni Divadlo shots and the Ujezd shot. :-)

This is over the Most Legii from Narodni Divadlo. The Hladova Zed, or Hunger Wall, can be seen on Petrin Hill in the snow.

This is part of a larger experiment with loading my Ikoflex with color film. This roll was badly underexposed, though, because of the shutter having no intermediate settings between 1/100 and 1/300, and of course my lack of skill. I'm wondering if the batteries in my Gossen Polysix lightmeter are a problem, too. I've also got a bit of a blue cast over everything, which I've noticed to a lesser degree with other photos taken with a Zeiss, and I've got vignetting ala Holga or Lomo, although the vignetting is something I've experienced before with underexposed Ikoflex shots. I also had considerable light leaks on this roll, although I doubt this is the camera, as I mishandled the film several times, and we know how 120 is. The issues with the film, I sense, also inhibited the lab from doing a good scan. Any tips on how to get the most out of color in an Ikoflex or other old Zeiss-lensed TLR would be welcome. :-)

This is a great intersection for tram photos! This is my first-ever color tram photo with the Ikoflex! I hope you like it, even if it has the same exposure problems as the other shots on this roll, plus a massive light leak on the right which I had to crop out. See my "Vaclavske Namesti In The Rain" shot for more details of this. For the couple who I inadvertantly caught in the crosswalk, if you contact me and give me your permission I can unblur your faces for you, if you want.

I just saw this photo and decided that it was perfect. My only regret was that I was carrying my Lomo and not my Ikoflex!! :-)

Here's another shot taken at Narodni Divadlo. Although I didn't notice it until the last second, the police make for a better composition of the photo.

I had walked the entire length of the Zelecnicni Most from east to west, had seen no trains whatsoever, and was just turning back when I got lucky and caught this. Okay, so it's a railbus and not a proper train, but I was still happy to get it.

During the recent snowstorms (actually back in February), I couldn't resist taking some train photos, so I walked and rode trams around Prague to see what I could get. I took this shot in Masarykovo Nadrazi.

While I was in Masarykovo Nadrazi taking my February snow pictures, I finally got around, also to photographing one of the 971 EMU's builder plates. I obviously like builder plates since they're a very reliable (usually) of knowing the straight historical facts about a piece of rolling stock, provided the plate is original, anyway. I especially like plates that are exotic, although it's debatable whether Skoda or CKD would fall into that category.

In addition to the new Class 471s and 971s, Masarykovo still hosts services operated by the older 451 and 452 classes, although they are gradually dwindling in number. Hlavni Nadrazi is generally the better place to spot "pantographs" if that's really what you're after.

This is one of my favorite pantograph shots. I really like the contrast between the snow and the darkness under the canopy, especially considering that most details in the photo came out fine, esepecially on the train itself.

This was my first ever shoot at the north end of Praha Hlavni Nadrazi, and it was, for the most part a success, even if I had little light and even less film to do it with. This is a local railbus service departing for Roztoky U Prahy, unless I'm mistaken.

Praha Hlavni Nadrazi, like most big city stations in the world, has a few switchers waiting at any given time to switch coaches, and Hlavni Nadrazi has the advantage of having an all-electric fleet. Most of these are Class 111s, but this one is a 110, which is a bit rarer. The bluish hue of this photo makes it look like it was bitterly cold, but in reality it wasn't so bad.

Here's a view of Praha Hlavni Nadrazi from the north, although regrettably there wasn't much getting around the fence and still getting such an expansive shot. Safety first, I guess.

I also took some tram photos during the February snowstorms, some of which I uploaded previously, which this being the latest batch. I shot this one at Jiriho z Podebrad.

Here's another Jiriho z Podebrad shot.

Here's yet another Jiriho z Podebrad shot, but facing in the other direction, giving us a faint look (back in the haze of snow) of Kostel Nejsvetejsiho Srdce Pane, or the Church of the Most Sacred Heart Of Our Lord.