2007

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.

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!! :-)

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.

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.

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 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. :-)

I originally shot this with Ektachrome E100GX, one of the nicest color films you can buy if you can't get Kodachrome 64 or 200. On this particular day, though, during the Prague snowstorm two weekends ago, Hlavni Nadrazi, the main train station, was so obscured in the snow that the scene was, for practical purposes, a black and white scene. Seeing the scans of my two brackets, I decided to go with the lighter and hazier one for dramatic effect, and oddly, convert it to black and white. Why not? I think it looks better this way. Maybe some of you can tell me what you think, and I can consider uploading other versions of this.

This was my first ever photo of Checkpoint Charlie, taken from the Eastern side in January of 2007, when the Christmas tree was still up. This was the same trip during which I shot the other Ektachromes of the Brandenberger Tor and other landmarks.

This was taken from the western side of Checkpoint Charlie. When you face east, you see the poster of the East German soldier, and when you look west you see the poster of the American soldier, both posters being on the same post.

This was the warning sign used during the Cold War to formally inform people crossing the border that they were entering the American sector. Although it's obviously obsolete now, it's been kept up as part of the overall preservation effort on Checkpoint Charlie.

I attempted a number of shots from the Berlin Television Tower, but regrettably this was one of the only ones that came out because the windows were very dirty that day. I can't tell if this train was an Intercity or a Eurocity, but it would be one or the other, as that's DB Intercity equipment, which is also used on the Eurocities.

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.