Trains, or rather, guided transportation vehicles are technical pieces of art in my opinion. I love scrutinizing and understanding how they work and following all the advancements. And in this photo, I sought to catch something I've been trying to for a very long time.
This is the tramway line 1 in Nice, France.
The idea
It's quite a classic vision of trains. Catching them at high speed with slow shutter speed translates that sense of velocity that can make a picture look cool and mysterious. I wanted to paint that picture as well, but with a more "Sci-Fi" twist to it.
The contrast (obviously edited) and the blurriness of the overall picture sells us on the idea that this machine is out of this world and reaches speeds that make the ground shake.
The lines are incredibly dynamic, all converging to one point, giving a real direction to the lecture of the photo. The gradient of the advertisement on the side of the tram helps tell a story of extraordinary nature. The blues and oranges mix in and contrast to define the movement and the effect the train has on its surrounding. Even the blown out sky illustrates a sort of supernatural phenomenon.
To me, that's what these machine are: extraordinary pieces of engineering that are understood by very few and yet used by so many, making them an essential part of many people's lives. The enthusiasm I feel towards trains and their cousins is genuine and I hope to transmit that to as many people as I can throughout my job, my art, and my conversations with my surrounding.
The technique
It was so fun and such a challenge to take this picture. It might be obvious to some, but I did not have the right setting for this photo. I was in broad daylight (without an ND filter) and had no tripod. The perfect combination to mess up a long exposure photo. But the result I got after multiple tries blew my mind. I managed to stabilize myself as much as I could, while catching the tramway at the perfect moment. Further, that tram happened to have a beautiful advertisement that, when caught at long exposure, gave this incredible gradient I could have only hoped for.
I blew up the light and pulled out the blues and oranges to further push the feeling of surrealism I got with the natural light. The portrait format of the picture pushes the vertical borders to have the tram take up all the space of the photo, implying the imposing figure of the machine.
Tools
Camera: Canon 1300D
Lens: 18-55 mm
Comments