So I’m ready to go. I know where I’m going and how
to get there. I know where those interesting old diesel railcars
from the forties and fifties can still be found in regular service.
Timetables have been downloaded. Hotels have been booked.
The weather forecast is good. Time off work has been arranged.
I know the shots I’m after. Will it all work out?
It’s a long drive from the Netherlands to the Czech Republic
so I’ve got time to reflect and look forward to what I
might see. I pass villages in former East Germany where I shot
German diesel railcars some years ago. The old rolling stock
and the minor lines themselves have disappeared since I was there.
After reunification with West Germany new roads were built, financed
by the rich west. Many minor lines were no longer needed and
closed one by one. I remember getting some good shots there.
But that was then. Nowadays I need to travel farther afield.
The Czech Republic is the next nearest place to find what I’m
looking for. As I get closer to my destination, the sky gets
hazier. Not good! Haze kills light. Every cloud I see makes me
think the weather forecast may be wrong. There is nothing worse
than sitting around waiting for good weather.
I reach the area near Decin early
the next afternoon, and there is still plenty
of time to get some shots. Scouting the line from Decin to Usti
I notice a good location with a great mountain backdrop. I return
later in the day once the sun has moved into a more suitable position.
Clouds have appeared too, and they are ready to move in front of
the sun whenever a train passes. The first train comes and so does
the obligatory cloud. Okay digital photography is free so I take
a few shots anyway but it isn’t what I hoped for. So I
lie back and wait for the next train, which should be along in
an hour's time. Clouds come and go during the wait. When it’s
time for the next train there is sun, but the train is delayed.
Clouds darken the scene again. Stress levels rise… Who
says railway photography is relaxing? Then Mr. Murphy takes a
short break (he really does that now and then), and the railcar
just manages to sneak past during the next break in the clouds.
It’s
a weak sun but it illuminates the entire rock. It will have to
do.
The next day I head straight for the
famous stone viaduct of Novina. It is only a 60 km drive from
the hotel, but most of the drive is on minor roads in poor condition.
Evading potholes and negotiating the occasional unmarked detour
it seems to take ages to get there. In the end I am rewarded with
a great view. There are even better possibilities than the picture
I’d
seen on the internet. No clouds in sight, so nothing can go wrong
on that front. I shoot a railcar, move to an alternative spot
and then wait for the “train of the day”. This is
the only locomotive-hauled long distance train to pass at a
suitable time. Apparently this is the place to be for this train
on this line, because things get a bit silly with up to four
other Czech spotters joining me up on the hillside before the
train finally comes.
In preparation of my tour I’d
noticed that there were two large bridges over the river Labe
at Decin and at Usti nad Labem. I visit them both. The bridge
at Decin proves to be very challenging. I approach it from all
sides but can’t find the killer shot. The composition is
made all the more difficult by the fact there is only one location
where you can position the train on the bridge as I didn’t
want it to be hidden by the girders. And I need to fit the monastery
in somehow too.
The bridge at Usti is easier to shoot, being
the type of bridge where the steel lattice girders are positioned
below the deck of the bridge. The city of Usti also has a conveniently
positioned old manor house (now restaurant) on the top of
a nearby hill. The view is great, not only of the bridge but
of the town too and many locals join me up there to enjoy the
view.
In the evening I transfer to Olomouc
in the east of the country, another four hour drive. The next
day I check out a location where I shot a chartered steam train
under a still bare tree four weeks earlier. I’m not into
trees but to me it looked like a tree which would bare colourful
blossoms. I’d shot this tree in my mind many times during
the long drive. So the disappointment is great when I find that
I am too early for the blossoms. I’ll have to make do with
simply repeating the steam shot with a vintage diesel railcar.
The railcar does appear but at the same time Mr. Murphy decides
the sun has been exercised enough for the day. With poor light
and no blossoms, this missed shot is the main disappointment of
the tour. You can’t win them all.
Because I know you don’t want to see failed shots I’ve
included an image of a different tree, which did work out.
Even the railcars on the rural lines
are used by locals, so I am constantly looking for
strong station scenes. I take close ups of the station master
giving the departure sign. I shoot trains being stormed by masses
of people on arrival. I shoot general tranquil rural station
settings. Nice shots, but nothing really exciting, nothing really
to get the heart pounding. On the last day I go for a
more experimental type of shot in which I put the train out of
focus, like I often do. At the time I think of it as just another
shot. As sometimes happens the shot was really made in post processing
back home with a black and white conversion turning it into that
special shot I was looking for. Delayed success will do just
nicely, thank you.
I execute a planned shoot over a pool
near Sternberk which I’d seen a month earlier too. I sit
in my car as a rain shower passes. When it gets a little brighter
I move into position. Waiting for the train the light gets worse
by the minute. Yes, Mr Murphy is working hard to give me a soaking.
I crank up the ISO to 400. I need a wide angle lens for
this shot and my example needs to be stopped down to f8 for the
best results and I was already down to f6.7. How fast will the
train pass here? What is the slowest shutter speed I can risk?
Will the train pass in time? Is there an alternative position
that will allow me to use my superior 28-75/2.8? Can I chance
it and move position? The train just comes in time and I get
the hoped for perfect reflection just seconds before the wind
gets up and I have to run for shelter from the shower. I don’t
mind getting wet after the shot though.
Everywhere I go I’m on the lookout
for the definitive spring shot, but without luck. Trees either
aren’t in flower or the colours simply aren’t strong
enough compounded by the hazy light. Suitable trees all seem
to be too far from the railway line to be usable. Near this rural
crossing I finally manage a reasonable shot.
What about the low light shots you all know I like to take?
Was I too lazy to get up for the 5 O’clock sunrise? Well
there was no sunrise. Because of the haze, the sun unpretentiously
appeared mid morning. The clouds in the evenings ruled out any
meaningful sunset shots too.
As an unexpected bonus the lines on
both banks of the river Labe have a Rhine valley look to them
in certain areas. I need to visit them again to fully exploit
the potential here as the time is quickly running out and I need
to leave to reach the hotel half way back home before the reception
closes. After a one and a half
hour ordeal on local roads (they are still building the motorway),
I’ve crept over the border, and am back on the
German Autobahn. Traffic is low and I can put my foot down. Doing
150 km/h most of the way I reach the hotel with minutes to spare.… Well
judged or just lucky?
Technical Information
I used a Canon EOS 10D for all shots. I had three lenses with
me. A Tamron 28-75/2.8 as my general purpose lens used on 90%
of the shots. A Canon 70-200/4L for the long shots and a Voigtlander
19-35/3.5-4.5 for the wide angle shots, which I actually only
needed once. I used two 512MB CF cards and a 40 GB mobile harddrive
on which I copied the days shots each evening. On the 5 day tour
I shot about 200 frames.
About the Author
Ian Lawrence lives in the Netherlands and works as a civil engineer
(piping and pipelining). He spends his spare time photographing
trains in their surroundings, always looking for the perfect
shot in the best light. As the Netherlands don’t have many
locations where he can get the type of shots he likes, he travels
abroad whenever he can.
More of his work can be seen on his homepage at www.railway-photography.net
