Japanorama: Photography, Photographers, Japan | Southbound Keikyu Line Train; Yokohama, Japan

Southbound Keikyu Line Train; Yokohama, Japan

i know you hate notes but i love how the light line stops here dead. Very crisp and great angle. my fave shot of your for a while.

Here's a little one to keep it company. Cheers Charlie. I dont hate notes.... just the great flashing fucking graphics that people put on my pages sometimes :-)

Whilst my wife was out teaching in Yokohama on Tuesday night, I wandered around and shot some pics. Found a little level-crossing near the station, in a deserted area of town which was quite run-down. Tried a few setups but this one worked the best. Timing the shot was critical and that’s the great benefit of digital and of a busy train line: lots of attempts to get it right and not burning through a whole roll of film to do so.

I had no tripod with me so I balance the camera on my rucksack, which I had laid on the floor. The Tokina is pretty heavy so I needed something to prop up the front of the lens. The perefct item turned out to be my softpack of Marlboro cigarettes. Voila! Fired with a remote cord, the rig was totally stable.

I was also perilously near to the tracks, being about 6ft the wrong side of the barrier. Got a good ‘toot’ on the horn from the driver for that!

Nikon D300
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
1 second @ f/5 and 400ISO

Tags: train, densha, keikyu, tracks, levelcrossing, railway, railroad, rails, lowangle, lowperspective, yokohama, japan, japanese, night, lights, trails, lighttrails, longexposure, nikjon, d300, tokina1116mmf28, wideangle, notripod, usingmybagandapacketofmarlborocigarettesasatripod
Uploaded: July 16, 2009
View this photo on Flickr

38 comments

DANIEL HERNANZ wrote...
wonderful. good quality wiyh your tokina

Eric Flexyourhead wrote...
The light streams here are amazing! Loving the low angle... not having a tripod has definitely worked in your favour, Alfie! Excellent shot!

[~Bryan~] wrote...
wow... wonderful!

Kiem Tang wrote...
Good job. Looks very futuristic. Sort of sums up modern Japan.

Abhijit Dasgupta wrote...
This is really great

Alfie Goodrich wrote...
Cool, cheers Abhi. I have some stuff to send you soon, sir. Did you get all the other bits and pieces?

Gavin Flansburg wrote...
incredible.

rizalito rodelas wrote...
nice shot...fantastic!

Muntasir Kareem wrote...
Amazing

M. Khanif Nudiyanto wrote...
superb long exposure of a train... another masterpiece from you, sir!

michal pachniewski wrote...
great work! like the angle and sharpness!

Arm wrote...
nice light trail!

specialfx wrote...
Wow! Looks like something out of a sci-fi movie!

William wrote...
This is a great picture.

⌠ ѕтυαят ωιℓкιє ⌡ wrote...
Superb!! Colours are top, congrats :)

Colton Davie wrote...
Great location and perspective. Interesting use of light streaks.

.banzai wrote...
Perfect perspective! Great use of what you had to get this photo! It's great :].

Cortez77_fr wrote...
Amazing coposition ! very graphical

Anna Shkarina wrote...
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Photografica, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Peter wrote...
Please don't be the next Bob Carlos-Clarke, Alfie.

Ken Tsang wrote...
awesome perspective, great control of exposure!

Edmund Louie wrote...
Wow...just absolutely outstanding in all respects.

Alfie Goodrich wrote...
@Shashin168: no plans to do a Bob. No plans to visit Barnes in the near future either :-)

Elizabeth wrote...
Only just found you on Flickr, courtesy of bitrot. I suspect you are about to be inundated with contacts and comments! Verrrry inspiring photostream you have here and I love the blog too. I'll be baaaaaaaaack ... to explore further, as my reward for a hard day's work ;-)

Lloyd kimeldorf wrote...
cool shot

Sean Lucas wrote...
The Keikyu level-crossings around Yokohama provide brilliant little photo-ops

japandemic superfly wrote...
nice...timing a leaving train to get the light trails is difficult. stumbled around many a level-crossing such as this with a can chu-hi or heartland bottle myself.

Alfie Goodrich wrote...
....this train was coming towards me, not leaving me.

jphanky08 wrote...
The best rewards come to those who take the biggest risks. You took a risk with shot and now reap the rewaards mate.... great shot.

/\/\r_/\/\_/\/\ontg0mery wrote...
love it Alfie. and thanks for the tips about the shoot last week.

Mike Connolly wrote...
Really love the richness of the industrial tones in the background, and the precise "marker-drawn" lines left by the lights. I guess there was a spotlight on the approaching train, which died off soon after the train came further forward - That's the only explanation for why only the lights are visible further into the frame. Awesome shot!