I spend a lot of time on the GO Train, commuting between Port Credit and Toronto, then walking from Union Station to my place of work. Once or twice I've taken some photos from the GO-Train window while the train was moving and I liked the blur and the distortion from the window, but the yield of good photos is low, making film shooting expensive and time consuming. Digital is perfect for this kind of experiment. Here is a sampling of various 'train shots' taken with film and digital.
Here's what the Port Credit GO station and train looked like in 1978 when I first started commuting:
Port Credit GO Train, 1978
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)The trains were all silver, no green logo yet, and single decker. They had just abandoned smoking cars, thank god! Fast forward to this week:
Train Arriving, Port Credit
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)I normally exit out the west side at Union Station along a newly opened exit on York Street. It's less crowded than wading through the GO Concourse when it's packed:
West Exit and Snow
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)When I'm lucky I catch the 4:42pm on the way home. The station is a collage of lighting, colour, motion and blur:
Ready for Departure
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)What I like best about this kind of photography is the opportunity to capture interesting blurred motion, as when another GO Train passed us headed the other way:
Trains Passing
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)And the interesting play of blur and sharpness caused by perspective, as in this shot as we're stopping at Exhibition:
Trains Passing
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)Then off the train at Port Credit to re-join family, help with some dinner, enjoy their company, then head for the computer room to upload the day's shooting:
Deboarding at Port Credit
(click on image for a larger, sharper view)(18-Mar-2004, Revised 17-June-2004)
www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca