During the extended autumn break this year I also took some days off to take care of my daughter. Apart from playing at home, we also went out to the tracks one day. This time we went to Zichem. We enjoyed a picknick and the company of friends who live closeby, that we hadn’t seen in real life since a couple of months. There were … Continue reading Social time
During the last weekend of October, train traffic between the Belgian seaports and Germany was diverted over Mechelen, Leuven and Aarschot. This promised some intense freight traffic between Mechelen and Leuven.I decided to take my daughter out for a day along the tracks. Playing with the ball and a bicycle – on safe spots! – and occasionally snapping some shots with the camera. We both … Continue reading Q stands for quality time
In May 2017, 2 friends and I made a trip to Morocco. Why Morocco? First reason were the phosphate trains between the mines around Khouribga and the Atlantic ports. Second reason were the BB72000 diesel locomotives that were running their last kilometers. We were also silently hoping to still catch some of the Astride locomotives that AKIEM rented out to ONCF for some time. Last … Continue reading First time in Morocco
On the way back home after a day of work in Antwerp, I needed some air. I decided to spend some time on the Schelde’s left bank, and see what would be coming.I was lucky enough to get one of the first rides of a Vectron locomotive from BLS Cargo. And some other interesting trains. It weren’t the trains, however, that made it a good … Continue reading Beautiful light, after all
A heads-up right on time, at the end of the working day, made this picture possible. The photo location in Oostkamp has changed a lot, construction of a new industry zone is oingoing. Catch them wile you can, although this autumn was probably the last one that we could easily photograph a DB TRAXX locomotive heading towards Zeebrugge, as DB has just started commercially operating … Continue reading A simple autumn picture
After the previous attempt, I wanted to work on sharpness. The strong flash lasts for a time that is long enough to get motion unsharpness. Solution: less powerful flashing, ISO up. Sharpness is fine now. Next working points: get the ISO value down and light some more aspects of the train and its surroundings. Continue reading Optimizing the night shots
Night photography fascinates me. How to get good pictures in almost complete darkness?Previous attempts with flashes were frustrating. I didn’t like the whole setup with classic batteries: they are always empty when you need them, and flashes didn’t fire a bit too often. Also, separate battery powered remotes were needed.This year I tried a new system with rechargable high-capacity batteries and efficient flash units, with … Continue reading Into the night again
Since a couple of years now, Belgian rail freight operator Lineas is building up a network of train services around Tergnier. I’ve wanted to check this out for a while, and on August 7th of 2020 I finally made it there. We left before sunrise and started the day at Couvron-et-Aumencourt, between Tergnier and Laon. Lineas, Europorte and SNCF Infra made for a good start … Continue reading First time around Tergnier
One memory of a warm day in the Tergnier region. Vegetation was freshly removed and we were lucky to be there at this moment, with an unobstructed view on tracks and fields. Continue reading Looking out over the fields
Last weekend, works between Bruges and Ghent meant rerouting of rail traffic over scenic West-Flemisch rail lines, that otherwise don’t see that many freight and intercity traffic.Add to that a sunny Saturday, and no car available. What you get is an oldschool day trip by bicycle. Packed with photogear, tripod, lunch and water; led by the circumstances to get the most out of the day. … Continue reading Oldschool day out
Railscapes 