409 - From The Underground



The minute when a reflection from some glass pane shed light on the wall outside to the right of my living room window, was a nice start into the day, but basically that was my last glimpse of sun. I am afraid it is becoming a pattern now: bright, sunny mornings that turn into gray slush as soon as I get out of the house 🙂

The next opportunity for taking photographs did not occur before I left work. It was already dim and unfriendly, everything from gusts to rain and the odd snowflake. I had protected my Loewepro Slingshot 300 with its all-weather cover (a fantastic bag, the best I’ve ever had), taken the camera out, protected by an umbrella, and tried to brave the elements.

No avail. When the droplets attacked horizontally and the wind turned around my umbrella for the second time, I cowardly retreated to the Underground.

The station “Volkstheater” is a crossing of two Underground lines, U2 and U3, thus it has two levels, U3, the one that I needed to take, being on the lower level. I took the image to the left while riding down the escalator. It is entirely uncomposed, basically a snapshot, but I like the slight motion blur and the strong feeling of perspective.

At the base of the escalator I turned my attention straight upwards for the Image of the Day. That’s always a good idea when you search for an image: look where you normally don’t look. It’s surprising how often this yields interesting views.

All images were taken with the Sigma 10-20 at 10mm, the Image of the Day at f4, ISO 500 and 1/4s, hand-held.

The Song of the Day is “Notes From The Underground” from the 1987 Manhattan Transfer album “Brasil”. I have not found a video clip on YouTube. Maybe there is one, but searching for the title, you only find clips related to Dostoevsky’s short novel, and searching for the group you find so many clips that I gave up wading through. Anyway, if you don’t already have this album, I can heartily recommend it to you. It is different from most of the Manhattan Transfer’s work, but nothing short of excellent.


There are 2 comments

Ted Byrne   (2007-11-27)

407, 8, and 9 are all masterpieces. Every one is a gem. It's hard to have a preference. The manhole and the door are an exquisite juxtaposition of shapes. The lighting on this last one is ephemeral. But 408 reminds me of my favorite, the image I own of the light that sparkles in the night from an emerald surface. I've forgotten the number, but it'd be cooll if you could link to it for anyone who comes by.

Very fine work Andreas. Your eye is astonishing.

Ted

💬 Reply 💬

andreas   (2007-11-27)

Just set the link. See #408.

Oh, and: thanks. I converse with very inspiring people 🙂

💬 Reply 💬