Night lights

A train line which runs behind your house has its advantages, although it’s taken me eight years to exploit this. It’s after dark and pleasant enough to set up the camera and tripod by an open window.

The Hammersmith and City line trains are less frequent at night and tend to thunder straight past. So these are bright, fast-moving objects under low light conditions. It was very hard to catch them.

But what I did capture were numerous colourful, thick streaks of light zipping past the sky, which I discovered can be made into beautifully neat abstract frames.

I managed to see into the carriage of one train and also turned my lens on the trees when the trains were absent, finding a beautiful ink blue sky. A good and unexpected evening’s work.

Click first image to launch the gallery

Tags: abstract, art, colour palettes, Hammersmith and City line, London, low light photography, photography, transport, Tube trains

27 thoughts on “Night lights”

ehpem on January 13, 2014 at 23:49 said:

These are very nice Mike. What a great use for a train in the backyard! I like how you have cropped them too – train-shaped crops work really well here.

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- mikeosbornphoto on January 14, 2014 at 09:19 said:
  
  Thanks so much. I wasn’t expecting these results at all, so it was certainly a bonus. The golden shot has become my standard bearer all over the web.
  
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snappy~speak photo on June 23, 2013 at 06:41 said:

These are fun, I like ’em!
~Christy

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- mikeosbornphoto on June 23, 2013 at 10:04 said:
  
  Thanks Christy :-)
  
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Anonymous on May 15, 2013 at 18:00 said:

Wow; superb pictures Mike!!

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jdtphotography.co.uk on May 10, 2013 at 15:39 said:

OMG! Sorry I have to say this again…omg! Brilliant! Interesting perspectives, great colour and a cohesive collection of images that make you look and look again to enjoy them as a whole and secondly as great images in their own right.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 11, 2013 at 22:38 said:
  
  Thank you very much, James, so glad you enjoyed them. I appreciate that greatly.
  
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ckponderings on May 10, 2013 at 13:38 said:

A great idea beautifully captured, Mike! :)

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 10, 2013 at 13:44 said:
  
  Thank you as ever, Mr CK!
  
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lena de almeida on May 6, 2013 at 18:57 said:

These are fantastic Mike. I love the colours and abstract images.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 6, 2013 at 19:37 said:
  
  Thanks so much, Lena. It was good to do this from an open window indoors!
  
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dsj photography on May 6, 2013 at 15:55 said:

Love these!

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 6, 2013 at 15:58 said:
  
  Thank you, glad to hear it! The light abstracts definitely came as an unexpected surprise.
  
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iago80 on May 6, 2013 at 12:32 said:

Wonderful images

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 6, 2013 at 12:44 said:
  
  Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
  
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Ed Spadoni on May 5, 2013 at 23:50 said:

Love the abstract effect you’ve captured here Mike.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 6, 2013 at 09:43 said:
  
  Thank you Ed, I appreciate that. It’s reignited my low light photography activities.
  
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EmptySpaces11 on May 5, 2013 at 13:42 said:

I like this kind of image. It’s abstract to me, as I said on Facebook. Not all of them of course, but I like colors and lines delimiting the space without lead us to something real, as a representation of the world.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 5, 2013 at 13:53 said:
  
  Thank you Evelyn, I’m glad the images provoke thought. The abstract shots are far removed from being representations of trains passing at speed, I’d say.
  
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katrien steenssens on May 5, 2013 at 11:29 said:

What a wonderful series, ranging from the abstract to the figurative and with the first image depicting movement and stillness at once – serendipity at work – great !

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 5, 2013 at 11:43 said:
  
  Thank you Katrien, I really appreciate your thoughts. I wasn’t sure what to expect from an evening in my dark bathroom by the train line, but am pleased with what emerged.
  
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lostfunzone on May 5, 2013 at 10:59 said:

Great stuff! I really like the colourful abstracts.

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 5, 2013 at 11:03 said:
  
  Thank you very much! Yes, they were almost an accidental discovery – and a favourable one!
  
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  - lostfunzone on May 5, 2013 at 11:55 said:
    
    absolutely. i’m looking forward to seeing more of them ;)
    
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    - mikeosbornphoto on May 5, 2013 at 11:56 said:
      
      Well I’m moving away from the train line soon, so will have to find something similar elsewhere!
      
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steviepreater on May 5, 2013 at 10:04 said:

They’re lovely. Glad you found the up side to living by a train line! I love the first and third ones, of the trains disappearing. Great work!

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- mikeosbornphoto on May 5, 2013 at 10:09 said:
  
  Thanks very much for popping by, Stevie. Yes, I don’t know what took me so long. The abstracts were a bit of a revelation. Looking forward to keeping up with your work and enjoy the long weekend.
  
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