Seeing four SEPTA drivers in one trolley
Scene Through the Lens with Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish.
Can you see all four? There is one “real” image of SEPTA trolley operator Victoria Daniels and three different reflections.
I only saw two reflections as I was trying to focus and compose while bracing my camera on the back of a seat to stabilize myself on the moving trolley. I wanted to photograph the light at the end of the tunnel (the metaphor was apt, as tens of thousands of riders are hoping for some relief as service in the Center City Tunnel has been shut down for weeks.)
Sound like I was having fun? (I was.)
SEPTA held a press conference to update commuters on repairs after glitches stranded passengers in the tunnel and the Federal Transit Administration ordered the agency to inspect the catenary system (the connection between the overhead wires and the pole that conducts electricity to the vehicle) along all its trolley routes.
More than just a “talker” the SEPTA folks first showed lots of equipment parts and then we got to take a field trip, riding a trolley into the closed tunnel to see where they were repairing the overhead wire.
While, for most of the media, the ride was just a way to get to the closed station for the show-and-tell, for me it was an opportunity to take pictures out the windows — something I like to do anytime I am on public transit. And play around with exposures …
...which sometimes just doesn’t work out.
Two things that did work out photographically this week; the first snowfall of the season:
And, on the same day, a firefighter Santa riding through the neighborhood.
» READ MORE: Santa brings cheer
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color: