It seems that the photography session sent around Victoria Street in central Fleetwood on 2nd September 2018 was not the most successful ever as we have another entry for “So Nearly, Not Quite”!
The tram which was interrupted by a passing road vehicle this time was Balloon 724 which was just coming towards the end of its journey to Fleetwood as it was seen approaching Victoria Street stop. At this time the tram – which was one of the four to receive flat fronts as part of its overhaul – was in the attractive Red & Yellow Metro Coastlines livery and despite the best efforts of the passing traffic you can still see this livery at its best although it would appear the tram could do with a good wash! The grey car on the left seems to be parked but the shot is scuppered by the yellow car just coming into view. Ah, never mind, better luck next time!
Photograph by Gareth Prior
I think this picture could be easily salvaged with a little photo editing – simply by resizing to make the tram more dominant and copying and pasting some of the track nearest to the photographer over the remaining fragment of the car, together with copying the left corner of the front skirting of the tram to effect a minor repair where the right corner is missing. Maybe a bit of a cheat, but worth a try.
Pedestrians and road users often pose a challenge to tramway photographers. I’ve even been shouted at by an impatient motorist who wanted to park in a gap where I was standing to get a good shot, even though there were plenty of other places just as convenient for parking nearby. I decided not to argue the point in case the driver should become aggressive leading to confrontation and in consequence spending the remainder of the day answering questions down at the police station instead of taking more photographs elsewhere – plus the possible inconvenience of having to attend the magistrates along with the motorist to be bound over to keep the peace. Just not worth the hassle and better to let the opportunity go with good grace.
I would imagine a lot of these series could be improved with photo editing but that is well beyond my capabilities! And would mean this series would be null and void!
It is certainly part of the challenge trying to take photos between pedestrians and cars, you have to accept that they will get in the way at times – not that makesit any less frustrating when you think you may have the perfect photo lined-up!
I don’t think that the photograph is spoilt by the car. Surely it is perfectly valid to capture the tram in its environment. I ofte wait to try to include pedestrian, road traffic and other activities as I feel they enhance the images. I admit to editing to improve exposure and correct any tendency to accidentally slightly rotate my camera.