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I wasn't sure what I'm shooting for, but hanging to the rail

of the car and passing the surroundings gave me a feeling of

traveling in time, hence was this shot.

Without reading where this picture is taken, I could tell it is on the trolly in SF! very nice, I feel my hair blowing in the air!!

Salman--this is a good idea, the problem is execution. First, you need a really deep DOF to do justice to this photo, so the hill is not blurry. Second, and this is related to the first, you needed to add more "hilliness" to this shot--either be closer to the hill, or be on another line. I can't tell where you are, but if you were on the initial descent from Russian Hill on the Powell Ave. line, going toward the Wharf, you'd have gotten that hilliness. Third, for Heaven's sake, this is SAN FRANCISCO. You need a landmark of some kind! It's been awhile but a ride of the system could have yielded you the Transamerica Tower (Columbus Ave. or California) or some choice views of Chinatown (Columbus) or even Fisherman's Wharf (Powell), ugly tourist trap it be. Powell St. if caught near the crest of Russian Hill might give you Alcatraz--I'm not sure, as I said, it's been awhile. You might be able to find some nice SF-type brownstones on any line. You might want to take a forward looking shot.

 

Something more subjective is that I think you should have kept this picture in color. California cities should be shot in color, unless you have a good reason to do otherwise. One exception would be photographing prostitutes down in the Tenderloin at 2am. Contrast this w/New York, often looks better and more real in B&W.

 

Read up on the "Film" section of this site--it says don't use ISO200 and many folks agree with that. ISO200 gives you a lot of grain, almost as much as 400, and only 1 extra stop exposure, not 2. An ISO400 film (anything but Kodak MAX400) would have been a better choice.

 

Bottom line--you're on to something, you just have to improve your execution. If you live in the area, spend a day on the cable cars and knock yourself silly getting shots on every line possible and in every sort of weather. The latter should not be too difficult. ;-)

 

Cheers from someone who left their heart in SF . . . KEP