7:00 p.m.: Waiting for the dark.
7:30 p.m.: Waiting for traffic.
8:00 p.m.: Waiting for traffic.
8:30 p.m.: Waiting for traffic.
Read here why you never should give up waiting.
8:57 p.m.: Finally the two hours of waiting seem to pay off.
8:58 p.m.: 1st photograph: 240 seconds, f16, ISO 200.
9:13 p.m.: 2nd photograph: 300 seconds, f16, ISO 200.
Anxiously waiting for the final images felt like 2 eternities.
I have always wanted to photograph the Tremola pass road by night – the long traces of the white and red lights of the traffic must be mindblowing.
This year I finally was ready to go and went to the Gotthard pass and the old Tremola.
After setting up my tent at the wild campsite (location 4) near the Tremola (see the illustration below) I took my camera and headed over to the new Gotthard pass road, passed by the entry of the open tunnel (location 5) to my final destination (location 6) – just opposite the beautiful old Tremola road.
It was still early in the evening and I had plenty of time to find the perfect spot and set up the tripod and camera, and make my composition.
Ready for my photograph I watched the traffic on the Tremola right opposite through my binoculars – there were numerous cyclists, iconic motorcycles (Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, BMW); true dream cars (Ferrari, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Porsche, Land Rover); many rare Oldtimers – it was really exciting.
Waiting for the dark.
7:00 p.m.: Waiting for the dark.
7:30 p.m.: As soon as it got dark the traffic stopped too. Waiting for traffic.
Waiting for traffic.
8:00 p.m.: Waiting for traffic.
8:30 p.m.: After waiting patiently for almost two hours I finally gave up a bit frustrated. I took my camera and headed back to my campsite – maybe there would be more traffic another day.
When passing by the the massive construction of the open tunnel of the new pass road (between location 6 and 5) I looked back and there he was: My old friend The Moon.
The location (5) where I took this photograph was close to a group of maybe 10 photo enthusiasts; they obviously wanted to photograph the Tremola by night as well. Each of them had set up his professional camera and tripod pointing to the same direction – to the old Tremola.
When passing them by, saying “Hello”, one of the photographers asked me, what subject I had been photographing before – they obviously must have noticed me when photographing The Moon.
“The Moon and the traffic in the tunnel,” I answered – and by his reaction I realized that none of them had noticed The Moon right behind them – or at least nobody seemed to be impressed enough by the fantastic scenery. They all had been too busy and too focused on the old Tremola, or maybe they didn’t want to risk to miss their shot of the old Tremola by refocussing on another subject? Anyways, refocussing took me a few seconds only – it would be a pity to miss The Moon. I found myself smiling.
When I left the group I heard someone say: “Now I am going to drive myself.” – meaning they all were sick of waiting for hours for the (missing) traffic on the Tremola.
Wow. Keep waiting. It may be worth.
Maybe I could just wait for him to drive down the old Tremola and up again? Maybe he would be “my traffic”? I decided to find a good location (near location 5), about 200 meters next to the photographer’s group and set up my camera again.
My 1st photograph was made at 8:58 p.m., with an exposure of 240 seconds, at f16 and on ISO 200.
The 2nd photograph was made at 9:13 p.m., with an exposure of 300 seconds, at f16 and on ISO 200.
As always with the noise reduction set to “On”, waiting for the final image after taking the photograph felt like an eternity – in this case even like two eternities.
As a conclusion: Never give up. Be flexible.
I take this as a conclusion – and always be flexible enough to see the beauty around you while waiting patiently.
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