Slice Of Heaven || Stockholm Tunnelbana Adventures
While in Stockholm I spent 4 out of 5 nights underground in the Tunnelbana (T Bana) System. Why the heck would I do that, you ask? Well, the simple answer is insanity, but the longer explanation would include that, for some reason, I’m fascinated by elaborate subway and train stations so I’ve been shooting them all over the world. And in my (moderately insane) opinion, Stockholm holds some of the coolest subway stations on the planet.
In T Bana Vreten there are a few dozen sky cubes sticking out of the walls, floor, and ceiling. Since nearly all of the blue metro line is deep underground, it’s quite a juxtaposed effect in an otherwise claustrophobic and monochrome environment.
One of my favorite things about this type of photography is the strange looks you get from people, especially after midnight. It always makes me smile when I see someone making a “WTF is he taking a picture of?!” face. Or my personal favorite, why is that strange man laying on his belly and humming the tune from Batman?!” face.
My wife and I spent a few hours in Vreten Station not only considering different compositions and angles but also waiting for 2 trains to zoom by in frame. Since the trains arrived in 12 minute offset cycles, finding the right timing required quite a bit of patience. So as the clock ticked past midnight and delirium set in, what did we do to pass the time?… WE DANCED!
Obviously I wasn’t kidding about the insanity thing. 
Amazing shot, might help that blue is my favorite color. That you for taking the time to capture.
Very cool shot, Elia!! Your patience paid off big time!
Thanks you two!
This is so sharp! I see that d800 is treating you well! Great shot!
Yeah, agree with Wes, super sharp and great composition Elia. awesome!
I have never been there, but your pictures of the station are amazing and make me want to visit. Any country willing to spend that kind of dough to make there subway system look that great has to be worth visiting. I love when I am in a old subway station in NYC that you can tell in its hayday was absolutely beautiful.
Actually Wes, I’m finding the D800 to be much softer than the D700. Not to mention that the autofocus system (especially) on the left side, is horribly mis-calibrated. I’m going to have to send it in for servicing when I’m back in the states later this year. The sharpness in this image is due to aggressive post sharpening with NIK Software.
Eric, If you make it to Stockholm, the Tunnelbana is well worth the visit.