Ernest H. Robl
Stock Photo Update #19
Winter 2001-2002
Copyright © 2002 Ernest H. Robl

A newsletter for picture editors and researchers

Snowy Austrian Christmas provides memorable scenics, people photos

"Silent Night" town of Oberndorf, music city of Salzburg among locations depicted during 10-day trip

From a candle-lit Christmas Eve procession through the frozen Austrian countryside to train rides through newly falling snow, my December trip to Austria produced both memorable experiences and memorable photos.

Based in Salzburg, my travels ranged as far as Innsbruck (and nearby Seefeld) and Vienna, but much of the time was spent in the small towns of the high country above Salzburg, where the world-famed Christmas Hymn "Silent Night" was composed and first performed in the early 1800s.

Why no holiday cards this year? See below.

A selection of the new material is now featured on my Web site via the "Recent images" page, as well as being added to Austrian stock photo pages. (Begin by selecting "Pictures by category" on the home page.)

Austrian coverage

The thousand-plus images produced on this trip not only supplement existing coverage of Austria but also provides a focus on travel subjects available from my stock photo collection. (Though I’m best known by many of my clients for photos of transportation subjects, I have also long produced travel photos and also written travel features.)

Among the new images:

Trains and scenics

My travels around Austria by train also produced scenics shot from the trains, including snow-covered forests and small villages along these routes. Most photos were not shot through window glass but rather through an open windows.

Even with substantial snow on the ground, the trains mostly ran punctually to the minute. Only in a few cases, during very heavy snow were trains delayed slightly-—and then only by a few minutes.

Photos also show heavily snow- and frost-covered railroad equipment.

Salzburg Lokalbahn (Local Railway)

I spent considerable time on and around the Salzburg Lokalbahn (SLB or Salzburg Local Railway)—because it provided transportation to the "Silent Night" towns in the high country above Salzburg, and because this line is itself an interesting operation.

This short (32 km or about 20 miles) line handles large volumes of passengers to and from downtown Salzburg. At the same time the line also provides freight services to industries on the outskirts of Salzburg and the small towns along the line.

Beyond that, the line has a strong sense of history providing a home to both its own historic equipment and that of several rail history groups.

Transportation subjects

In addition to the railroad equipment photographed during my long-distance travels and on the Salzburg Lokalbahn, I also visited an intermodal terminal in Munich on the return leg of my trip. Even with reduced holiday freight traffic the visit provided opportunities to photograph equipment.

 

Signs of the Euro (€) currency and things to come in Europe

My December trip to Austria and Germany came just before the formal introduction of the Euro (€), the new common currency for a range of European countries, at the beginning of 2002

(The Euro has existed as an electronic currency for business-to business transactions, but paper notes and coins did not go into circulation until the start of 2002.)

Introduction of the Euro greatly simplifies travel in Europe in these ways:

  • Travelers no longer have to change currency when traveling between countries—transactions which were both costly (eating up money in transaction fees) and often time-consuming (waiting in lines or making trips to banks).
  • Price comparisons have become much simpler, even among different countries.
  • With the Euro only slightly less than a U.S. dollar, Americans can easily evaluate prices.

Though the trip’s focus on Christmas and travel subjects didn’t allow opportunities to shoot Euro subjects—financial institutions were closed during many of the days I was in Austria—I did bring back a sample pack of Euro coins.

In the meantime, I’ve shot a variety of still-lifes with these coins, including ones with a U.S. passport and ones with a Eurail ticket as background.

Samples of these photos are available on my Web site through the "Pictures by category" menu option on the home page.

 
My apologies for not sending out holiday cards this year—and some personal thoughts

If you are a long-time client, you may have become used to getting a photo greeting card from me each year. For Christmas 2001, for the first time in may years, I didn’t send out cards. (Often, I included cards with a December mailing of my newsletter.)

It was not for lack of good intentions. With the extensive preparations needed for my trip to Austria and the fact that I was away for much of December, sending cards became impractical.

Making arrangements to meet various people and to get access to specific locations as well as doing research on events at other locations required a large amount of correspondence—in German. While I still speak and read German fluently, I usually have little opportunity or need to write in German. So, such correspondence takes much more time than in English.

I hope you’ll enjoy looking at the new images from Austria on my Web site and consider them something of a belated greeting card. I hope all of you had peaceful and restful holidays. (If you particularly enjoyed the winter photos from Austria, drop me an e-mail note.)

Even while traveling in Europe, my thoughts were with the people of New York City and Washington who are undoubtedly still going through difficult times. At the same, I was also thinking of the many Americans in uniform around the world who were spending the season far from home. I spent Christmas of 1969 in Vietnam while serving in the U.S. Army, so I know a little of what it’s like to be far from home in the military at that time of year.

The attacks of Sept. 11 brought back memories of some of what I saw during my time in Vietnam—a time in my life about which I have very mixed feelings. While I consider the entire Vietnam War a sad waste of people’s lives and American resources, I am proud of the Bronze Star Medal that I received for my Service in Vietnam.

I wish our American troops well in their service around the world. If you haven’t done so lately, please take a moment to think of those troops who are serving for all of us.

By the way, I felt very safe flying—and found security checks in Europe much more thorough and professional than those in the United States.

May all of you have a safe and peaceful year.

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