Training the Eye to See Beyond The Grime - Photography

The Tel Aviv light was harsh, the air dusty, the glass imperfect. Yet the scene holds: converging lines of track, freeway, orange strip lights against the vertical pull of office towers.

Caught between motion and reflection — Tel Aviv’s skyline seen through a train window, two frames apart. One untouched, one refined: the difference a little light — and attention — can make.

The Tel Aviv skyline reflected in a commuter train window — edited and raw versions.

Two takes on the same skyline — Tel Aviv in motion, viewed through dusty glass and the rush of flat, harsh midday light. The city we pass becomes the city we see.

Tel Aviv’s towers — the glittering heart of its high-tech belt — as seen through a train window, mid-commute.

In the edited version, selective sharpening and color grading pull the city into focus — the blues cooled, the shadows balanced, and the skyline given back its metallic shimmer. The result isn’t just cleaner; it’s a reassertion of intent. The dirty glass becomes a filter rather than an obstacle, forcing the viewer to peer through layers of reflection, motion, and light — much as we do every day, between where we are and where we’re going.

Two frames, same skyline — the mirrored towers of Tel Aviv’s business core, seen from a moving train window streaked with dust and reflections.

The first image was pushed toward warmth and clarity: highlights tamed, midtones lifted, the golden hour teased out of what began as a flat, pale scene.

Sharpening cuts through the grime on the glass and the faint ghosting of interior lights, pulling the city’s hard edges forward — that crisp geometry of glass and concrete meeting the light.

The second frame is left nearly untouched, a reminder of what the camera actually saw: haze, motion, and the faint orange glow of fluorescent reflections.

Together they tell a small truth about travel and perspective — how a pane of glass, a fleeting angle, and a few tonal adjustments can turn a commuter’s blur into a city’s quiet portrait.

**📸 Photographer’s Note:**

Shot on a Samsung #S24Ultra in Auto mode and edited in Lightroom Mobile, from the Tel Aviv–Haifa commuter train.

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