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Posted by plun9 1 day ago

MUNI Heritage Weekend in San Francisco(daniel.lawrence.lu)
98 points | 17 comments
dllu 21 hours ago|
OP here, ask me anything! I've also written about the process previously:

- Line scan camera image processing: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/2025-09-21-line-scan-camera-... Previous discussions:

  - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44996938

  - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46383593

  - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46388084
- Standalone line scan camera hardware: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/2026-06-12-standalone-cnc-li...

- Line scan camera image processing 2: https://daniel.lawrence.lu/blog/2026-08-02-line-scan-camera-...

big_toast 1 hour ago||
Your other photos are always very pleasant to look at too. Thank you for sharing them.

Are there other photo types you've thought about taking? (I don't know very much about the topic. Rocket launches? Cruise ships? 360/Cylindrical line scan sweeps?)

I assume the train rails and constant motion are part of the appeal of making trains the subject. I can't exactly think of parallels, maybe a factory assembly line.

dllu 18 minutes ago||
I took one of my baby on the swing. It needed custom polar coordinate dewarping:

https://i.dllu.net/swing_07_7668f7f16ff7ac2a.png

Also motorcycle cops:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:San_Francisco_Police...

0xfaded 3 hours ago|||
Very cool.

I never thought about it until seeing these, but line scans yield an orthographic projection in the scan direction. There was a little bit of uncanny valley being able to see parts of the front/back of the car that would have normally been compressed out occluded by perspective.

ramses0 2 hours ago||
Yarp... Mr. Lu, please go to your nearest gigantic poster shop and immediately start selling these prints at art-gallery prices! There's a brief moment in time where you've a monopoly on "pictures that look like this" and you'd probably be able to make your money back (and more) on this highly distinctive photograph style. Do some back and forth chat with AI on "fine art photography pricing structure" and "signature style / visual voice" and you'll likely be pleasantly surprised.

...and I'll be surprised if I don't see these pictures hanging in a bank/startup lobby at some point!

dole 2 hours ago||
Hell, I'd shop them around to transit authorities. Gorgeous photos, awesome hardware and processing techniques that went into them.
ramses0 1 hour ago||
Donate copies to sfmuni (no matter what!), or front them as "distribution partner", ie: they sell those posters for $999.99 or whatever and cut checks to Mr. Lu for $99 each (or something).
Theodores 1 hour ago|||
I have a long-standing dream to use a line scan camera from a moving train, assuming everything would be easy, if I had the camera. Little did I realise how much work is needed to tidy up the imagery!

Your work is extremely beautiful, and I am truly envious of your work, the aesthetic is awesome. I want to do it on the cheap though, with a regular phone as camera.

I think you have given me the directions needed to make some bold steps towards getting what I want out of the 'medium'.

plun9 21 hours ago||
oh ok
matja 2 hours ago||
I like the photos, they look like architectural diagrams.

I suppose the subjects moved past the camera perpendicular to the lens direction, so you only see one side.

Are there any examples of what it looks like with a line scan camera when a subject goes past at an angle?

Also, for anyone setting up a tripod with a tripping hazard in public, do consider public liability insurance :)

abeppu 2 hours ago||
Ok the photos are cool and it's nice to see the vintage street cars. But Muni has a budget shortfall and is planning on cutting a bunch of bus lines and reducing frequency on lines across the system. Meanwhile, it has an internal supply chain to custom build replacement parts for vintage vehicles that no other city will operate, and teams of specialist restorers. Viewed in isolation, they look cool! Viewed in context, is this ... irresponsible?
dam_jackalopes 41 minutes ago|
Depends on what value you place on the vehicles I suppose.
Goatsgiats 21 hours ago||
These are really lovely.
phgn 2 hours ago||
Woww so cool, thanks for sharing!
landonalder 2 hours ago||
Incredible shots
gerikson 3 hours ago||
Very cool images!

What lens are you using? Does it have to cover 135 format?

muststopmyths 3 hours ago|
beautiful !