Cross Rails
The roof of King's Cross Railway Station in London.
The roof of King's Cross Railway Station in London.
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Nov, 2015Views
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Awards
Winner in London Calling Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Outstanding Creativity
Peer Award
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
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Billyboy
December 20, 2015
It's one thing to spot a cool architectural subject, yet quite another to turn that into perfection of composition.
You nailed it.
Nice work !!
You nailed it.
Nice work !!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at King's Cross Station in London. The roof of the main concourse of the station is an amazing structure of criss cross girders. The concourse was designed by John McAslan and Partners and is part of a £500 million refurbishment of the terminal. Blending an historic Grade I listed building with a modern diagrid design is a feat in itself. Completing the project without having to build new foundations and keeping the running of the station at full pace is almost a miracle! Looking up is an experience that is part confusion and part fascination. It is difficult to define....Time
This is one of my favourite images...I am pleased with the shape and composition of the structure into something that is not obvious. It was taken at 7:20pm when the station was still full of commuters and early evening adventurers.Lighting
The lighting was just the lighting in the station. I would love to say that I had been clever and set some special balance in camera. Actually I just had auto white balance on.Equipment
Walking around London with a huge bag of kit is not my idea of fun. On this evening I had a Pentax K-3 and one lens - the Pentax 77mm Limited f1.8. This particular lens is quite old (I have an early Japanese version that I got second hand) and was designed for the film era. It has a smooth solid feel and I love it...it is my go-to lens. Although it may not have the super sharp detail of modern 'made for digital' offerings it renders natural looking images.Inspiration
I was not really aiming to take this shot. I was staying over at a nearby hotel and decided to take an early evening stroll to get some gritty street shots. My plan had been to get some really engaging street photos..something I had not done before. Not living in London I knew no-one would know me so I could just go for it and snap away like a mad tourist. By 7pm I still had not found anything really gritty and was feeling rather awkward so nipped into the railway station as if it was somewhere I was planning to go all along. Then I saw this great roof...and I took the shot. Until I got back to the hotel I had not realised the surreal nature of the design in the photo. It reminds me of a 'curve of pursuit' from school days.Editing
Post processing is minimal - a bit of sharpening and recovery of highlights in the lower left corner.In my camera bag
I have had a bit of an epiphany when it comes to gear. Having had a full Canon kit in the past with lots of lenses, EOS 1d, filters, flashes etc I have gone 'super light'. My complete canon kit was stolen (tip: those camera backpacks make life easier to carry your stuff in...and dead easy for burglars to walk off with). Looking back this turned out to be a great opportunity to rethink what I was doing. Now my kit is very limited - and my photography is the better for it. I carry the following: * Pentax K-1 (amazing full frame camera) * Pentax 77mm Limited f1.8 * Pentax 31mm Limited f1.8 These two lenses are metal bodied film era lens with amazing colour and image rendition. * Remote shutter release * Manfrotto tripodFeedback
Sounds obvious but take lots of images of things....experiment, play and have fun! Personally I have found that less is more. My kit is super light. One body and two lenses. I do not own a zoom lens. Go for the highest quality glass and move about to compose! When I had a big kit I was sometimes put off just taking images for fun as I had to lug it all about. A lighter kit means that you can take it everywhere and it is easy to snap away and experiment. You get to know your kit really well and get the best out of it. That is how I learn...by trying (and having fun)! purple
