Tokyo JR
I love the trains in Tokyo. The complexity and depth of the rail network really inspired me to take a picture that could encapsulate it all. Unfortunately, you ...
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I love the trains in Tokyo. The complexity and depth of the rail network really inspired me to take a picture that could encapsulate it all. Unfortunately, you have to be there to see it for yourself.
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Apr, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on the JR (Metro) in Tokyo, Japan. It was my first time in the Land of the Rising Sun. Was totally blown away by the efficiency and cleanliness of public transportation over there, and probably everything there literally gave me a culture shock. I could go on forever just talking about food. So don't get me started on the landscapes.Time
It was in the evening probably around 9pm. The trains are usually slightly more crowded as people started heading out of their offices. From my understanding, most are probably headed out for a food and drinks. Otherwise they would be going home.Lighting
The lighting in the trains were pretty standard white florescent. However, the shiny interior and colourful displays of advertisement leaflets and cards reflect off that light, giving the Tokyo metro a very vibrant feel. People generally stay silent during their commute, so hearing the train on the tracks and looking around the train car gave me moments of inspiration for my photography. The interior of the train is actually a reflection on the train windows. The motion blurred object on the left was a train that passed us on the outside. So trying to meter a good range before the train leaving was tricky .Equipment
This was shot on the Canon 5D Mark 3 with my trusty Tamron 28-75 f2.8. No tripods, just good old hands. Metering was actually tricky because the train interior was actually a reflection off the window I was standing just in front of, and the outside was a tinted green window, probably to slightly shade the interior from the Sun in the day.Inspiration
Like I mentioned above, the public transportation really struck a chord with me. I took many, many pictures of the Tokyo Metro. But after awhile, I wanted something more, something that could combine the beauty of the machine, the atmosphere in the car and the motion of travel. It's a cliche to say that a picture tells a thousand words, but I found my moment that could encapsulate my experience in the train car and this was it.Editing
Yes. I generally try to grade my photos in a way to replicate how the colours were as I remembered. I always shoot in RAW too so that I have that extra leg room to push my values during the post-processing. The whites are generally balanced to neutral first before additional grading. This piece had minimal grading. The main part of the grade was to push the reflection out further but still keeping the details in the background train.In my camera bag
I usually carry around my 5D Mark III and a Tamron 28-75mm f2.8. But recently I've been exploring shooting using an anamorphic lens, so I've started playing around with manual vintage lenses such as the Helios 44-2 and the Nikon 105mm f2.5. I always have a lens cleaning cloth in my bag and spare batteries.Feedback
Photography to me is very personal. In a sense that I capture moments in my life where I had an interesting experience and of course tells a story. I guess the most important thing that I've learnt (am still learning) is to get a nice composition for the frame. Rule of third seems to always work for me but there's always room to get creative. I will leave you with a quote a friend of mine once told me when I started learning photography. "Learn the basics first, then break the rules after that."
