Kabukichō crossing
A long exposure in Tokyo's main Red Light district called Kabukicho located in Shinjuku in the heart of Tokyo. This is the largest intersection in Kabukich...
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A long exposure in Tokyo's main Red Light district called Kabukicho located in Shinjuku in the heart of Tokyo. This is the largest intersection in Kabukicho!
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Apr, 2016Views
445
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo during my trip to Tokyo last summer. In detail, this is the biggest intersections in the Red Light District in Tokyo, called Kabukich?.Time
It wasn't that late, probably around 11-12PM. It is also the best moment in which you can visit this part of the city: during the night the district becomes alive.Lighting
I wanted to capture a slice of time, not a single moment. This is why i closed the shutter as much as i could reaching f22 and exposed for 10 seconds. Using this technique i managed to obtain "shadow people" and extremely lit up signs and neons.Equipment
I was traveling through the city the whole day, i couldn't have much gear. I used only a tripod! Also, the camera for this shot is my Panasonic Lumix GH2 in manual mode.Inspiration
You have no idea how many people crossed the road in this intersection all at once! A lot. I wanted to capture that moment. I placed my tripod on the sidewalk and waited until people started crossing the road again (it happened like a tsunami, waves of people as soon as the traffic lights stopped the cars), then i started shooting my 10s exposure. Of course, meanwhile, the neon signs kept flashing back and forth thus in the picture they seem ON all at once, but they were flashing a lot. Basically i wanted to capture the night life in the Kabukich? district with a single slice of time and this is the result.Editing
I enhanced saturation and vivacity to achieve the "vibrant" night life cozy feeling: not too much though, the scene was already colorful.In my camera bag
I'm a broke student so my gear is really minimal. I'll always travel with my Panasonic Lumix GH2 body, i use this camera to film and photograph. I love the fact that i can use a wide variety of vintage lenses with proper adapters. I always have my 'Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-42mm f/3.5 -5.6' lenses with me, it's perfect if you travel in a mood similar to "shot randomly while you discover stuff so you sometimes need zoom and other not", which i do a lot. I also always bring my prime Canon Ef 50mm f/1.8 ii lenses with a proper adapter for M4/3 camera. It's perfect for shooting nice bokehs, portraits and filming in general. Other than that i have my tripod (a 30$ one), filming gear (Microphones and stuff), additional batteries and SD cards. Oh and never forget your intervalometer if you plan on shooting time lapses and stuff (i do).Feedback
Everything happens fast in cities like Tokyo, the best advice i can give is to always have your camera on your hand and be ready to snap that picture you'll have just two seconds to capture. You never know who/what you'll see. If you want to achieve a similar shot remember to close the aperture so you can get longer exposure without burning the picture with too much light (same concept as when you try to achieve a "misty water" effect during the day using ND filters) and of course you'll need a tripod because the longer you can achieve the best the shot will be!
