To the depths
Escalators down to the tube in London
Escalators down to the tube in London
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Aug, 2016Views
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Awards
Winner in Life of the Underground Photo Challenge
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Absolute Masterpiece
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This shot was taken on our way down to an underground station in London while my wife and I were having a few days in the capital to visit the sights. We planned the trip to spend some time together to celebrate our wedding anniversary.Time
I took this shot mid afternoon around 3pm before the underground got too busy there were too many people around using the escalators and I didn't have the room to raise my camera up to my eye.Lighting
The normal artificial lighting conditions on the escalators were sufficient for what I felt I wanted to capture. I kept the ISO to 200 and I slowed the shutter speed right down to 0.4 of a second because I wanted movement, the aperture was set to f11so I could keep as much as I could that wasn't moving in focus. The camera was set for multiple rapid shots as I knew it would be unlikely to get a steady shot hand held first time. As it was I took 4 frames, and when I had downloaded the image to my computer I saw the second frame was what I had been aiming for.Equipment
I used my workhorse camera, a Canon 7D and my walkabout lens, a Sigma 18 to 250mm. I tend to keep this on my camera when we're out and about and I'm not sure what the photo opportunities might be I find this covers most eventualities I might encounter. The shot was handheld, as you can't really use a tripod or monopod with so many people around for fear of tripping them up! Flash wouldn't have worked either as I didn't want to stop the motion or draw people's attention to the camera, loosing the candid aspect I wanted to capture.Inspiration
I nearly always carry a camera with me, despite my poor long suffering wife often saying when I put the strap around my neck "do you have to bring that thing with you". Having watched people around the town I wanted something a little different to the normal tourist shots and having seen the long escalators carrying people deep underground. I wondered if I could show the depth they were traveling down to the station under the city along with the motion so saw the opportunity as we stepped on the escalator.Editing
I took the shot with the camera set for RAW as I usually do, preferring to do a little work on the image to get what I want from it. As it was, apart from some minor tweaks in Lightroom, like adjusting the exposure up a stop, bringing the highlights down and a little sharpening, as one would expect when working with RAW images there was little else done. Monochrome processing and toning was done in Silver Efex pro 2. I didn't even need to crop the image, which always pleases me as it means I've looked all round the viewfinder before taking the shot and had what I wanted in the frame.In my camera bag
My standard kit tends to be a Canon 7D or a Canon 60D, I usually keep the 18 to 250mm Sigma attached to one body and depending what I'm doing have either a wide angle or long telephoto lens attached to the other as my real passion is wildlife and landscapes. But as with this image I try not to limit myself to just one branch of photography and really enjoy getting images from whatever I see around. I do carry a gorilla pod in my bag so that if I want a tripod and can't use my normal one I have something to steady the camera.Feedback
From the moment I go out with a camera in my hand, I switch it on and take the lens cap off, I long ago learned that the battery discharges quicker if you are constantly turning the camera on and off. I use a lens hood all the time which protects the front of the lens from damage and that way the camera is always ready to shoot. When I'm walking around anywhere I'm keeping my eyes open for likely shots, you never know what ideas you might see and when you see something that's a likely shot give it a go, I've found if you leave it till you return the scene will have changed and you've lost the opportunity. I suppose it comes from wildlife photography, grab the shot when you see it, you might get a better shot later but you might have missed the opportunity altogether if you don't grab it when you see it. The other thing is I never switch the camera off or put the lens cap on till I know for sure I've finished for the day and back at the house or car.
