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You are here: Home / Photography / Bus Stop Magic

Bus Stop Magic

It’s been a while since I wrote my last post on my Blog so sorry for that. I’ve devoted not much time to photography as I used to so I will try to do my best and improve 😉 As you might know I strongly believe in taking the most of the place you are in. Of course my dream would come true if I could go for a week or two to New York, Tokio or London, however for now I am satisfied with my everyday surroundings, trying making the most of it and improve both my technique and creativity. Lately, when I was browsing through my photos I decided to gather all the ‘bus stop’ shots.

Why a bus stop? Well, where you have buses, you have people, and when you have people you can always try to find an interesting frame. Also what drives me to bus stops is layering. I like to shoot through displays, glass, advertisments etc. and there is usually some glass on every bus stop that can create some really nice reflections. But what I like most is combination of: glass, cold weather and light. All these 3 elements along with human factor came together in the shots you can find below. I like the first one, for me it is one of my favourites even though this shot did not have such a good feedback. Anyway, what I like about this shots is the mood, the atmosphere. I don’t look for “scary” shots however when you go out to shoot when it’s already dark outside and you do it in the streets – well you just have those “scary” situations, I always do and I really like to capture them.

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For me the crucial thing when taking shots during nightime is focusing on the source of light. Don’t limit yourself to “steady” sources of light – lamps, window displays etc. but also look for other light opportunities. The first shot would never worked out when it hadn’t been for the car’s headlights. Those approaching car’s lights combined with street lamp and 1/15s made this effect. To be 100% honest with you I forgot to change the shutter speed during this series and took it with 1/15s – that is why the effect is so interesting here. I really like to experiment with shutter speed, but here I completely forgot to change it to 1/125s and thanks God for that!

A “Dracula” man interfering the frame on this BW shot was also pure luck. His addition to the shot is priceless, he is like another layer/dimension and I really like it! I was checking the camera settings and taking few test shots and that guy passed looking at me, that is why his face lines are so visible. Again light from a bus stop (display this time) helped to create this contrast.

Bus stop is a interesting place to take shots, however as you see I usually take shots during the evening or night so you don’t find too many people there, unfortunately. I think because of that all my “bus stop” shots are kind of scary. Let’s take those for instant:

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I took the BW one first, however I managed to come closer unnoticed and take the color one. After I took it, that guy noticed me and changed his position. I remember that it was quite cold that evening and I was heading home. When I was passing that bus stop I saw this lonely guy sitting on the bench. I pulled over and basically run there to take this shot.  Which version do you prefer BW or color?

And last but not least – girl with her mobile during the nighttime on the desolated bus stop. Her face is lit by her phone and I really like that shadows on the shot. She is standing in perfect place. It’s something about this shot that makes me come back to it. The whole scene had a very poor light so 1/40s with 6400 ISO had to be used. I shot in a series mode of course, and this one came up really nice, so I decided to change it to BW to enhace the overall mood of the place. Please DO shot in series mode – take adavantage of this function. In my opinion it is super useful. When I have really bad light situations – ISO 6400 ( I don’t like to go beyond that) F2.0 and when I see that I must use 1/30s, 1/15s or even 1/8s  – I don’t care, I just shoot, I shoot in series mode, so that I have 4 or 5 frames. When the first one and last one are usually blurry, the middle ones usually come up nicely. The girl shot is the perfect example of this situation. I am not telling you that this technique is a must for you, however I recommend trying it and seeing the results. Especially when you shoot in difficult light situations or you shoot moving subjects.

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I think that’s all for today. Next I am planning to write a post about my last rainy shots, but that’s enough for today. I wish you all the best guys, happy snapping!

Oh and please check out some insipration from 121clicks.com, 2 of my shots appeared there as well 😉

http://121clicks.com/inspirations/best-photographs-of-the-week-april-24-2016

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I am based in Gliwice, Poland. I am not a professional photographer but few years ago I discovered that taking photos makes me happy, that this is my passion so take photos whenerver I can. I have a wonderful wife and two sons.

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