Ex 20: Busy traffic

For this exercise we were to consider how the flow of people works and how to convey this movement photographically. Thinking of this movement brought to mind commuters and shoppers so I headed into Glasgow.

It's very difficult to openly take photographs in a railway station nowadays so I sat and held my compact camera in my lap. I actually think this low angle is effective in capturing the scene — I deliberately used a slow shutter speed (1/60th) to suggest people coming and going with a slight motion blur, Some going on holiday perhaps, others travelling to work or on a shopping trip and those sitting with time to kill before they continue on their journey.

By a Saturday afternoon Glasgow's Buchanan Street is a sea of shoppers. The heaving throng stretches as far as the eye can see. Since becoming pedestrianised this street has become one of the busiest in the city and is now known as "The Style Mile" because of its designer label stores and boutiques.

This shot is of the indoor ice rink at East Kilbride again using my compact camera to be less conspicous. I chose an elevated position as it gave a better perspective of the rink. My intention was to show the rink much busier but I actually think this shot shows the flow of people quite effectively. Most people are travelling anti-clockwise. Strangely I have noticed the majority of people appear to travel in this direction when walking around something, like our local pond for example. I chose a slow shutter speed to help with the indoor lighting conditions and to show people skating at different speeds. The less confident skaters are not so blurred, hugging the outside of the rink, while the blurrier figures suggest faster, more confident skaters. The two boys on the right have stopped momentarily, so appear sharp. It looks like everyone is revolving around them!