Folding Reality - a photo on Flickriver

Folding Reality

Despite being open for more than two years, I've never visited the underground tunnel connecting One Pancras Square to King's Cross Station until now. Like every project by Allies and Morrison, the architecture is remarkable, but I never felt drawn to the scene until I found myself standing inside it, watching the pastel colours in the tunnel's 90-metre light wall shifting from soft pinks and oranges to luscious blues and purples.

Besides the light wall, which was designed by Speirs + Major, there were details inside the pedestrian tunnel that I immediately knew would be a fun challenge to capture and edit. I also felt that a human element would root the scene -- for all of its geometric patterns and futuristic details -- in a strange and off-kilter reality. A security guard was locking up for the night, but was kind enough to allow me to fire off a few more shots, and this was when I captured one of the tunnel's final pedestrians of the evening, a woman checking her phone as she was walking, apparently so accustomed to this part of her journey that she was indifferent to the spectacular light show next to her.

I approached the post-processing for this image like a jigsaw puzzle. Multiple exposures were blended in Photoshop using luminosity masks, and the Pen Tool then used to create selections of the light wall, the walkway, the canopy covering the walls and the roof, the air vents inside the tunnel's fins, as well as the woman walking through the tunnel. I then edited each portion of the image with an individual workflow, applying darker exposures to bring out the rich hues in the light wall, and brighter, less saturated exposures to the canopy and fins to bring out their clean, metallic texture. I also separated the two shades of grey in the ceramic zigzag tiles along the walkway, alternating darker and brighter exposures to emphasise the triangular pattern leading into the distance, and then used Silver Efex Pro to lower the structure along the walkway to soften the texture.

The overall finish to the image was achieved with a mixture of Colour Balance, Levels and Gradient Map adjustments, shifting towards a colder tone in the shadows while holding on to the warmer midtones reflecting from the light wall and bouncing onto the tunnel's roof and walls. My aim at this final stage of the workflow was to bring out the vibrant and fantastical aspect of the scene, but to also preserve the functional aspect of the tunnel, which I felt was complemented by the individual walking through the tunnel, who somehow seemed to underscore the fact that, for all its dazzling light and creativity, this is for many commuters still just a part of an everyday journey.

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Taken on: April 25, 2016

Tags:

London

City

Architecture

England

Britain

King'sCross

Tunnel

Pedestrian

Lightwall

Curved

Bend

Underground

Subway

Transport

Commute

Journey

Walk

Colourful

Passage

Corridor

Futuristic

Metallic

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Camera: Nikon D800, f/7.1, 1.6 sec, 14mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D800
Lens:	14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture:	f/7.1
Exposure Time:	1.6
Focal Length:	14mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	+3 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Saturation:	Low
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.2 (Windows)
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