Photographing underground/metro stations in cities is one of my fave things to do when I travel. Some of the architecture and design is so beautiful to look at, as is the artwork and things of interest to make your time underground more enjoyable. Sydney Metro Victoria Cross Station in Australia is absolutely stunning and I could not stop finding more areas to photograph on my most recent visit. Feel free to Click on any image to see it larger!
The architecture, interior design, signage and wayfinding for the station was created by the team led by David Holm of Cox Architecture @coxarchitecture . The design aesthetic is a futuristic look.
My tips for photographing the station are: if you prefer images with few or no people, wait a few minutes until after everyone leaves the metro and departs out of the exits, and choose slower traffic times. I don’t mind people in my photos sometimes (expecially if it’s one person on their own) but other times I prefer no people (and yes, you could edit them out later but it’s far too much editing time for me!). When I’m holding my camera up to my eye, I can usually sense if there are other people around, and I’m quite happy to let them go before taking a photo (let’s all be conscious of other people trying to get somewhere!). I usually find strangers quite accommodating and friendly, and interested in what I am doing.
I like to use a wide angle lens, my Canon RF15-35mm f2.8 IS USM. I love my wide angle however…it can cause issues with distortion and when you are photographing symmetrical things, it can really mess you up!
Initially I had my white balance settings on cloudy/shade, which is what I use mostly for landscapes. But I changed it to get more of the white/ almost high-key effect. Always hand-held, with manual settings, and always viewing through the lens once I pick a spot to photograph to create a composition. In particular I look for curves, lines, and interesting textures, ALL OF WHICH feature at this station.
I edited these images very lightly: mostly I used de-noise in Lightroom, and tried to adjust any straightening/ symmetry issues. It’s always better to get it right ‘in camera’ and I work really hard at doing this. It is most annoying when everything doesn’t line up perfectly, and I’m still learning!
What do you think about this station? Please leave a Comment below!