Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHONThis shot was taken in Singapore, during my brief 36-hour stopover there in mid-December. I was in a fairly crowded carriage at lunchtime and the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) was as clean and as efficient as I remembered it from previous visits. Unlike the suburban trains here in Melbourne, the straps run down the middle of each carriage - and I was fascinated by their symmetry.
To get this shot, I braced myself to ensure I didn't sway or (more embarrassingly) fall over on my butt. It was quite a challenge to frame this while the train was moving at high speed, but that's what photography is all about, isn't it?
In order to compose a shot that didn't have dozens of heads, shoulders and hands on straps, I went long on the lens, using a focal length of 125mm to give me the best frame. I shot this at 1/45th of a second, F5.6 and ISO 800. This allowed me to stay faithful to the conditions inside the carriage, while capturing the black-and-green LCD display, the reflections on the metal and the glow of the recessed lighting along the sides.
You could say I was very lucky with this shot, too. Because I'm well over six foot, I was able to shoot above the heads of most passengers - which is why you only see the side of one person's head on the bottom left-hand corner. It looks like an empty carriage, but if I were six inches shorter, the photograph would have been a meld of heads and limbs and metal and plastic - and would not have been such a clean image.
Yes, I'm thankful for my genes.
Looking for my "Photo Hunt: Different"? It's the next one down!
