Tokyo is the prototype of a modern mega city for me: Highly efficient, crowded but somehow not overcrowded, modern, sometimes it reminds me of Futurama. Shibuya Crossing is one of the top sights in Tokyo, and it is one of the places which brings this image to life. Put into numbers, in rush hour, up to 2500 people walk the scramble crossing street in one go when the lights turn green for the pedestrians. Over a day, more than the whole population of an average German city crosses this intersection.
Photographing Shibuya Crossing
I can confirm the open secret that Starbucks is one of the best places to watch and photograph Shibuya Crossing. I tried to capture the energy in motion, and this is the result I came up with: I was lucky to get a free spot on first floor with a great view. Using my Joby GorillaPod and G7X II I took a series of 2 second exposures to capture the movement. Later I manually combined 4 images in Photoshop to blend the different stages of people crossing the road.
Timelapse
I am also a big fan of timelapse to get a different point of view. I thought, this is a natural spot, and, if I may says so, it turned out better than I thought. I shot all 3 scenes using the timelapse function of my iPhone 6 and combined them with Adobe Premiere Elements. Enjoy watching!
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