Minutes before opening

I carry a camera with me most places I go. 

This is a shot I took in the Galleria, Hatfield one Sunday morning a few minutes before the shops were due to open.

This shot, as far as I am concerned, is like Marmite - you either love it, or you hate it.

I love it.

I like the way the the eye is led to the main hall out of the car parking access hall. 

I like the contrast between the foreground artificial lighting, and the reflected daylight, helping to give the picture depth.

I like the feeling of movement with people moving across and away from the camera. 

I like the spontaneity of the shot - an everyday scene which hardly anyone would bother to photograph. It is, however, the everyday scenes which we need to record because although they might seem boring and trite to our eyes, in the future they will be a statement of the past.

Ordinarily, the access hall is buzzing with shoppers hustling and bustling. On this occasion, they are not there. The time is not yet right, the rush is not yet, the calm before the rush......