Down the alley
Alley in London
Alley in London
Read less
Read less
Apr, 2014Views
866
Likes
Awards
Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Top Shot Award 21
Featured
Contest Finalist in Urban Views in Black and White Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
Exceptional Contrast
Top Ranks
Top 20 rankTop 20 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 20 rankTop 10 rank week 6
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in London, back when was studying directing. I went out on one of my usual long walks with my camera, and saw this street somewhere in West Kensington. As a street photography passionate, you are sometimes just lucky enough to find a place where you know that when you press that shutter button, something special is about to happen. This street was one of those places for me.Time
I remember it was a cold Sunday afternoon in November. This photo was taken towards the end of my walk, so..It must have been around 6 P.M.Lighting
Because of my background in Filmmaking, I strongly believe that a photo must always tell a story. It must have an emotion that people can relate to. In this photo, I wanted to capture that feeling of loneliness, of separation from one's daily routine. The only lighting that was used was natural light, just before sunset. I always prefer using natural light and try to avoid any sort of lighting equipment for outdoor photography.Equipment
I used my canon 7D camera, with a 24-70mm Tamron lens. No tripod, and no other equipment was used.Inspiration
My inspiration for this photo were detective story films from the 1940'. I can imagine an injured guy with his long coat and black hat, just running down the street, hiding from the police in one of those houses.Editing
For this particular photo, I wanted to give it that grunge feel, so I decided to use HDR Efex Pro. I exported the TIFF file onto Photoshop, where I added a bit more texture to the clouds, and then gave it an overall feel with contrast and luminosity adjustment.In my camera bag
The equipment I normally take in my bag is a Canon 7D body, the Tamron 27-70 mm lens, the really cheap 50mm Canon lens, a Manfrotto monopod, a card reader and Panasonic remote shutter release for things like time lapses and stop motions.Feedback
The first advice I would give is, know what you want to go for. There are many ways of achieving the same result and it's mostly a matter of personal choice. For a photo similar to "Down the alley", the first important step is framing. Find a street that inspires you and frame it as symmetrically as possible. Once you are happy with shot, give it a bit of grunge feel with the software of your choice (In my case HDR Efex Pro and Photoshop) and then give it your personal touch.
