Fan Tan 13
An HDR shot of Canada's narrowest street, Fan Tan Alley, in the heart of Victoria's Chinatown.
An HDR shot of Canada's narrowest street, Fan Tan Alley, in the heart of Victoria's Chinatown.
Read less
Read less
Apr, 2014Views
313
Likes
Awards
Thumbs Up
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This image was taken in Victoria, Canada's famous Fan Tan Alley, sort of a second home for me. It is the narrowest roadway in Canada, a huge draw to tourists and a staple of North America's second oldest Chinatown.Time
This was a Sunday early before work. I will often walk the streets with my camera before starting work at 11am. I love looking at the buildings and structures of this fantastic city I live in.Lighting
I just went with the natural lighting, as it exists in this narrow little alley.Equipment
My standard in hand gear is an older Canon (XTi/400D) with a 28-200mm Lens f3.5. Its not fancy, it has more than paid for itself in the six years or so that I have owned it. No flash, no tripod, I just find them encumbering. I like to walk around, see the buildings and architecture and find myself a great angle or spot to shoot from.Inspiration
A lot of the signs were new to the alley and added a lot of color. The brickwork is always something great to shoot and I felt the signs would give it a special pop. The light at the end of the alley also caught my eye at the time.Editing
Photoshop is the digital photographer's best friend and the two of us have gotten along since I was still shooting film. In this case though I think I only used Nik's HDR Efex Pro. The brickwork was given the full structure treatment and the individual signs had their saturation cranked. I think I only used Photoshop to add my watermark in the lower right.In my camera bag
As I said before, I don't tend to carry a bag. For the occasions that I do, I have two spare batteries, for the camera and AA Batteries for my Flash. My Flash is a Canon Speedlight 430ex II. My Sigma 18-55mm Lens. Two or three extra memory cards, I believe in shooting on multiple cards rather than one large card, this way if a card fails, its not all your pictures. I also pack a Hama Remote Trigger, and a pack of 5 Cobalt gum.Feedback
Trust your eye. Rule of thirds, fibonacci spiral/golden spiral, centering, balance, none of this this matters if your eye and you aren't comfortable with the shot. I look down this alley and see so many places I could have centred better or lined up better, but at the time my eye said this was the shot to make, so I went with it. When it comes to post processing follow the same. As you make adjustments with sliders, move it back and forth, see what looks better. Be aware of what the next step you are going to do is and compensate for that on this step. If the next step is going to make it darker, use this step to go lighter, if you can. As to capturing three frames handheld for HDR, learn to hold steady and breath. Some people will say to hit the shutter on the breath out, some will say to hold it. Use what works for you. Stop using the liveview on your camera, the viewfinder is there for a reason.
