kamalavenkatesh

Oh Amsterdam!

Amsterdam is a city with criss crossing canals, canals that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and you can see why! They are beautiful to look at, lovely b...
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Amsterdam is a city with criss crossing canals, canals that are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and you can see why! They are beautiful to look at, lovely big and small boat tours available and of course, still serve as means of transporting goods and people. The boats pass under the bridges. This particular area is called 'Seven Bridges' and there are literals seven bridges where the canals cross. At night, the undersides of the bridges are lit up with lights and create beautiful reflections in the water making for an even beautiful evening-night scenery. If ever in Amsterdam, be sure to take a canal ride-it will prove to be a memorable trip!
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NIKON D750

settings

Aperture f/22 ISO 100 Shutter 4/1 Focal Length 240/10

location

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, NL

upload_date

Jun, 2018

Views

1334

Likes

+307

Awards

Zenith Award

Featured

Peer Award

+575

Absolute Masterpiece

+23

Top Choice

+20

Superb Composition

+18

Outstanding Creativity

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Superior Skill

Virtuoso

Emotions

Impressed

Relaxed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Super Shot!!!

Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique.

@Vince542 thank you so much!🙏🏾

Ultimate

Amsterdam! nice photo

@asrajesh thanks!

Thanks @LesNewhall

Thank you ViewBug for the honor and thanks to all my fellow photogs for the likes and awards! Really appreciate it!

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Behind The Lens

Location

I shot this in Amsterdam near an area called Seven Bridges. The man-made canals of Amsterdam are on the list of World Heritage and you can see why. Much of the Amsterdam canal system is the successful outcome of city planning. In the early part of the 17th century, with immigration rising, a comprehensive plan was put together, calling for four main, concentric half-circles of canals. The canals are used for transportation of goods and people in addition to it being a great way to see the city and the old buildings of the masterful Dutch architecture. Here in this picture, the Reguliersgracht canal passes through the Herengracht, Keizersgracht & Prinsengracht canals. As a result, these points are great places to admire the bridges and canal boats passing by. Furthermore, the bridges and canals are also particularly beautiful when lit up at night.

Time

I shot this towards the end of the day before it got dark and the lights on the arches of the canal were lit. It is quite a sight to see them all lit up. But any time of the day or night, the canals are so beautiful...such work of art and architecture. Bicyles are plentiful and each street along the canal has numerous outdoor cafe filled with tourists and locals alike, old and young. Life goes about at a leisurely pace and it is such fun for people watching.

Lighting

Holland is known for its rainy weather. However, the rain comes in spurts with a heavy downpour and then everything clears up. The Dutch go about their business regardless of rain or shine. People ride bicycles in the rain wearing rain gear and even holding an umbrella. It is not uncommon to see mothers or fathers 'hauling' a couple of children, one in the front and another in the back, or pulling a cart full of little kids. The Netherlands is known for bicycles to have the right of way, above pedestrians or vehicular traffic. In face, the cobbled stoned streets have demarcated lanes for bicycles and heaven forbid if you are in the bicycle lane, you are apt to get knocked off by a bicyclist or worse, get cursed. I speak from experience! Also, as you can see, there were rain clouds in the sky with tinges of pink and it was a nice contrast and mood-setter for this shot.

Equipment

My gear consists of Nikon D750-a full frame DSLR, various lenses, accessories, and of course, a sturdy Manfratto tripod. For this image, I used a tripod since it was a long exposure and also a Pixel remote shutter release. I also used a 10ND filter to achieve a long exposure. The long exposure creates smooth silky-looking water.

Inspiration

I shot this on my second trip to The Netherlands. On my first trip, I had hired a local photographer to take me around iconic spots in Amsterdam. On my second trip, I visited some of the places I had photographed before, but only at night. I wanted to shoot a evening photograph, before it got dark. I really wanted to capture the dark rain clouds and the mood it created. In addition, I also decided to get a bite to eat at one of the cafes and sat out as the evening went by watching people. A good place to do that!

Editing

I like to keep my post processing simple. I used Lightroom to process this. The RAW image was great and very little was needed to express my take on it.

In my camera bag

Normally, I carry my wide angle lens and another longer lens, especially if I am traveling overseas. On this trip, I had my 24-70mm/f2.8 Tamron, 70-100mm/f2.8 Tamron, 50mm/f1.8 and Rokinon 14mm/f2.8 lens. For majority of my travel photography I use my 24-70 mm lens and find it best to document my travel as well as do some creative landscape shots.

Feedback

As with any landscape, I would advice a photographer to walk around the area and find best angles that might appeal to him/her. Everyone should express their perspective with their compositions. Additionally, I make it a rule to not just shoot one perspective but several from every angle possible. It pays to do that and then pick ones that best appeals to the photographer. Above all, put the camera down and look at the scene through eyes and not just through the eye of the camera. There is so much beauty around and many photographers, including me, get so caught up in getting the 'it shot' that we forget to look around!

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Oh Amsterdam!