urban alley

by Peter Menard
(North Bay, Ontario, Canada)

I take walks with my dog down the trails in the city & this alley leads off one of them. Something of the setting sunlight in the scene I like.

In any case will probably soon be gone as the city closes them off & sells them to the adjoining property owners.

---

There are two things that I really like about Peter's photo here – the first is the light and the second is the inclusion of diagonals.

The golden hour is approximately one hour before sundown and up to an hour after sunrise. During this time the light is soft and 'golden' and the colours are much more saturated.

If you can time your photography to take into the golden hour do so and you will find lovely light in your photos. There's more about the golden hour (tip 2) here.

The other good thing is the use of diagonals. There are quite a few 'rules' in photography. I wouldn't say you should stick to them religiously but they do make a good starting point for composition. And composition is where good photography starts!

Using diagonals makes for a strong composition and in Peter's photo the golden evening light cuts across the scene diagonally – lovely!

And there's one extra feature about this photo that I like – lead in lines. These are lines in the composition that direct the viewer's eyes – in this case the fence that runs into the alley leading us right into the scene.

All in all a very nice photo. Thanks for the submission Peter,

Darrell.
Discover the secrets of professional photographers!

Want even more photography tips and tricks? Subscribe to my monthly newsletter, "Stay Focussed" and get even more digital photography tips. Go to the Stay Focussed newsletter signup page (opens in new window)