17 May 2016 – When things don’t go according to plan, move a little further along the canal…
There’s a spot along the Kaizersgracht in Amsterdam that’s popular with photographers. It’s at the intersection between two canals, and during the evenings you can get a nice shot of all four tunnels lit up. If you have enough time you could also try waiting for a passing boat to get some trailing lights during a long exposure.
This was the shot I was planning for when my wife and I set out along the canal late that afternoon. Though I didn’t know the exact location, finding it was easy – I just had to look out for other photographers! Sure enough, there were two others there already when we arrived.
As evening came, we stood and watched as the canal arches slowly lit up, one after another. However, the lights on one tunnel failed to come on. We waited a little while longer but concluded that it was to be a no show and left soon after.
On the way back to our accommodation, we stopped at another location further north of the canal where the lights were working. Planting my tripod down, camera still attached, I took a few quick shots before calling it a night.
As it turned out, the last image turned out to be my personal favourite from the evening!
