Industrial harbor lights at nighttime - Amsterdam

I will be waiting for everyone this Sunday near the top of the stairs on the platform of subway station Isolatorweg. I’ll wait from 20.00 to 20.15. You can spot me easily, I am Asian. At 20.15 the wait is over and we’ll start walking.

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Sometimes you walk past something and you think ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if…’

The other day I was in the train between Sloterdijk and Amsterdam CS and I saw something that I’d already seen a thousand times, but I’d never given it much thought until now: Westpoort. It’s an industrial harbor with silo’s, a big smoking pipe and similar stuff.

You can find some samples here: http://www.flickriver.com/places/Netherlands/North+Holland/Amsterdam/Westpoort/search/

We are going to 2 locations, but on the way you may find that there are other things you’d want to shoot. That’s cool. But don’t put your tripod outside the pavement. There may be traffic, and it’s only a small price to pay to give me some peace of mind. It’s dark(ish), and you may not notice a car until it’s too late. Please.

If you come by car, you can park it at Sloterdijk. Plenty of space, though I don’t know how much they charge.

Recommendations:

• It’s a recommendation, but I’d say it’s hardly possible to do nighttime photography without a tripod. So, bring one.
• Thinking about the locations, I’d say that you don’t need anything other than a mid range zoom when it comes to lenses. No ultra wide angle, no far reaching zoom.
• If you like HDR, then this is probably a good time to use it. In night photography, dynamic range can stretch very far.
• If you are really into it, I'd google for night photography tips. Better safe than sorry.

Shoot. We all benefit from it.

IMPORTANT:

• The area/route is unevenly lit and there is some traffic in the evening hours. Yes, there is. If you have one of those cheap flickering cyclist LED’s lying around, please bring them. I know, it looks silly, but good safety measures always do. It helps the group stand out in the dark. It helps you if you are busy framing and composing your pics and you are oblivious of your surroundings.

• It was hot and humid when I was there last Sunday evening, but even when I take that into account, there were surprisingly many mosquitoes. There’s no easy remedy, I am afraid. Wear long sleeves and long pants if you can. Use bug repellant. Be fearless. Pray.

• I am not sure everybody understood that trespassing is, in fact, VERY, VERY… illegal. No, I am not kidding this time. A lot of territory is private property. There is a fence and/or (hidden) camera surveillance. This is explicitly stated everywhere in the area and if you get caught, nobody’s gonna care that you cannot read Dutch. So, my policy is simple. Don’t expect any help from me if you stray from the group. You are on your own.