Row houses at Harbor Crossing. Nikon D750, 70-200mm f/2.8. Processed in Adobe Lightroom 5 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A couple of days ago I was in Gig Harbor taking some photos for a new project I’m working on. While shooting in a local housing development, I came across a line of houses that reminded me of the famous row houses in San Francisco near Alamo Square. These famous Victorian houses were affectionately called The Painted Ladies because of their bright colors and beautiful architectural details. These San Francisco Painted Ladies are iconic and have been photographed millions of times by tourists and locals.
High cirrus clouds, blue sky, and row houses make for a pretty composition. Nikon D750, Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, Gitzo CF tripod. Image processed in Adobe Lightroom 5 and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
When I saw the similar style of homes here in Gig Harbor, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to create my own local version of the Painted Ladies. To get these photos, I shot with my Nikon D750 and the Nikon Triple Crown of lenses. These included the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8, the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8.
Back at my office, I imported the shots into Lightroom 5 and added just a little bit of clarity and vibrance. Then, I opened them up in Nik Color Efex Pro 4 to further pull out a little bit of detail and add a polarization effect for the clouds in the sky.
Here are a few links for those wanting to photograph the San Francisco Painted Ladies or the Gig Harbor Row Houses at Harbor Crossing housing development.
San Francisco Travel Guide to Painted Ladies
