'in a dark alleyway...'

you can tell a lot about a city by it's alleys (or lack thereof).. for example if you go from chicago to nyc, nyc will seem much dirtier, which is because there are no alleys to put trash in.. everything is out in the street or underneath the sidewalk in those metal doors you walk over every 15ft.. but alleys are pretty interesting by nature.. they are located in densely populated cities and yet very few will walk through them or even acknowledge them.. they carry an eerie stigma because they are hidden from view and one could be very vulnerable, especially at night, to some sort of robbery or horrific crime..
that said theres lots of stuff going on in alleys.. if there is ever a busy bar or restaurant offering only alley or sm side street entrance chances are its a great spot.. alleys are home to many homeless people (pardon the pun), and its a safe bet that if you walk through an alley behind any urban restaurant around 11pm some of the staff is 'taking the edge off' with some pot after a stressful service (except here in california, where people seem to indulge freely on any street).. alleys can offer some amazing artwork in the form of graffiti, and behind bakeries you can probably find free bread relatively fresh around closing time.. a skateboarder can find an array of ledges, metals, and loading docks with no traffic or cops to harass them..

so i wanted to take some 'nite photos' and i figured what better place than alleyways? i went to a few different types of neighborhoods here in s.f. from industrial to posh and tried to get lots of natural light from the various florescent bulbs, the more i get into photography the less i want to use flash! i must admit that i was a little freaked out sitting in some of these alleys with a digital camera, but i feel like i know the city a little better and i will always pay close attention to these urban underbellies when exploring new cities..
please feel free to leave any alley related stories or experiences in the 'comments' below.. thx!