Russ Burden discusses tips and techniques of how to produce stunning pictures in urban settings.
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Urban Landscapes ( 4 shots )
Essence / Beauty / Unique - these three words revolve in my mind when I capture cityscapes. How can I capture the Essence of a city in a still picture? How can I capture Beauty in concrete and stone? What can I do to create something Unique or different to show the city with a new twist? From the people to intimate architectural details, subject matter is so diverse and abundant even multiple trips on a weekly basis will leave you wanting more. So where does one begin to capture the Essence, Beauty and Unique features of a city? Let your schedule and motivation dictate this rhetorical answer in that no matter what time of day, what time of year, or weather conditions, all provide opportunities to come home with winners.
Intimate Details: The term cityscape often conjures images of a wide expanse of buildings that paint a skyline with shapes, forms, and textures. In turn, many photographers arm themselves with wide angle lenses to take in as much information as possible. While I definitely encourage you to make the wide angle shot, bring along a telephoto that allows you to zoom into details of buildings, capture cracks in a sidewalk, get in close to a section of a billboard, etc. You can even use it to take close up shots of the hands of a street performer or the money in a “kitty” of the starving rock star playing his drums in the perfect location to emphasize the acoustics. You may even think about leaving the wide angle at home to force yourself to look beyond the obvious and find the small world in the urban jungle.
Get High: While gaining access to a helicopter is a reality for some, most of us have to resort to simpler means to create aerial perspectives of their subjects. In that many large city buildings have observation decks, plan a sunrise or sunset outing to visit one with your camera. Zero in on some of the iconic buildings, look for patterns, watch how the shapes of the buildings complement each other, and find compositions that utilize both your wide angle and telephoto lenses. While sunrise and sunset are great times for light, they may also net light that’s very contrasty. Think about shooting some merge to HDR photos and combine the exposures in Photoshop or other software program that allows you to attain a broader range of tones.
Rise and Set: There’s nothing like the sweet light of a gorgeous sunrise or sunset to impart beauty to concrete, glass and stone. Whether the sky is used as a backdrop to enhance a silhouette or to cast the last golden rays of the light of day onto the structures, the light that’s emitted at sunrise and sunset is unrivaled. Use the specular highlights that reflect off the glass as a focal point of your composition. Position it in the rule of thirds to give it strong placement. If necessary, try using a warming filter to bring out the colors even more.
Twilight and Dark: Many cities come alive after the sun goes down. Once the lights come on, the show begins. Shoot the skyline at the twilight hours when there’s that classic cobalt blue color and continue to photograph tighter compositions of just the lights when it gets dark. As evidenced in the accompanying photo, try to make your night time shots just after a rain as you can incorporate the reflections into your compositions. Expose for the highlights and let the shadows fall where they may. Areas of black work well as long as they don’t dominate. Try using a merge to HDR program if you prefer the look of expanded dynamic range.
To learn more about this topic, join me on one of my Photographic Nature Tours. Visit www.russburdenphotography.com and click on the NATURE TOURS button for more information. Also, pick up a copy of my book, Amphoto’s Complete Book of Photography. You can purchase a signed copy directly from me or visit your local book store or Amazon. Contact me at rburden@ecentral.com to order your signed copy.
