Bite Size Tips: How To Create Cityscape Shots Like These…

Share:  

You heard right, your city shots deserve something extra, something added that's been missing all this time.

Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're here right now to make a change to the way you shoot stunning expanses of city skylines…

Let's Explore Cityscape Photography 

Cities are massive and full of power, energy and vibes that they are great to photograph.

For many people, cities are their homes and places where they have their offices or run their businesses. Capturing the true beauty of a city can be quite difficult.

Cityscapes are not just about capturing just the majestic or iconic buildings, but also capturing the life in the city.

Most of us don't appreciate the beautiful landmarks and other parts of the city we live in including the day to day life. But, these can be documented beautifully in a photograph.

If you are new to photographing cityscapes or were hesitant about photographing cityscapes, these tips below will help you get started.

Image from Pixabay by Walkerssk

Some Great Tips to Begin Shooting the Big City!

 Best Time to Shoot Cityscapes

  • Wait for the golden hour to settle and the blue hour to happen as the sky grows darker and the city is illuminated by the lights.
  • Early mornings are good as you get less cluttered frames with no people and no traffic.

Gear Required to Capture Cityscapes

  • For night cityscape photos, have a camera that performs well in lowlight and high iso.
  • Try to use a wide angle lens, to get more of the city and the skyline inside the frame.
  • Use a tripod and a remote trigger when shooting during golden hours and after sunset

Camera Settings Required

  • Shoot in manual or aperture priority mode.
  • Cityscapes can have a wide range of light and it is best to bracket exposures and blend them while post processing.
  • Use manual focus as it always produces sharper images than auto focus.
  • Do not use wider apertures as you need all the elements in the frame in focus.

Compositions

  • Look for leading lines
  • Look for a good vantage point
  • Include people in frames to portray how busy or not a city is.
  • Look for illuminated bridges across cityscapes and unusual perspectives and compositions

Image from Pixabay by 12019

6 QUICK TIPS

  1. Use a tripod with a remote trigger
  2. Have a subject of interest to create compelling photos
  3. If the weather isn’t kind, take it to your advantage; eg. look for reflections on a rainy day.
  4. Correct horizontals and verticals during post processing
  5. Look for interesting perspectives
  6. When shooting in harsh light conditions, make use of a polarizing filter

Now that was a pretty cool roundup don't you think? I think that's a load of useful stuff to certainly get you started when you're next shooting cityscapes.

Grab the guide by Jimmy McIntyre on the Art of Cityscapes if you truly want to take you shooting to cities to the next level!

About Author

Dahlia is a stock photographer and full time educator at Light Stalking. You can find her on Gurushots and see some of her more popular articles at The American Society of Media Photographers. Get to know her better here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *