Tips on... <Urban Landscape>

Early bird catches the worm

Prospective perspectives

Your perspective should differ depending on the shape and form of what's before you. For square buildings try to shot at a 40-60 degree angle to avoid a flat image, for domes or curved shapes its important to feature some background in order to the viewer to appreciate the form

Up and coming

Should not only be dedicated to the built environment, take a look around you and see what's happening construction wise. Documenting a building going up can make a for a great addition to your portfolio, while renovations are always an interesting subject to shoot

Permission to shoot

Be aware that many places require you to possess a licence before you can shoot on its grounds. Just like a model release form these building release forms cover how the images will be used and determines who holds the copyright. You can often negotiate to exchange images in return for a photo pass.

Angle attack

The best way to find new approaches to shooting well known buildings is to approach them from all angles, Search for unusual features or crevices that are rarely seen in the usual publicity shots of that place, and go in from that angle instead. Look out for patterns, reflections and textures to really bring out the buildings characteristics

Once you have found a location the next stage is being able to approach your scene in a variety of ways photographically, playing on perspective, viewpoint and light. Look for places that will look great close up as abstract images but also will produce impact as a full frame image

Some prefer to shoot from a distance some prefer to accentuate angles and other shoot for pattern or repetition.

Place yourself where the reflective rays do not directly shine onto your lens, or else your images will be a complete whitewash. Sometimes a polarizing filter will help you manipulate reflective scenes to your advantage. It will enable you to suppress subtle reflections and darken any blue sky mirrored in the building's glass.

Many prestigious buildings will be flood light at night, which represents some challenges, The bright light coupled with harsh shadows makes it a tricky subject to choose. Underexpose then tweak if needed. Is better also to bracket your shots. Find a midtone and then use spot metering

Panoramas

Lens selection

Opt for a standard len to ensure threre is no distortion, Wide angle lenses are more susceptible to this than normal lenses

Steady now

Choose a tripod with a panning head to ensure a smooth transition that is level and lined up correctly for each shot

Shoot in line

Being taking your shots starting from one side and progressing to the other. Make sure you overlap your last shot by a third each time, to ensure they line up afterwards.

Make it merge

Upload your shots in Photoshop or a similar program. No matter the program, some editing will be required to make the images match

Use manual

To ensure that no readings are changed between lights, such as fstop, shutter speed, etc that could alter one of the shots you can use and make it look different from the rest

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