Tips on...<Panning>

Select a location

You want a location that offers a relatively homogeneous background but not a solid color. A bald white sky wont show paning streaks.

The background can be a hue of colors with a dominant one or a mix of colors, but look for a palette that contrasts with the subject

Avoid isolated vertical objects such as telephone poles, with vertical energy that will break the flow of the panning

Select a position that allows the subjects line of travel to be roughly parallel to your cameras imaging plane

Use your whole body

Start by aiming your feet where you think the pan will end. Next from your hip, twist to point toward the oncoming suvbject. AS your subject passes by simply unwind around your body's center of gravity. Panning happens in the torso, your arms, wrists and hands are stationary.

Hold the camera level and as tight in as possible, dont move your feet.

Practice untwisting in advance, and as your suvbject approaches try to pick it up before opening the shutter

Set the shutter speed

Its critical to use shutter priority or manual,. Shutter speeds can range from 1/125 down to 1/8 secs depending on the spoeed of the subject. The slower the shutter speed the more dramatic the shot but also the fewer successes you will ge.

For cycling 1/15 or 1/30 should be good.

Set an ISO that provides good exposure at one of those speeds.

Turn autofocus off

Pre focus manually on the subject's mark

Shoot in continuous mode

Fire off as many shots as possible during a single pass of the subject

One reason to use manual instead of shutter priority exposure is to ensure that the exposures in these sequences will match

If subjects are still not sharp here are some other tricks

Set a higher shutter speed

Hold the camera tight bracing your elbows against your body

If you use a wide angle lense and get in close to the action you will increase your chance of success. Also both to sharpen and to open uo your subject, pop a flash

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Tips on..<Time of the day (Urban)>

Dawn

The cold blue light of dawn is extremely complementary to urban landscape shots, accentuating the steely exteriors and the smooth glass facias, This soft light is great for shooting images that yo dont want over-ridden with shadow.

Check the weather forecast and pack your gear the night before instead of crashing around in the morning forgetting stuff.

Meter for the sky to maximize colors which will also maintain the rich hues.

A warm up filter in a color such as coral will also help create a sense of vibrancy in your shot. Obviously at this time you will face less hazel from security guards and police so make the most of this time. And make sure to bring a tripod

Midday

At midday the sun is at its brightest and creating harsh shadows. Use this to your advantage creating a contrast punchy look where the highlights and shadows conflict. Make sure you select your WB for a daylight setting and meter carefully for the midtones. Bracketing is a particular important at this time in the das as it might only be a matter of stops between a flat washed out image and a really striking one. To darken the blue lights bring a polarizer. This i also a great time to go inside the buildings and look for details and capture abstract shoots of things like foyers or office blocks

Nighttime

This lends itself to the more creative appraoch enabling for long exposures, lighting effects and reflections.

Riverbanks are a great location to capture city scapes as the reflection of the lights on the water creates a double impact.

Nighttime is about making the most of shapes and silhouettes, rather than intricate details, so cast an eye across the skyline for strong outlines and forms.

Usually the most dramatic ones are captured just before nightfall when there is still a touch of color in the sky

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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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Tips on...<Travel, Creative>

Unforgettable Images..travel

Heading off the beaten track is a guaranteed method for limiting your chances of cliched travel images, but remember that in this day and age you would have to be very quick to snap something that hasn't been photographed.

Boosting creativity

• The use of unusual perspective is an obvious option for boosting creativity. Getting down low with a wide-angle lens of 24-42mm will give an extreme edge to any landscape, as will using a fish eye lens which will work to distort the trye dimensions of the scene in front of you
• Timing of photography is another key factor in determining the result image. You could for example wait for what is assumed to be a remote untouched location to become swamped in rush hour traffic and then shoot for impact.

In detail

• Homing in on small details is a superb stylistic point in many travel photography portfolios, whether it happens to be the people, a street sign, local product or something that springs to your attention just as you are about to the press the shutter button. Something as simple as a door knocker, a plate of food or even a ceramic tile provided it is photographed well and in focus, can reveal a lot about a different culture

Avoid the crowds

Get up early, the light is fantastic at sunrise.

Create a contrast

Always use a lens hoodon your camera lens. This way you will avoid flare and create better contrast in your photos, specially on hot sunny locations

Back Up

Remember to back up everything you shoot at least twice. If not you run the risk of losing your images.

Get involved

Aim to be part of your photographs specially when you are photographing people.Get them to react and relate to you and your personality and you will find creating unique pictures comes easier

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