برچسب: Urban

Check Out These Tutorials To Capture Unique Urban Photos

Many photographers consider urban spaces as boring locations to photograph, due to the fact that they may be too busy and/or cluttered. Moreover, these places can be quite crowded most of the time and noisy too, but if you are willing to slow down, and take time to observe and photograph some unique and interesting shots, then urban spaces provide a lot of photographic opportunities.

Urban spaces or cities provide opportunities for several genre of photography like architecture, street, urban wildlife, etc. It is always recommended to scout locations beforehand, get to know the area and study how light falls in a particular area during certain times of the day, etc., so you can come back with very compelling photos.

Here are some tutorials that we have put together, so you can get some ideas and be inspired to photograph in urban spaces.

Here is a tutorial or a walkthrough for an interesting start on how urban spaces can be photographed. This article includes a lot of sample images with details along the way to give you an understanding of how light, perspective, angles, etc., can be used to capture interesting urban photographs.

Photo by Hongmei Zhao

When we hear the word landscapes, we immediately think about natural landscapes in the wilderness like the ones that have meadows, grasslands, hills and mountains, beaches etc. Landscapes can be also extended to urban areas where urban landscapes can be captured as they are quite interesting if you follow some tips.

Photo by Adam Borkowski

While many photographers choose to stay indoors on rainy days in order to protect their gear and themselves, these days provide great atmosphere for photography and many creative opportunities. Urban landscapes transform into magical spaces during or after a rain and with some precautions and safety measures, one can capture stunning urban photos on a rainy day. Here are some tips for rainy urban photos.

Photo by Gil Ribeiro

Cities are places where something keeps happening all the time – there are a lot of stories, events, cultural activities and so on, that can be photographed. Besides, cities provide great opportunities to capture architecture during various times of the day and seasons, street photography, environmental photos, etc. Here are some ideas to capture stunning city photos.

Photo by Jason Row

Street photography in a city can offer unique perspectives on what is happening in a city and the light falling through tall buildings and alleyways can offer interesting compositions and stories. Right from train stations to city centres, each space provides different stories and elements that can be used to capture the life in the city. A keen eye for details and a story telling mind is all that you need for capturing great street photos in a city. Here are some tips and ideas.

Photo by Marc Kleen

A lot of people choose to live in cities because of the vibe and the other interesting things they can experience there. Cities are also spaces that are filled with architecture and other structures, both new and old. It is not just about capturing the buildings in a city, but also the life there, that makes for epic cityscape photographs. Here are some ideas on how to capture cities in unimaginable ways.

Photo by Abigail Keenan

Do you live in a city? If so, are you bored of photographing the place that you live in? We all have this habit of not photographing the places we live in, because we see it all the time and don’t feel that it has anything new or interesting to contribute. If that is the case, you are wrong. Your city has a load of photographic opportunities and you need to look at it with the eyes of a tourist. Read to find out how!

Photo by Michael Discenza

Have you seen wildlife in urban spaces? Unlike capturing wildlife photographs in the wild by staying very far away from the animals and birds, urban wildlife that are used to humans around them can be captured up close as they mostly stay close to human residents, parks, etc. The wildlife in urban spaces can be interestingly photographed against daily happenings in the cities and towns. This article gives you tips on how to photograph urban wildlife.

Photo by Luna Wang

Besides all the stunning subjects and cityscapes in urban spaces, if you are a photographer interested in capturing portraits, cities offer amazing opportunities to capture interesting portraits. Some very interesting geometrical compositions can be used to capture portraits in urban areas, Here are some tips to start with.

Also, if you are interested in learning about geometrical compositions, check out this article – How To Use Geometry For Creative Composition In Photography

Photo by greekfood-tamystika

We have all heard of the golden hour as the best time to photograph anything because of the glorious, soft but dramatic light the sun casts during that time. Do not pack your camera bags after sunset, because the blue hour is one of the best times to capture very emotive and soft photos especially in the city when the lights are just turned on. Here is how to shoot cityscapes during the blue hour.

Photo by Mick Haupt

If you are someone interested in urban decay, or wish to shoot something different in urban spaces,, then urban decay is a genre that will be of interest to you. Moreover these spaces will not be crowded, so you can take time to explore and capture them from unique perspectives and angles. Make sure you have permission to enter and photograph these spaces as some areas and buildings may have restrictions or may be private. Here are some tips for you to get started.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso

Finally if you are interested in black and white photography, urban spaces are great because of the light, textures and drama they can lend to great black and white photographs. Make sure that you have a good tonal range in the scene so the resulting black and white image is powerful. You need to learn to see in black and white in order to capture images to convert to black and white.

Photo by Jason Row

If you want to check out some creative urban photos, check out these “Urban Etchings” by Grant Legassick, which is a definitive study of an urban environment comprising multiple images layered over one another, giving the impression of a fine, delicate pencil drawing or metal etching. These images are mind-blowing and the photographer shares how these were made.

Photo by by Grant Legassick

Further Reading

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31/07/2025
The Art Of Urban Black And White Photography

Do you, like me, find black and white images incredibly evocative? They seem to draw us in more than colour, have more sense of life and of story. There are a few genres of photography that are not suited to monochrome, but one that most definitely is, is the urban landscape.

There is so much in urban areas that lends itself to black and white. Amble areas of light and shade, textures, form and most importantly geometry and symmetry.

Today we are going to explore how to elevate your urban images into artistic black and whites.

Low angle urban black and white. By Jason Row Photography

You Need To See In Black and White

The simple fact is, that not every urban shot you take will be suited to black and white. To shoot great black and white shots you need to see in black and white. Now, that might seem quite an odd statement, especially given the billions of colours our eyes are capable of recording, but hear me out.

Identifying a black and white urban image is not literally about seeing in black and white. It’s about identifying the elements that go into making a great black and white photo.

Some of the most important are the interplay of light and shade and the use of lines of contrast. Light and shade are, perhaps, more important in black and white than in colour. The depth of the blacks define how we react to an image emotionally, the harder the black the more gritty and harsh the image can feel.

Lines of contrast lead our eye around the image. This contrast need not be pure black or white, but well defined graduations of tone that give depth to an image.

One tip, if you struggle with “seeing” black and white in your urban landscapes is to shoot in a black and white mode. On many cameras, this will turn the viewfinder/LCD monochrome as well, making it easier for you to see if the shot works. Make sure you are shooting RAW and JPEG though as the RAW file will give us so much more latitude when editing.

What works in colour…… By Jason Row Photography

Often also works in black and white. By Jason Row Photography

Colour Is Important

Briefly, it is important to know that colour is vital to our black and white shots. Assuming we have shot RAW (see above), we can increase or decrease the luminance of any of the primary colours. For example when editing a blue sky, we can decrease the blue luminance to make that sky much darker.

The urban environment is full of colour, from the faded to the bold. When we are shooting we can identify those blocks of colours that we either wish to enhance or reduce in significance.

For example a bright yellow sign with bold lettering might make an interesting subject to our urban shot. By decreasing the luminance of the blue channel (opposite to yellow) we can brighten up that sign and separate it from the rest of the image. The same can be true of faded colours, we can enhance or reduce their intensity according to how relevant we wish them to be in the image.

The urban environment is about shapes, forms and shadows. By Jason Row Photography

Composition In The Urban Environment

Once you have found the ability to “see” in black and white, you will see monochrome opportunities around every corner. There are several elements in the urban environment that we can identify for black and white shots. The first are the shapes, forms and textures of the manmade. Another is the human element, the stories of the people in that built environment – these also cross genres with street photography. Another important black and white element can be the way nature interacts with the urban.

In man made we are looking for the way the light interacts with structures. How light casts shadows and creates depth and form to our shots. We are looking for symmetry and geometry. A symmetrical image of a building can look great but add in a person to one side and you add tension to the shot. In black and white, this can look amazing.

Textures are everywhere in urban areas, from the rust of the manmade to the bark of a tree. Low directional light makes these textures pop whilst shallow depth of field hints at the location. Graffiti and urban decay are also fantastic black and white subjects in cities and towns

The way the natural works with the manmade is another great area to focus on with your black and white urban images. The lone tree in front of a modern structure. A line of park benches in an urban park. There is so much to look for and shoot.

Urban black and white can also be documentary. By Jason Row Photography

In The Edit – Processing Black and White

Taking a good black and white is half the job. Editing it is the other half. These days it’s not difficult to edit great black and white urban shots. Tools like Lightroom Classic have a plethora of functions to help us get good black and white images.

There are some things that you can do to add punch though. Convert the image using a colour profile, this will give you a good starting point. Use the black and white sliders to adjust the amount of overall contrast you are looking for. Pushing to the ends of the histogram (or even beyond) will give maximum contrast whilst pulling the blacks and whites inside the histogram will reduce the contrast.

The clarity and texture sliders are great tools for managing mid tone contrasts, and are especially useful in punching out textures. Use masking tools to isolate areas of textures and enhance them.

As mentioned earlier the use of RGB sliders can allow us to manipulate individual colour channels within our black and white urban images giving us huge control over the way they look.

Editing the urban environment in black and white is an immensely satisfying thing to do, be it a few hours or few years after you took the original image.

Geometry and reflections. By Jason Row Photography

As we mentioned at the top, the urban environment is, perhaps, the best place you will find to elevate your black and white photos to more artistic images.

It’s hard not to find great black and white shots in towns and cities but it will take some practice to both start seeing in black and white and finding compositions to enhance your monochrome shots. But, as they say, practice makes perfect, and with the cameras and editing tools we have to hand today, practice is also immensely satisfying

Further Reading

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02/07/2025