Cityscape photography is the photographic genre of capturing outdoor photography city scenes including whole city skylines, buildings, landscapes and panoramas within a city. Cityscape photography can be done in the daytime or at night. However, night cityscape photography will achieve more vibrant colours and greater depth of activity – especially when long exposure photography techniques are used.
Twilight (early evening or pre-dawn) are some of the best times to photograph cityscapes. The most beautiful images can be achieved with the twilight effect of dark shadows, bright vibrant colours of the traffic and buildings, coupled with the lighter blues and pinks of a clear or cloudy twilight sky.
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Get to know your city
Learn about some of your city’s modern and older history and visit some of those places mentioned. It’ll give you a starting point from where you can expand your photography or find a location near your city that gives a panoramic vista of the city skyline, or find a building that has public access to the top floors at night and bring your camera and tripod to create some truly magical photographs by shooting downwards to the traffic below, or between numerous buildings to distant the horizon.
There are so many ideas you could utilize in cityscape photography including shooting towards the glass facade of a building in the daytime or night that has reflections and make the reflection the subject of the composition.
The urban landscape of a major city provides an abundance of opportunities for cityscape photography. Try to keep vertical lines vertical unless shooting up close or downward towards a street from high-atop a building. Use leading lines where possible to draw the viewer deep into your shot, photograph during evening or dawn twilight to create dramatic skies, keep the sun behind you if you can during the daytime and use reflections and shutter speed to your advantage.
Pick unusual photography locations
Find an unusual location to shoot from rather than just visiting the traditional tourist hotspots around your city. If you do, then try something different such as using a zoom lens to compress the scene or shoot just a segment of the cityscape.
If you can, shoot something unusual from the same location as every other tourist hotspot photo then you’ll soon be on your way to becoming a very successful cityscape photographer.
Upload your best images to your social media accounts and websites
It can be difficult to earn a living from just cityscape (and landscape) photography, but if you have the drive to succeed you may have a unique breakthrough in this genre of photography. High-quality landscape photographers can be sought-after. If you have the determination to succeed upload your best images to your website and to your social media accounts such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram to gain the best exposure of your work.
Have fun with cityscape photography!
There is so much to see in your nearby city.
