EXPLORING URBAN LANDSCAPES USING AUTOMOTIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

Ever see a cityscape image so good you wanted to move there?

- ANIRUDH IYER

Bustling streets, smiling faces, colourful facades and the smell, vibrant skylines, all become a part of an ideal city dream, and also a great urban landscape image. Cityscapes are synonymous with panoramas of beautiful sunset or night time skylines, but they can encompass a lot more than that, especially if you choose to explore that through the lens of an automotive photographer. Here, we give you some tips on how to achieve a shot that you can call your own. As usual, we'll be talking about focal lengths and such from a fullframe POV, but you can use equivalence to figure out the focal length and aperture for the sensor format you'll be shooting.

Get inspired, have a vision

Look at lots of pictures on social media, places like Pinterest and also dedicated photography websites for the kinds of images you can create. Create a mood-board or a shot list and have a clear plan and goal of what you want to get out of your photoshoot.

Explore locations, pre-plan

If and when possible, go visit locations physically and look for patterns, backgrounds, the direction of light, opportunities to showcase features of the area, and so much more. Having a phone with an ultra-wide camera can be a boon in this scenario and it’ll help your recce, bringing you more ideas even after you’re back home.

Warm up/test shoot