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Urban photography or street photography is a genre of photography that captures cityscapes, architecture, and street scenes. Street photographers have different photographic approaches to capturing their views of the streets or urban landscapes.
Many photographers use cameras with crop-factor or wide-angle lenses. They walk around and look for good shots to get great photographs with perfect composition and exposure, later used in creative ways by editing tools.
In the following post, we will share the top 10 street photography hacks using the iPhone that you need to know.
Keep Your Camera Close To Your Body
One of the most important things you can do to become a better photographer is to keep your camera close to your body. It may sound odd to say, but it’s true.
Because when you have a long distance between your camera and your body, it will pick up more noise from other electronic devices around you. For example, if you’re taking a picture of an urban landscape with an electrical tower in the background, this will create a lot of noise in your photo.
When you’re holding your camera in front of you, it’s not just the weight of the device that can cause strain — it’s also the fact that you’re extending your arms out in front of you.
If you’re shooting from a tripod or a stationary position, this isn’t as much of an issue, but if you’re moving around and shooting handheld, it can be a real problem.
The solution to this problem is simple: Don’t extend your arms when shooting! Instead, keep your elbows tucked in against your torso; this will make it easier for you to hold on for more extended periods without getting tired or sore.
Master The Art Of Timing
The art of photography is a lot like the art of music. Both require skill, talent, and patience. A good photographer can capture that moment in time that they want to preserve forever.
However, it takes more than just capturing a photo to ensure it looks good. This is where timing comes into play.
Timing is essential to photography because you don’t want your subject to move or blink during the shot. If you are taking photos at night, you need to ensure that your subjects aren’t moving because it will make for poor-quality pictures that look blurry or grainy due to lack of light.
If you want a good photograph, you must take your time and wait for the perfect moment before taking the picture. If you are taking photos during the day, you should wait for those moments when there isn’t much light coming through so that there won’t be too much glare on the lens, causing distortion and poor-quality pictures.
Be Subtle
In urban photography, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to make everything look fantastic. The best shots are usually subtle: the ones that don’t scream at you but sit there quietly and let you enjoy the moment.
So here are some tips for making your photos more subtle:
Don’t Overdo It With The Filters
I’m not talking about using filters like polarizers or neutral density filters — those can be great for getting more out of urban scenes.
But when it comes to editing your photos, there’s a tendency to go overboard with filters that make everything look like they belong on Instagram or Facebook. That’s not exactly what I’m going for here.
Instead, try using just one or two filters at most before posting your results online. If you want to use more than that, do so before editing in Photoshop or Lightroom.
That way, you can edit separately from your final post-processing work and see how much each filter affects your image before deciding which ones work best for each type of photo.
Think about weather
If you are a photog who likes to shoot urban landscapes and buildings, you may have noticed that the weather is an essential factor affecting your shooting.
The most common reason people don’t do urban photography is that they think it needs to be shot on sunny days, but this is not true. There are many ways in which you can shoot an urban landscape, even when it rains or snows.
Here are some tips on how to shoot urban landscape even if it rains:
Use the raindrops as your subject: If you want to capture some beautiful raindrops on a building, try moving around and find the best angle where it will look good in the frame. This is one of the best ways to make an ordinary situation extraordinary by adding some creativity to your shots.
Shoot from inside: If you plan on shooting from inside a building, use windows as your background to create an interesting effect in your photograph. When using this method, ensure that there are no distractions in the picture so that viewers can focus on what matters most – the raindrops falling from the skies onto the window pane!
Know When And Where To Find The Best Locations
If you want to take urban photography, you need to know where to find the best locations for your photos. This is because different places will give you extra pictures and compositions. If you don’t know where to find these locations, it would be tough to get good shots.
Several places are ideal for taking urban photography in Singapore. You can start with the Singapore Flyer, one of Singapore’s most famous observation wheels.
It offers fantastic city views that cannot be found anywhere else. You can also go to Clarke Quay, which has many good spots for taking photos like Merlion Park and Robertson Walk.
Another great place for urban photography is Marina Bay Sands, one of the most famous hotels in Singapore and considered one of the best hotels in Asia by many travel experts and reviewers.
If you want a more scenic view, Gardens by the Bay is another excellent place where you can take some good photos without too much competition from other photographers or tourists who might not know how to take good images themselves!
Learn The Rules so that You Can Break Them
Regarding photography, rules and conventions can be your best friend or your worst enemy. And while some rules should always be followed (especially if you want your photos to look good), others are meant to be broken at will.
If you want to learn photography, one of the first things you need is an understanding of all these rules so that you can know when it’s time to break them.
The rules are there for a reason, but they’re not necessarily going to apply to every situation. For example, it’s not a rule that you need to use an aperture of at least f/8 when shooting portraits. It might be worth considering if you’re shooting in low light conditions and want to get some nice bokeh.
But if you’re trying to create a more edgy-looking portrait and want everything in focus, then it might be worth experimenting with wider apertures like f/1.4 or even f/2.8. This will also help you achieve a shallow depth of field (which means less of the image is in focus).
Embrace The Shadows
One of the most common mistakes that amateurs make when shooting in urban areas is that they only look for the light. This is a mistake because it’s impossible to get a good shot without shadows.
Shadows are one of the essential elements in photography, and if you don’t embrace them, you will never get the desired results. The best way to get the most out of your urban photography is to embrace the shadows.
You might think that shadows are only useful for hiding things and making it harder for people to see you, but they can also be a powerful tool in making your photos more dramatic.
Think about how popular silhouettes are in fashion photography. This is because silhouettes allow you to capture a moment without revealing the subject’s facial expression or other details.
The same principle applies when you’re shooting in an urban setting because it allows you to capture the exact moment of an event without worrying about all the distracting details around it.
Change Up Your Perspective
One of the most exciting and rewarding ways to shoot is to get up and move around or change your perspective. When you’re shooting from the same angle repeatedly, it can quickly become boring and uninspiring. Get out there and explore!
There are lots of different ways you can change up your perspective, including:
- Using a different focal length lens – A wide-angle lens will distort the scene and make it look more attractive, while a telephoto lens will compress everything into one tight area.
- Getting close to your subject – A macro lens will allow you to get close up for some beautiful detail shots, while a wide-angle lens will allow you to capture more of the scene around them.
- Changing your height – Try crouching low on the floor or climbing high onto a ledge for new angles on things you see daily.
Shoot Quieter Cameras And Lenses If You Can
Urban photography is all about capturing the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s a fast-paced style of photography that requires a great deal of skill and patience.
If you’re new to urban photography, you might think you need the loudest camera possible to get great shots. While there are advantages to shooting with a DSLR or mirrorless camera, it’s also important to consider how much noise each model makes when taking photos.
The reason why it’s essential to use a quiet camera is that when you’re shooting in public places like city streets, it’s very likely that someone will see what you’re doing and either ask what you’re doing or tell you how much they hate your guts for taking photos of their neighborhood.
You don’t want your camera to make a sound that draws attention to yourself, nor do you want anyone knowing that there’s someone around taking pictures of them without their permission (or at least without them knowing about it).
The more noise your camera makes, the less likely it will be able to capture those candid moments without disrupting them. So if you can find a quieter camera or lens for your urban photography needs, do so.
Befriend Other Photographers In Your City
The internet has made connecting with other photographers in your city and meeting them in person. When you’re new to photography, it can be hard to know where to start or how to improve.
One way is to find other photographers in your area willing to help you. You can do this by attending local events featuring photography and meeting people there or joining a local photography club.
If you live in a big city, chances are good that other photographers live close by and are also interested in doing professional work (or at least getting paid for their hobby). Finding these people can be as easy as looking on Instagram (make sure you look at hashtags like #photographers) or Facebook groups related to photography.
Ask around until you find someone who has similar interests as you do, and reach out! You can also use social media to connect with other photographers in your city. Look for hashtags on Instagram and Twitter, or search Facebook groups by location. This will help you find people who live near you who are interested in the same things as you – food, travel, or street photography!
Where can you post your work online?
Ishinora is an online platform where you can post your photography works. You can share your work with the world or just keep it private.
Ishinora offers a range of features that help photographers to share their works. You can also upload and sell your photos on Ishinora.
Ishinora is free for everyone. You don’t need to sign up to post your photos on Ishinora. However, if you want to take advantage of all the available features, such as selling pictures or having more control over privacy settings, you’ll need to create an account first.
Conclusion
While the right gear will help, there is no substitute for knowledge and practice. Knowing how to grab a shot quickly, editing at a moment’s notice, and always being out and about are good starting points.
Experimenting with framing, different lenses, and shooting conditions will help you to hone your skills and find your best shots. Most importantly, enjoy it as much as you can. Seeing these photos is more of a joy than work, so always be on the lookout.
With these simple tips and tricks, you can better manage your camera in the city while capturing some unique urban landscape photography.