Cityscapes

This is only in the blog section as I do cityscapes and other such shots, mainly at night, for fun.

Along with the Artists in Berlin project I also wish to start a cityscape group project, whereby you can come out photographing with me and others.

What does that mean? It means that anyone, who wishes to come along, may do so, as long as they have a camera, a tripod and a little know-how and patience.

More will appear here on the new Facebook page.

So, cityscapes…. Why? Because I like taking shots that maybe other people have, but maybe they don’t, such as my shot of Alexanderplatz from a building nearby. Some people will recognise it. Some people will know where I took the shot from, and it was a unique angle in that sense as I don’t think any other photographers have shot from that building.

Of course there might be better places to shoot from, better angles, other factors, but this is about working with what I have and having fun doing so.

That’s one version shot in black and white, taken during the day. Here is another one taken at night:

You get the idea.

So, to be honest, cityscapes are fairly easy to do.

Sometimes it is a case of taking a camera and a tripod and looking at what is there.

This was from my wander in London over Christmas. It is Tower Bridge at night from the river bank. We were walking towards Westminster.

We walked over to London Bridge. I didn’t have my tripod, but the bridge had flat metal sides, so I just balanced my camera and could take the shots I wanted.

One fun thing about shooting from a bridge, is how much you suddenly notice about everything around you when you stand, wait and watch. On the riverside it does not matter who walks by, but on a bridge this can cause some serious camera shake. During one long exposure a bus drove by. I deleted that photo.

This is the resulting panorama from about 4-5 shots taken with the same long exposure.

This is an easy shot. It merely requires patience a small bit of compositional skill. I have great kit, but you don’t need it for this type of shot. It is a shot anyone with the right level of patience and curiosity can take.

When I do a walk around Berlin again, I’ll post an event on the facebook page. If you are not on Facebook and want to be invited, just drop me a line through the contact form.

Now for the final part, the tips:

Use a good tripod. I use a good Manfrotto tripod. The cheap 20 Euro tripods are not worth the investment. Get a good one, and you will still use it in 10+ years.

Remember to turn off the image stabilisation. If you don’t, you will have motion blur due to the camera making lots of tiny adjustments and moving the glass in your lens.

It sounds simple, but believe me, I have forgotten to turn my image stabilisation off more than once.

Don’t worry about shooting at f11 and doing a long exposure. You have time.

And most importantly, visualise what you want before setting up and choose your spot, so that you are happy later.

So, have fun with your cityscapes. Maybe we will see each other one crisp evening for a photowalk.

Btw, here is the cover shot:

I don’t stop people downloading the images, so if you want one, just click on it and save it.

If you want a bigger version for printing, let me know and I’ll suggest a fair price.