Hidden City Beauty: How to Take Photos in the Urban Landscape
Hidden city view of an interesting urban landscape in Melbourne, Australia.
With so much to see and do in the city, the opportunities to take photos of the urban landscape that are interesting and visually powerful should not be ignored.
Given the choice, I’d choose country living over the hustle and bustle of the city. Nonetheless, there’s a great deal of beauty in the urban landscape. It’s a special kind of beauty, that’s worthy of documentation should you decide to take photos during your next visit.
As a case in point, I made the above photo below and adjacent to the beginning of the Tullamarine Freeway in Melbourne.
I did so with the intention of showcasing a beautiful architectural element, towering over a freeway undercarriage,
Actually, it’s a very old image, at least as far as the world of digital photography is concerned.
But I can still remember rushing around to make the photo and, with sunset approaching, the difficulty involved in finding a suitable place from which to do so.
I like the fact that the photo is divided into two sections.
There’s the dynamic energy in the top section of the image that’s suggested by the yellow colored structure against the blue sky.
Conversely, the bottom of the image suggests a much quieter and subdued mood. That’s thanks to the mostly monochromatic tones present in the undercarriage of the two roads leading onto the freeway.
The fact that there’s little direct light reaching that area also contributes to the subdued, sombre mood in that part of the image.
I made the original photo, late in the day, way back in February 2006. That big old yellow block is still a pleasing site, though a number of very shady dealings have been conducted in the area below it.
With that in mind, I’d avoid going there, particularly with a camera and certainly not around day’s end.
It’s the kind of city beauty that doesn’t get enough attention from photographers. Given the difficultly associated with safely accessing the location, that’s totally understandable.
Nonetheless, that vivid yellow architectural structure makes for a powerful visual statement, which is why I’m glad I took the opportunity to photograph it when I did.
Keep Track of Your Best Urban Landscape Photos
While I love taking photos of the urban environment, I occasionally enjoy going back through my archive, with the intention of sorting images.
I do so in Adobe Lightroom, by making use of the following features:
Keywording
Building Collections
It’s important to stay on top of your image archive. Doing so allows you to find photos quickly and efficiently.
And that’s a tremendous advantage when there’s lots of photos in your image archive.
What’s more, great memories are rekindled through the process of looking back through so many great urban landscape photo adventures.
On a related subject, I believe in surrounding yourself with your best images and hiding or deleting your least successful pics.
I wrote a post titled Delete Photos Often: How to Absolutely Organize Like a Boss which outlines the process I undergo when deleting photos from my Lightroom catalog.
Do check it out, as I think you’ll find it to be a very helpful read.
Hidden City Views and Interesting Subject Matter
The urban landscape contains a great deal of interesting subject matter, unique visual aspects and hidden city views.
To find the best photo locations you first need to attune yourself to the city in question, becoming aware of its more unique characteristics.
In particular, look out for the following:
Quirky, offbeat or unconventional aspects
Historic and nostalgic sites
Interesting subcultures, often existing outside of plain sight
The photo at the top of this post was made with the 12.8 megapixel Canon 5D, my very first digital camera. It’s a full frame camera that, for its time, was a pretty amazing piece of kit.
Before buying the Canon 5D camera I’d had decades of experience as an analogue-based film photographer.
And I remember delaying my purchase, a few years longer than I’d wanted to, before that affordable full frame option reached the market.
Back then, I was a dedicated fixed (i.e., prime) lens user. As a case in point, this photo was made with a Canon 24 mm f/1.4 L series USM lens.
The setting reminded me of the kind of urban landscape location where one of those crazy car chases from the TV show Chips might have been filmed.
Of course, it's the introduction of the bright yellow structure in the top centre of the frame that draws the eye.
Placed against the deep blue sky, this vividly colored architectural element adds an element of the surreal to the image.
I also like the way it juxtaposes a pretty funky, contemporary element against what, for some folk, would be a relatively unremarkable urban location.
I’ve always enjoyed that kind of visual tension in a photo. And it’s an idea that I’ve explored in the following posts:
Please take a look at these posts. The ideas explored are really interesting and the posts feature photos I’ve made in Argentina, India, France, Austria, Iceland, South Georgia Island and Greenland.
Take Photos That Reveal Hidden City Beauty
What I love most about this photo is the yellow color of the structure, made particularly vivid by the sunset and how it reveals the transitory beauty of the location.
Making photos during sunrise or sunset is good for the soul.
I think that's because the process of making art forms a connection between location, artist and viewer that’s pure and honest.
The fact that, when I take photos, time seems to move at a different pace suggests another kind of connection all together.
Perhaps that's the greatest joy there is for the photographer exploring hidden city beauty.
Urban landscape featuring a giant owl statue, perched against the Melbourne skyline.
Discover Beauty in the Urban landscape
Being a big city, there’s lots to photograph in Melbourne. The city’s urban landscape includes fantastic architectural elements like buildings, bridges and statues.
I enjoyed taking photos of the owl statue, at dusk, under a stormy sky near Southern Cross Railway Station.
I remember being drawn to the yellow and inky blue color contrast, showcased in the buildings and sky, that serves to frame the owl statue against the stormy clouds gathering in the background.
Having said that, the image is over saturated, compared to my current preferences. It’s particularly evident in some of the bluish hues present in the background skyscrapers.
But, in fairness, computer monitors have come a long way since 2006. Perhaps, that’s the cause of the problem.
Self portrait in silhouette of Glenn Guy, the Travel Photography Guru.
Take Photos that Make Something Out Of Nothing
The above urban landscape photo is actually a self portrait of me in the Docklands precinct of Melbourne, Australia.
As you can see, I appear in silhouette with my shadow, and that of my tripod mounted camera, projected onto a yellow colored wall.
While it’s a very old photo, I remember just how hard it was to situate my shadow inside that circular space on the wall, just low enough so that the power line didn’t appear to run through my head.
It’s always fun to take photos like this one. If we’re lucky, we get to do so in exotic locales.
However, more often than not, the secret to taking a good photo is to be able to work with less than inspiring subject matter.
The notion of making something out of nothing is central to how I approach photography.
It’s not so much about what surrounds you, but the potential that resides in what you see and your ability to translate your vision into a photo that informs, inspires and excites your audience.
When you take photos that reveal hidden city beauty, in otherwise mundane and banal scenes, you help other folks discover beauty in the urban landscape.
The notion of finding beauty in the banal is a concept that I, very much, believe in. In fact it’s a philosophy that underpins how I approach quite a lot of my own photography, particular when I take photos in the urban landscape.
