A Sense of Place (Part 1)
posted on 26th of february, 2007
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I'm in San Francisco this week, staying near Union Square. There is a photographer on every corner snapping every which way. So how do to create images of a beautiful and much photographed city that will stand out from the competition?
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A mentor of mine gave this advice to travel photographers. He said to visit all the places you think you want to photograph on the first day or two upon arriving in a city. Check out the light and calculate when the light will be best for shooting. Study the angle and best place to shoot from. Figure out where you will want to be to get the most famous shot. Then move around a bit to see if you can find a new angle or a fresh perspective. Or see how you could let the landmark become a secondary element of the image. THEN return with your camera.
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Of course this is all great on paper but just imagine how you would feel if you spent two days wandering around a city in beautiful weather just to look out the window and see a driving rainstorm on your shooting day. You might not get the shot you had so carefully planned but I always say in those cases: shoot rain.
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A famous documentary photographer has joined me one afternoon in San Francisco this week. I asked him to give me some tips to help you create compelling and beautiful images of his favorite city. He took me to three of the highest buildings in San Francisco that have public rooms at the top. He planned it so that we could see the late afternoon light on the skyline and then the sunset and finally the city lights. He pushed his camera directly on to the window glass to steady it as he shot the city below. He also pointed out that every great city always has a bar at the top of a tall building, making for a relaxing end of day as well as a good shooting opportunity.
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Whenever I'm going to be in a new city outside the US, I ask another friend of mine who travels the world shooting editorial images to recommend a restaurant for dinner. The first thing he asks me is what time I want to eat. This is not to avoid the crowds but because he chooses restaurants by the kind of light that will be available for the best shooting at the magic light times at end of day. (He also knows good food!)
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No matter what large metropolitan area you live in or visit, there are always new situations and places to shoot. Even long-standing landmarks don't look the same. The Palace of Fine Arts in SF has had a fence around its lake for a long time. Now the fence is gone and new images can be made. What's old is new again.
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Tags: photo place scenery setting tips
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Comments (5)
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Thanks a lot Ellen for adding my picture to this article. My picture is the one of the sailboat with the Golden Gate in the background. It is nice to get recognized like this. You are right about scouting an area out ahead of time. I was trying to figure out how to get some really different pictures of the bridge so I spent a whole day just walking around , asking questions, getting ideas. Then the next day it came to me. Ask one of the fisherman to take me out on the bay for the sole purpose of taking pictures. He agreed and I paid him for a private cruise. I took many pictures of the bridge that day and several sell almost daily now. I try to "think out of the box" all the time now. Makes it a lot more fun to. Thanks again - posted by
Digital94086
on February 27, 2007 |
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Another great article, excellent series/blog. Do you or anyone else have any tips on shooting through windows? What do you do in terms of reflections, dirt on the window, which lenses/filter and how far from the window do you hold the camera? - posted by
Gaellery
on February 27, 2007 |
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Great article once again.
Excellent selection of images to illustrate the points too __ there are so many real gems out there that I hadn't seen before. The library here is of an astonishing high quality. - posted by
Joegough
on February 27, 2007 |
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Again this lesson encourages me to go out and make even better shots than before! - posted by
Tempic
on February 26, 2007 |
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Great advices, once again.I love going to SFo for the day or w-e and shoot... there is so much to see;so many stories and street scenes, but it is hard to get a unique perspective, something that hasn't been done. Thanks ! - posted by
Cathysbelleimage
on February 26, 2007 |
Comments (5) |
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Photo credits: Kushnirov Avraham, Stephen Coburn, Chee-onn Leong, Mike Brake, Matthew Self, Lars Christensen, Can Balcioglu, Can Balcioglu, Can Balcioglu, Haydn Adams. |
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| Stock Photography that SELLS! |
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Ellen Boughn, a veteran of the stock photography industry with over 30 years
of experience gives expertise tips on successful stock.
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Ellen Boughn
(Boughn)
Bainbridge Island, US
I am Dreamstime's Director of Content and Business Development. A long time stock industry professional, I have held executive positions at Corbis and Getty (Stone) as well as at several other large US agencies. Although I was given my first camera when I was six years old by my father, I gave up taking pictures when I became a photo editor. A lifetime of looking at the best work from some of the world's best photographers, made me realize my skills were in editing images, not taking them. My areas of expertise are content and business development.
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