THE MAN-MADE WORLD

 

L A N D M A R K S   A N D   M O N U M E N T S 

The problem in photographing most famous landmarks is that, well, they're famous. So famous, in fact, that almost any photo of them--even a particularly clever one--is in danger of being viewed as a visual cliché. The challenge, then, is to bring home a souvenir picture that's both identifiable (you want people to know where you were) and also a creative notch above the postcard view.

Don't, however, discount the postcard view too quickly.

You can find alternatives to ordinary views by scouting around for unconventional vantage points. We all know what the Golden Gate Bridge looks like from the famous hillside overlook, but how about walking down by the bay and shooting up from underneath? Or framing it through the rear window of a cab in rush-hour traffic? Odd juxtapositions have potential, too--the more unexpected the better. Everyone is familiar with the pristine views of the Statue of Liberty, but how many photographers explore it from the New Jersey shore of the Hudson and include tugboats or decaying barges in the foreground?

There are no rules either that say your pictures have to show all of a landmark or provide an entirely literal interpretation. Sometimes isolated pieces of a subject are more visually arresting than the whole and just as identifiable. Try using a long lens (200 mm) or zoom to close in on Lincoln's face at his Washington, D.C., monument, for instance. Lastly, don't overlook abstraction, as in the reflection of the Washington Monument in the glossy face of the Vietnam Memorial (see photograph).

C I T Y   S T R E E T S 

For sheer variety of subjects--architecture, interesting faces, open-air markets, historic landmarks, parks--nothing competes with the urban whirl of a city. Best of all, you can change subjects as your mood or your ideas evolve and usually just by turning another corner. In Manhattan, for instance, the glamour of the United Nations, the glitz (and grunge) of Times Square, and the cool shade of Central Park are mere blocks apart.

Unlike zooming through the countryside in a car at warp speed, hoping that a wonderful vista will pop up beside you, trekking a city's streets immerses you in its most intimate details. The kind of photographs you're likely to find will depend a lot on the personality of the city. If your stay is brief, take a short bus tour to find out exactly where you are and hatch some good picture ideas.

In cities where old and new live shoulder to shoulder, look for scenes that reveal that contrast. (See the photgraph of the contrast of the gothic architecture of St. Patrick's Cathedral with a modern steel and glass Manhattan skyscraper, taken with a 28 mm wide-angle lens.) In frenetic hubs like Tokyo or London, you can catch the energy by using a very long telephoto lens (see Lenses) to compress crowds or a long exposure (see Exposure Basics) to intentionally blur the bustle.

Whatever the locale, an advantage of city photography is that you can--and should--travel light with respect to equipment. A point-and-shoot or SLR that provides autoexposure and autofocus will free you to concentrate on your compositions and enable you to respond quickly to picture opportunities. A zoom lens in the 28 mm to 85 mm range will embrace wide views and still let you close in on interesting faces or architectural details.

C I T Y   V I S T A S 

Cities that seem chaotic and intense up close often appear surprisingly elegant and orderly from high above or viewed from a distance. From on high, patterns emerge in the grids of streets and rows of buildings that are all but invisible at street level; distant shots often reveal a graceful skyline.

The most difficult part of photographing cityscapes is finding vantage points. Most major cities have observation decks that offer good overviews. Or, if you're lucky enough to get a hotel room on an upper floor, you can shoot from your own or a hall window (turn off the room lights to keep reflections down if you have to shoot through the glass). Surrounding hills and bridges provide good vantage points for more expansive views, such as the classic views of San Francisco shot from across the bay.

Midday pictures are usually pretty dull, but twilight shots (within 10 to 20 minutes after sunset) are especially glamourous because there is plenty of blue light left in the sky and the buildings and streetlights have begun to glimmer. A few moments before sunset, try to shoot fromthe west to catch the last rays of the setting sun igniting the skyline. Use a fast film (ISO 400 or 1000) to provide a shutter speed that's safe for handholding (1/60 second or faster; see Film).

At dusk or dawn, the contrast of the bright sky and dimmer buildings can make it difficult for your camera to judge the correct exposure; but color print film usually has enough latitude to provide acceptable results over a range of exposures. For instance, particularly when you're using slide film, which is less forgiving for the wrong exposures, use your exposure-bracketing feature to make exposures at one and two stops over and under the recommended setting and take notes for future reference.

F O R M A L   G A R D E N S 

ormal gardens provide a great opportunity to create some stunning landscape photographs. Beautiful public gardens exist in virtually every part of the world and are usually a microcosm of the geographic location itself. The meditation gardens of Japan or the plantation gardens of the American South provide evocative reflections of their locale. Equipment isn't much of a factor; a point-and-shoot will provide fine results. Because much of the design work has been done for you and the area involved is relatively small, you can often capture many different views in just a short visit. If the garden has very formalized rows of flower beds, a high angle (from a porch or hillside) will reveal their patterns. At ground level a wide-angle lens will help exaggerate the perspective of long flower rows. In more free-form settings, try to build your compositions around a single feature: a particularly interesting piece of topiary or a river of stone winding through a meditation garden.

Gardens at peak season will, of course, provide the most colorful and extravagant pictures, but go early in the day to avoid crowds and trampled footpaths. If your travels take you to a garden that is prior to or past its peak, concentrate on wider views that rely less on individual flowers or plants and more on the landscaping itself.

R O Y A L   D W E L L I N G S 

Like settings from a fairy tale, castles, palaces, and other royal abodes stir the imagination with their grand and often fanciful architecture. Though the Gothic stone castles of Europe differ wildly from the ornate palaces of Asia, the challenge of photographing both is to capture their spirit of fantasy and history.

Many royal buildings--the castles along the Rhine in Germany, for example--were designed by their architects to appear imposing from great distances. One way to photograph them is as you first see them: rising through the mist like apparitions. Medieval castles were also designed to be as inaccessible as possible, so look for angles that reveal the inhospitable surroundings and the drama of their location. A medium telephoto lens (85 mm to 135 mm) will enable you to capture both structure and surroundings from a distance. From nearby, use a wide-angle lens to exaggerate the height of sheer rock walls or steep cliffs.

The other alternative, of course, is to tour the building and photograph it in all its royal detail. Close-up views of turrets or, in the case of an ornate palace, colorful carvings or mosaics make interesting subjects. If the building is open to the public, a tour may give you some strong visual opportunities looking from the inside out. Use a very wide angle lens (28 mm), and try framing other parts of the building through windows or doorways (see the photograph of the castle entrance) or show distant views as they're seen from within.

The main problem you encounter photographing from nearby is keeping signs of the 20th century out of your pictures. A parking lot full of tour buses doesn't do much to enhance the romance of a medieval castle. Of course, you could include such modern juxtapositions to make a less idealistic statement. Don't be discouraged either if the weather turns sour. Storm clouds, rain, fog, mist, and snow often dramatize the settings and heighten the fantasy of such regal scenes. If the buildings are artistically lit, night shots can produce dramatic results, but bring a tripod to keep the camera steady during long exposures.