Location Scouting Part 1 - Reading Up on Your City

One of the reasons I started this blog was to record my progress as I addressed some things I wanted to learn about architectural photography. The biggest issue I've run into so far was scouting. I have read a number of articles/books on scouting for landscape photography, and portraiture, but precious little on architectural photography. For landscape shots, you need a physical feature to be present to change a shot. For portraiture, you can move the subject. In urban architecture, though, the best shooting locations tend to be privately owned, so we try different angles, make the best of what we have, and try to get creative.

Statue of President William Henry Harrison on Garfield Place

So here are a few thoughts I've had on scouting urban architecture.

I'm a librarian by profession, so it should come as no surprise that the first step I recommend in your scouting process is research. At the very least, reading the Wikipedia article could give you a good start. Also try the city's chamber of commerce, encyclopedia entries, travel guides, and atlases. With this information, you should be able to:

• Learn the character of the city
• Learn what parts of the city were inhabited/settled first
• Identify key historic districts
• Locate important architectural styles and features
• Identify key architects in the city's development
• Identify which areas are socially and economically distressed and might require additional planning to photograph
• Plan around popular events in the city's calendar
• Learn seasonal conditions and their effect on the city's skyline and shooting conditions
• Learn the hours of operation for observation decks
• Identify some iconic shots
• Famous buildings
• Famous perspectives
• You don't want to duplicate these, but they will give you an idea of prime shooting locations, and which shots could use a fresh take

These are just some approaches off the top of my head, but all of this will help you to seek out the best available shots and avoid time-wasters like shooting from a great vantage point that requires beautiful foliage in the middle of winter, or trying to get a solitary shot of an iconic building during a festival which attracts thousands of people. 

Learning Architectural Photography

I have a confession to make. I'm a serial blog creator. That may not seem like much of a confession, but if you only knew what that represented in "great ideas" and abortive efforts--the loneliness of the inconsistent blogger. I've started blogs on writing, on library science, on research, on local sites, and on a variety of photography topics.

Well, here's another one.

*****

I took up photography in August of 2010. It's easy to pin that date down, because it was the occasion of a big family trip out to Colorado. I'd been trying for about 30 years to do something creative. I tried my hand at art, landscape design, music, and writing, but I found that I either stunk at these pursuits, or I lacked the passion to maintain them. Writing is one I kept coming back to, only problem was I didn't like to write.

Anyhow, in August of 2010, I picked up a camera on our family vacation, and I couldn't put it down. I found myself getting out of bed early to go and shoot, and that's highly unusual for me. I researched and read everything I could get my hands on. I started a pro account with Flickr. I began to add lenses and light modifiers to my collection. I shot everything that did or didn't move.

So here I am now, trying to learn architectural photography. I work in downtown Cincinnati and I have plenty of opportunities to work on this. I keep running into problems though--problems with access to buildings, converging vertical lines, ignorance of architectural history and trends, the elements, crowds, security, gear limitations, etc. I research and ask questions, but the progress is slow.

That's why I'm starting this blog. I want a place where I can direct and share my education as it happens. If I have to struggle to learn some of this, I hope it helps some of you. I look forward to sharing this journey, and seeing some really cool photography.

Good luck,

Rob