MOSTCITIESARE PACKED WITHBOLD
ANDBRIGHTMAN-MADECOLOURS.
LEARNHOW TOUSETHEMW ISELYURBAN SCENES
64 DigitalSLR PhotographyMay 2019
Above:A smoggysunsetenvelopesa cityin vibrantreds;the
perfectbackdropfora graphicsemi-silhouette.Below:Street
art is often a great, colourful source for abstract images.SASHA STORIES/UNSP
LASHJFL/UNSPLASHUSING COLOUR...
R E M E MBERT H EBASICSOF
THECOLOURW H E E LANDUSING
COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS
TOGETHER I NT H EF RAMETO
CREATEBOLDIMAGES
U
RBANSCENESBOASTbagsofpotential
forwaystoutilisecoloureffectively.In
townsandcities,orareasdominatedby
man-madestructures,colouris everywhere
andit’salmostalwaysintentional,making
urbanenvironmentsidealforcreating
interestingandcolourfulcompositions.
Take,forexample,modernarchitecture–
asit canbefairlymonochromaticit forms
theidealbackdropfora brightly-coloured
accent,suchassomeonein a redcoat
walkingpasta plaingreybuilding.Modern
structurescanbecolourfulin themselves
toothough– architectstendtouseswathes
ofboldcolours,orbrightaccents,tomake
theirworkstandoutfroma seaofgrey,and
thesepalettesmakeurbanenvironments
interestingtophotograph.It canbedifficult
tocreateanartisticinterpretationofan
urbansceneif youtryandcrameverything
in witha wide-anglelens– thisis especially
truewhenshootingfromgroundlevel,as
weoftenare,becauseperspectivedistortion
comesintoplay.Instead,considerabstract
compositionsthatrelyonangle,colourand
light.In thesescenarios,directlightis
advantageousasnotonlydoesit define
shapesandallowustoplaywithshadowand
light,butit alsobolstersbrightcolours.
Anothertypeof urbanscenethat’sfullof
lifeandcolouraremarketplaces.Fromrows
of rainbow-colouredfruitto otherman-
madewares,marketsarebustlingandvibrant
environmentsthatlendsthemselvesto
photography.Youcouldtryyourhandat
shootingcandidstreetportraitsthere,too,or
focusontheproduceitself.If youwantto add
depthandinterestto imagesin placessuchas
this,tryshootingpastorthrougha colourful
itemsothatit becomesa blurof colourat the
edgesof theframe.
In somecases,wallscakedin vibrantgraffiti
canbesuitablesubjectsin themselves.
There’s not much creativity in photographingsomeoneelse’sartworkas youfindit, sothink
of otherwaysthatyoucanfactorin colourful
wallsin yourshots.Youmightwaitforthe
perfectmomentwhensomeonepassesin
frontof a mural,ortrya creativecrop,oreven
employsomemotionblurto blendcolours
intoanabstractimage.Usinga slowshutter
speedwhilstpanning,spinningorzooming
thelenscancreatesomeinterestingeffects
thatsmeardifferentcolourstogether.
In urbansettingsyouoftenfindinterplay
betweendifferentelements,suchastheold
andthenew,orthestaticandthebusy.This
interplaystretchesintothecoloursyou’ll
oftenfindtogethertoo.Rememberthe
basicsofthecolourwheel,andhowusing
complementarycolourstogetherin the
framecancreateboldimagesorhowusing
analogouscolourscancreatemore
harmoniousresults.
Thefundoesn’tstopwhenthesungoes
downeither– warmman-madelight
sourcessuchasshopwindows,streetlamps
andneonsignscontrastwiththeblueskyof
duskandnighttocreateinterestingimages.
Ratherthantryingtocorrecttungstenlight
sources(wheretheystillexist)setyourWhite
BalancetoDaylightandyou’llbeableto
capturetheinterplaybetweenorangeand
blue.Don’tleaveit toolatethough– the
idealtimetoshootsceneslikethisis during
thebluehour,justafterthesundipsbelow
thehorizon.Afterthattheskybecomes
much darker and scenes less vibrant.