Resting Nite - Raptures Alight!

OK - So I did something not too bright: I forgot to charge my camera battery. Not the smartest thing to do when you are in the middle of a challenge month. I have set myself a number of reminders to recharge batteries when I get home this evening.

I did have a small bit of luck in that my mobile phone was with me, and while not technically great, I am more interested in composition rather than some of the features of my camera today - I was looking at buildings, and the ‘dullness’ of the mobile phone actually seemed to offset some of the glare as the only time I had available to take shots today was at lunch!

I liked the shape of the buildings in this one.

This is the second time I am shooting with a mobile phone (I did for a day on my last holidays), and it’s not too bad as long as you keep in mind the limitations of the camera… and bottom line with mobiles (and a lot of basic point and shoots) is to have a lot of light.

To see the rest of my January Challenge photos, check the “January Challenge” category here on my blog or visit my Flickr Set.

I decided to practice with off-kilter horizons and the black and white setting on my camera. This is better than the previous two days - some of my reading paid off!

Also, the walk occurred around my office, and started just before the sun set. As the floodlights came on around the building, I was able to get alot of contrasting pics. That’s why there is such a bright light in the background of this one!

To see the rest of my January Challenge photos, check the “January Challenge” category here on my blog or visit my Flickr Set.

One of the reasons that I chose this theme is because of this definition of Urban Landscapes (as taken from Urban Landscapes):

Urban landscape photography

• in some way describe a town or city
• represents an attempt to understand our experience of the city
• shows a dedication to the subject, expressed through a body of work rather than isolated images
• concentrates on structures or processes rather than on people
• may deal in either details or a broader view

This may have been my shortcoming, but when I first heard about urban landscape photography, I thought it was skylines and vistas. I’ve since learned that some of the best urban landscape photography gets caught up in some of the details.

Some sites that I’ve come to love as a result of this project include:

• Cornershots (urban photography of NYC)
• Photographing Urban Landscapes
• Urban Landscapes @ pbase
• No Words Forum - Urban Landscapes

I have been following Brian on Epic Edits and Trevor on TrevorCarpenter.com as they have pursued the December Challenge of taking a portrait photograph a day. There have been some great results.

I have been inspired to challenge my own photography, so for January I am going to take a photo a day of Urban Landscapes.

For information on what defines an urban landscape, I think that the urban landscape photography site has it pretty well summed up, and as seems to be appropriate, some bookmarks on taking better urban landscape photos include:

• Urban Landscape Photography Tips
• Flickr Group - Urban Vistas

Just some other options that I think I can explore as part of this project:

• Taking photos in black and white or sepia
• Looking for abstract architecture
• Looking to tell a story behind the landscape

If anyone knows some good links, or wish to provide their own suggestions about how best to explore this through photography, then please post in the comments.