According to Satinder Pal Singh Madhok, you must have seen photographs of snow-clad mountains or deep forests. But have you got the chance of looking at photographs of your city and its vibrant life? Almost 80% of the population of the world lives in urban areas. So why not to capture people in action on streets or street hawkers or plainly the objects in view.
What is Urban nature photography? Is it Urban Landscape? Urban is definitely cities or towns. Images of people, cityscapes or any genre of this kind like street photography, aerial view of city, long exposure photography, night photography and light trails…all are reflections of Urban Nature Photography.
Street photography can fall into two categories: street portraits and the other one is happenings on the street. Look for the scenes where you get people and what are the activities going on: shopping in markets, strolling in parks, workouts in open gyms, bike riding, preparation of food at the food court, grilling at Dhabas, skating, yoga, or street vendors selling their products.
Above the city, aerial view through helicopter ride or drone, you can capture images of skyscrapers or the ground that looks stunning. Satinder Pal Singh Madhok offers unique shots from a different perspective and it gives great memorable photos, for example, aerial view of Taj Mahal in India, Burj Khalifa in Dubai gives mesmerizing experience.
Long exposure photography is slow shutter photography with filters to remove or blur some people or some objects to sharply capture stationary images in the scene. Normally obscure moving elements are removed and different shutter speeds of the camera for instance long exposure of Melbourne city across the river.
Satinder Singh Madhok says, when the sun sets, urban lighting is great. Its illuminated completely different view. The camera picks up what your eyes can’t see. You get great light trails at night. Capturing trails is magnificent with tall buildings at the backdrop. Architectural marvels with interesting and unique designs, temples, churches, nestled buildings, heritage towers/buildings. The amalgamation of old and new buildings create interesting storylines when captured by Satinder Singh Madhok.
Different weathers and seasons cast a magic spell when you shoot the scenes unique to them. Roads have flower beds in autumn, springs have blossoming flowers, rainy seasons with tiny droplets on leaves. Cities white with snow or people with colorful umbrellas in rains are a delight to eyes when captured in-camera.
Bridges are beautiful with leading lines. Anything that will lead to an image like train tracks, moving the bus, leading roads, overhead flyovers…that focuses on an image when trailed gives a beautiful picture. Bandra-Worli cable-stayed sea link bridge in Mumbai is a famous tourist place now, looking at its picture gives you an overview of this stunning pathway.
Candid photography is naturally posed random incidents on city road. It records people behavior, movements in public places. You can also create expressions or focus on traces of life in a city without people being in the frame but a perception of them.
So, go ahead, and choose a theme, set your mood right, and capture the essence of your place. You will surely create a wow factor in your images.