Photographing cityscapes are an absolute thrill and I’ve learned a lot about how to capture the best photo possible, by revisiting places I’ve gone to and taking those experiences to do things differently for the second time.

To help both beginners and professionals I’ve composed 11 tips I think will be helpful to capture better cityscape/skyline images. They’re my personal experiences that have helped me, but take these tips and make them your own for your style and creative mind.

Shot with Alanna (Sony a7) + Sony/ZEISS FE 4/16-35mm at 16mm // Rockefeller Center’s “Top of the Rock” - New York City, NY. This is a heavily visited tourist attraction in Midtown Manhattan and it’s always recommend you get here early to save your spot, to capture that epic sunset you want from here. I arrived over 4 hours early to get a good spot, but I almost missed that chance by moving and coming back to a crowded top level observation area. Fortunately I was able to force my way in to a ledge area to setup my camera for some great sunset images.

1. Determine your vantage point, then choose your lens

Wherever you plan to shoot helps abundantly in choosing your lens(es). Cityscapes are typically great with a wide angle shot, but this can come from a wide angle lens or even a telephoto lens, based on how far away you are from a scene. Sometimes using a wide angle lens of a scene from a faraway vantage point will not bring viewers into your image, if it seems too far away to get a feel for what you captured in your photo.

Many like to plan out what gear they take with them to cut down on having unnecessary gear. Figure out where you’re shooting from and map out the distance. If you don’t care to do that then of course bring all of your lenses! You never know what will be the right lens for a given situation. That 85mm lens you have could be the bread and butter choice, but yet you left home with only a 35mm and you’re screwed of getting a good image when you could have had that winning image! Hopefully you have a super high megapixel camera and can crop heavily to try and make that work. =)

Shot with Aaliyah (Sony a1) + Sony FE 4/12-24mm G lens at 12mm // New York City, NY.

2. Look for Reflections

These can really make for some incredible looking images! Having a mirrored image that wasn’t photo-shopped can really make a photo have so much more character to it and also allow your viewers to view your image longer and concentrate on just how you captured it.

Reflections from one building to reflect back at another scene of say another building or what’s happening in the sky is a very unique capture. It’s better if you’re able to get close up on the building of focus and reflecting off of it instead of being far away. That closer perspective gives you an illusion that if captured perfectly can throw off your viewers, which is always fun to do!

Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + ZEISS FE 4/16-35mm // Chicago, IL. I was teaching an attendee at my Summer Street Meet how to photograph towards the sun when it’s behind the skyline you’re capturing. Here I decided to do a silhouette to just give me the outline of the buildings and the subtle look with the sky and water in the image.

3. Be attentive to Light

This is very important!! I have many photographers who come to me needing help on this, especially those who rarely if ever shoot with natural light. Sunlight is unpredictable and you have to follow its lead and be attentive to how the light falls off of buildings and reflects from them.

You can do so many things with the sunlight and you have to really be creative here. Time of day is important too as the colors and conditions are changing every minute, especially during sunrise and sunset. You can do things such as adjusting your aperture to obtain the sunburst/star effect from the sun or even adjusting your metering mode to center or spot to account for the sun in your image, which creates a gorgeous silhouette on buildings or anything that may be in your frame.

Shot with Aaliyah (Sony a1) + ZEISS Loxia FE 2.8/21mm lens // New York City, NY.

4. Use a Tripod when Needed

Depending on when and where you’re shooting; having a tripod can really make for a more impressive image, as light trails from highways/roadways in the foreground can add a more dramatic feel to your photo over a frozen still image.

I’ve been to locations that may not allow tripods, but in some cases they’ll have ledges you may be able to prop up on or even be able to use a small table top tripod (which most places typically will allow, as opposed to full size tripods). A hand-held shot vs a long exposure one can be the difference between having a good image and a great one. Click here for my recommended list of tripods.

Remember, when using a tripod be sure to DISABLE your camera/lenses stabilization. Even though you’re on a tripod the camera/lens will still be accounting for motion and your image may turn out with a blur because of this.

Shot with Aaliyah (Sony a1) + Sony FE 4/12-24mm G lens at 12mm // New York City, NY.

5. Capture Different Angles

Sometimes we become stuck in our routine way of doing things that we forget to think outside the box and be more creative.

Notice your surroundings. With cityscapes/skylines you have a lot that’s around you and you must look out to see what’s near or far and how you can capture as many different angles as possible. Just looking straight up can have a great perspective or having the clouds above be seen in a building that’s glass reflect off to give a dramatic look, or even trying some funky angles that someone may think you’re crazy for taking but it ends up being a very unique image.

Don’t be afraid to try a variety of different things. It may even help to go to an area you may want to photograph a few times and scout out the location before you go photograph. This helps in making sure when you’re ready to capture the perfect scene there’s little thinking needed to be done and you won’t waste any time during the short window of sunrise or sunset.

Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + Sony/ZEISS FE 4/16-35mm at 16mm // Miami, FL.

6. Photograph in Aperture Priority

I know this angers a lot of photographers when I say this. Many are even angered by the fact that I as a professional photograph about 99% in aperture priority. I’ve hosted several photo walks across the country and attended a few as well and I’ve seen countless times people missing an image because they had to dial in the right settings. In a studio, photographing fireworks or something then yes... manual is certainly what I’d go with, but for cityscapes aperture priority is your best friend!

Why? You’re eliminating the need to get the right exposure by the camera automatically adjusting, based on your ISO setting and your aperture. This is also a must if you choose to bracket your images. Using manual will take you longer than you need it to.

You also want to be able to turn around quick if you have to and get a shot and not have to redo your camera settings, because when you move your camera the lighting conditions will be different and you’ll be changing your settings for every position you move to, as the lighting will be different resulting in a different exposure which in turn will be brighter or darker based on your initial settings. This takes up a lot of time and you’re more likely to miss that perfect photo.

Shot with Aaliyah (Sony a7R III) + ZEISS Batis FE 2/25mm // Miami, FL.

7. Get to Heavily Trafficked areas Early!

This should be common knowledge. Numerous photographers will be planning their sights on the same location as you are and getting positioned in that perfect spot. Sometimes I’ve arrived to a location 4 hours ahead to secure my spot. Make sure you’ve visited the restroom, have some snacks and something to keep you busy while you wait, as you don’t want to leave your spot!

Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + ZEISS Loxia FE 2.8/21mm // Atlanta, GA.

8. Manual Focus for Sharper Results

Cameras auto focus quite well, but sometimes it could be that ever slight miss and your image isn’t entirely tack sharp. If you’re on a tripod you’ll be able to pinpoint your focus by manually focusing. I recommend utilizing dedicated manual lenses, like the ZEISS Loxia's, as these are designed for manual usage. The standard Sony E-Mount AF lenses can be utilized manually, but they use a focus-by-wire system that isn't accurate for setting focus.

Making sure you have the exact perfect image lined up and focused properly is good to be certain of, for those epic cityscape images that you may want to blow up and sell.

Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + ZEISS Batis FE 2/25mm // Long Island City - New York City, NY. This was a late and foggy night in New York, after it had just poured raining not long before.

9. Inclement Weather is a Winner

Mother Nature can add value to a composition. Maybe capturing that perfectly timed lightning bolt or even low flowing fog across the buildings. Don’t be afraid to go out if the day you planned to photograph turns out to have a few weather changes. Make sure your camera equipment is weather resistant and has covering as to not get damaged in anyway.

Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + ZEISS Loxia FE 2.4/85mm // Seattle, WA.

10. Bracketing Can Help Even More

All cameras perform differently and capture different levels of dynamic range. If your camera isn’t the strongest in that area then bracketing can overcome any shortcomings of your camera.

Later on in post you can mask images together for combining highlights in one image to the shadows in another to balance your image accordingly and obtain that properly exposed image. You can determine your exposures and how many brackets you’d want to use. I typically go for a -2, 0 and +2 exposures when I bracket. I feel that gives me the range I need to balance an image if I needed. All of my images now however are just single images, which I can bring back a lot of detail from, because of the great dynamic range of the Sony Alpha cameras.

Shot with Aaliyah (Sony a7R II) + ZEISS Loxia FE 2.8/21mm // New York City, NY.

11. Be Creative in Post-Processing & Don’t forget to photograph in RAW

Make your photo your own! There’s so much you can do with a RAW file in post processing. Try different things to bring an already great photo to be even creative with post-processing. Just don’t go overboard and ruin your image with too much editing.

There are many photos just in camera I may look at and not see much from in the photo but with editing I can bring back detail in the highlights or bring more life into the shadows and add more of that warm tone to my photo if it was sunrise or sunset. There are some who are against editing, especially if you’re seen photographing with a lot of expensive gear, but it’s your work! Make it into how you feel inspired to make your art look and how you want to present that to the world!

See this speed edit below of how I took one of my cityscape images and really brought it to life in post-processing.

I hope this blog was informative and helps those interested in taking stellar cityscape images. If you have any more questions, leave a comment below.

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Shot with Alanna (Sony a9) + ZEISS Batis FE 2/25mm // Chicago, IL.