Digital Urban and Cityscape Photography

Are you new to a city and not sure where to look to get the best urban and cityscape photography? Don't trust yourself navigating the streets or the mass transit system?

Consider a walking tour. An enthusiastic group leader may be able to provide not just the locations of important landmarks but the history behind these structures or different areas of town. You may learn of areas you would not normally visit. Plus to be blunt, in some parts of cities you may not want to walk alone if you are unfamiliar with the area - there is some safety in numbers.

Note that if you participate in a walking tour you will need to shoot photos fast - be ready to adjust your ISO settings to allow for quicker photos or insert a faster lens if you use a DSLR camera. Though most tours will allow participants some time to take photos of important locations, don't expect the full group to wait ten minutes while you compose the perfect shot!

You may want to use the walking tour not to immediately take photos but to get ideas from the tour leader and record the locations of important areas to photograph; bring along a notepad or voice recorder. Or, consider a compact digital camera for quick photos. Later you can revisit the desired areas with your more-expensive camera and wait for the perfect lighting after composing your pictures.

Note that some walking tours are self-guided; you merely download information into an iPod or other digital audio player and listen to it as you explore a city. While you won't be able to ask a tour guide questions, these may still provide entertainment value and extra information about important locations in a city you could miss from guide books.

Here are some organizations that provide walking tours in selected USA cities listed for informational purposes only. You should be able to find others for your city via a search engine or contact your city's tourist bureau.

Big Onion Waking Tours (New York City) - http://www.bigonion.com/

Boston Walking Tours - http://www.walkingboston.com/

City of Seattle Walking Tours - http://www.seattle.gov/tour/HistoricDistricts/index.htm

Denver History Tours - http://www.denverhistorytours.com/

Nashville Walking Tours - http://www.nashvillesightseeing.com/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=143

San Francisco Walking Tours - http://www.sfcityguides.org/

The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia - http://www.theconstitutional.com/

Urban Safaris - Walking Tours of San Diego - http://walkingtoursofsandiego.com/

Walk Chicago Tours - http://www.walkchicagotours.com/

Digital Urban and Cityscape Photography - Consider a Walking Tour