Tip: Shooting an Oft-Photographed Scene
One of the biggest tasks I give myself when I’m shooting popular landmarks is to create a shot that is unique. Sometimes it may seem difficult to get a unique shot of such a frequently photographed spot, but with a little planning and thinking, it’s really quite easy.
Do a quick Google search for a popular subject, and you’ll see what I mean. The majority of the photos you see will all be from the same spot. For this post I’ll be using the ‘Cape Lookout Lighthouse’ as an example. In the screen capture below, you can see that the majority of the photos returned are very similar. Most are shot vertically and are close ups of the lighthouse. You’ll find the same kind of photos no matter what lighthouse you’re searching for, it’s just the way most people see them and want to remember it.
For this scene, I thought that since most of the time you see close up shots of the lighthouse, why not take a walk over to the beach and see how it looks over the dunes. Much of the time just walking a little more or going to the “not so easy” to reach vantage point will make your image unique. Shooting from the dunes, I composed the scene so that there was a nice break in the sea oats and a path leading toward the lighthouse, now in the distance.
You can take these steps when composing a scene no matter where you are. There is always an angle to take that will set your image apart from everyone else’s. Sometimes it is as easy as simply kneeling down to get a different vantage point and other times all you have to do is take a short walk around the corner. It doesn’t matter if you’re shooting the Golden Gate Bridge, The Eiffel Tower or your hometown’s city hall, just take an extra moment to really pay attention to composition, it will pay off in the end!
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