A lot of abandoned houses can be seen on various locations nowadays. A lot of people find such houses great for capturing photos for fashion. Professional photographers find such places very much artistic and use such places as backgrounds for their photography sessions. Urban exploring for beginners can be very much a fun kind of photography session. You can explore various types of old buildings and houses which are decorated in the old western style and royal way. Some houses can be almost broken and have old broken walls where bricks are falling apart. Such types of places are great for doing high fashion photoshoot with grace. If you also want to capture some highly exceptional photos of such old houses and do fashion photography or any kind of photography in them then you should better read this whole article. It will teach you what exactly urban exploration photography or urbex photography actually is and how can you capture photos while this exploration as a pro photographer.
What is Urbex photography?
Urbex photography or urban exploration photography is the art of exploring old broken or abandoned houses and capturing photos of that place. Capturing the photos of every detailed portion of such houses that shows how the people lived in such places in the early times is the true motive of urban exploration photography. Urban exploration for beginners also means the same thing all you have to do is roam around the city and explore such old abandoned houses and take photos of them. This will enhance your creativity in the photography career.
What do I need for urban exploration?
You will need a lot of safety urban exploration gear for capturing such kind of photos. The risk of exploring such old houses for urban exploration for beginners is a lot. Ceilings may fall off or maybe walls may break down causing a hazardous situation. This why you should keep the following gears with you while doing urban exploration photography it will keep you safe from any kind of danger –
- Backpack
- Gloves
- Mask
- Medical kit
- Torch/Flashlight
- Mosquito Repellent
- Tripod/Gorilla Pod
Tips for taking urbex photos –
Find a location for urban exploration photography
Urban exploration sounds really interesting. If you have interest in past and want to see how the buildings used to be in the past then you should go for urban exploration photography. To do that, you need to find some great locations where you will get urbanized old or abandoned buildings where no one stays. Go and explore the old areas of your city. In the old areas, it is possible to get those kinds of palaces or buildings where you can try your urban exploration photography. You can also use location finding applications for finding such places. This tip is a must for urban exploration for beginners.
Get permission for entry
While getting into the location of urban exploration photography, taking the permission of the building owner is necessary. You cannot just go and click photos in the building without taking the permission. The building owner may sue you for that. It is better to be on the safer side and to take permission from the location owner. Enter into the location of urban exploration just right after you get the permission. Do not try to damage anything of the location as it is not your property.
Setting up a scene with tripod
Tripod is very helpful for keeping the camera stable while taking any kind of photo. It helps you to capture the same scene with different exposures with same composition. This is why you can later on make HDR photos easily while post processing them. A tripod can help you capture panorama images of the old abandoned house as well. This is a great gear for capturing sharp and clear urban exploration photography.
Camera setting for urbex photography
To capture urban exploration photography one thing that is the most important is the camera setting. You can capture very creative photos of old houses if you have the perfect camera setting. Mainly you will need to fix three things in your camera setting. The first one is the shutter speed. If you are capturing indoor photos I prefer using a slower shutter speed so that more light can come in. Then comes the aperture setting, you will have to keep a higher aperture value so that the image comes sharp. Last but not the least is the ISO, keep it lower so that noise doesn’t spoil the photos.
Lights you need for urban exploration
Light is the key ingredient for capturing urban exploration photography. Light determines the sharpness and the quality of the image. To capture urbex photography I prefer using a fill light some flashes and the best choice is to go for natural sunlight. This makes the images sharper and clear which will help you a lot in further post processing.
Composition technique for urban exploration
A well composed image always becomes the most engagement creating one. Photography composition always helps to show an image properly. By properly I mean it shows the subject and the scene of the subject effectively to the audiences that looks the image. You can use many creative photography composition techniques while capturing photos of old abandoned houses. This will help you capture a photo which will create more engagement.
Capture light rays
The main attraction of the abandoned building or the place of urban exploration is the natural sunlight rays comes into the building. Using the natural lights also make your photos look natural. When you are shooting for urban exploration, you need to see from where the sun rays are coming from. If you are shooting for a subject then place that subject against the sun rays. Or click the light rays coming into the building. You have to get your camera setting right to get the natural sun rays into the photo frames.
Capture monochromatic photos
Different effects lead your photographs in different ways. One of the most popular effects of photography is monochrome. It is basically black and white effect of the photography. If you want to make a classic urban exploration photography then monochromatic would be the best option for you to put. Make sure that your camera has that option by which you can make your urban exploration for beginners photography black and white. Shoot the photos in monochromatic style to make the photos look classic and elegant.
Capture the outdoor view of the house
You will not get the right feel of urban exploration photography if you do not capture the outdoor view of the house. To get that feeling, shoot the exterior of the house to get the full view from outside. One definitely wants to see how an abandoned building looks like from outside. Set your camera and use the tripod outside the building. Go bit far from where the entire building comes on the frame. Use super telephoto zoom lenses that cover the whole building of the urban exploration. Doing that, you will get great urban exploration photography.
Post-process
Urban exploration photography is kind of different and difficult to do photography. Sometimes you may get some flaws in the photos you have clicked. Post processing or photo editing is the best way of making your photos flawless. There are different photo editing techniques used by people to enhance the beauty of the photos. If you do not know how to do photo editing, you can take help from various photo editing companies that provide color correction services. And improve your urban exploration photography and emerge as a professional urban expo photographer.
