SPECIAL
Words and Photography Lisa Michele Burns | OM SYSTEM Ambassador
SPECIAL
Words and Photography Lisa Michele Burns | OM SYSTEM Ambassador
a beating rhythm of light, movement, sound and design.
While they can feel like an overwhelming whirlpool of chaos, there’s a calmness to be found in exploring and observing the details with your camera.
a beating rhythm of light, movement, sound and design.
While they can feel like an overwhelming whirlpool of chaos, there’s a calmness to be found in exploring and observing the details with your camera.
Sometimes it's the flicker of light on a tiled wall, the gentle curve of a shadow sliding across stone, or the patterns of windows layered one story upon another, reflecting the world around them.
Light behaves differently in cities. It slices, bounces, speeds past and ricochets. Late afternoon may paint one side of the street in a golden glow, leaving the other in deep shadow. A neon sign might spill its vibrant tones into a puddle, while the manmade wonders of skyscrapers provide a photogenic skyline or become one with the clouds in certain conditions, merging with the natural world.
There's choreography in the chaos and photography lets us tune into its quieter cues.
Photographing urban environments is about observing. Looking for the relationship between lines, the rhythm in repetition and the tension between old and new. It’s about recognising the culture, the people, the history, cuisine, colours, and atmosphere that make a city unique.
WHERE WORLDS OVERLAP
Urban environments are layered with stories, some told in glass and steel, others through crumbling bricks and ivy-covered facades. There’s a quiet magic in scenes where a centuries-old gate opens toward a skyline of shimmering towers, or a curved rooftop echoes the line of a modern apartment block. These overlaps aren’t always obvious. Sometimes it’s a shadow cast by the past or a texture that doesn’t quite match its surroundings. Photographers who pause long enough to observe these juxtapositions will find richness in the dialogue between the then and now.
You’ll notice nature also weaves itself into the scene, softening structures with foliage and gardens. Branches and trees help frame historic façades, and vines spilling over a concrete wall can shift a composition from sterile to soothing. Including foliage as a framing element can draw focus, add balance or simply remind the viewer that even in the busiest spaces, nature quietly persists.
When you’re next out wandering city streets, keep an eye out for how you can incorporate natural elements to blend the two worlds and add a pop of greenery or vibrant florals to your urban imagery.
LIGHT IN UNEXPECTED PLACES
Light in urban environments is constantly shifting, influenced by the structures it meets and the time of day. It reflects off glass, filters through narrow streets, and softens hard surfaces as the sun moves across the skyline. In some moments, it brings warmth and depth to an otherwise ordinary scene. In others, it creates contrast that draws the eye to a specific shape or detail.
Challenge yourself to walk through a suburb one morning and just observe how the light is hitting buildings, where it’s reflecting, how shadows are being cast. Then, to gain an understanding of how you can best capture the scenes, return later in the day to see the change as light shifts to the west.
Reflections are also part of the city’s visual language, seen in puddles after rain, shop windows, or the surface of passing vehicles. It’s also introduced by streetlamps, vehicle headlights, flashing signs and screens. These fleeting moments often offer unexpected compositions and help tell a broader story of place. Observing how light moves through the city encourages a slower, more considered approach to photography, one that values atmosphere and balance as much as subject matter.
DOCUMENTING HUMAN PRESENCE: THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN
Cities hold the energy of the people who move through them, even when no one is visible in the frame. A cup left on a bench, a bicycle resting against a wall, or the glow of a window in the early morning light can all suggest life just out of view. These subtle details create space for the viewer to imagine the scene beyond the frame, adding a layer of quiet narrative to the image.
Photographing human presence doesn't always require faces or crowds. Sometimes it's the echo of movement, the suggestion of life, that makes an image feel alive.
People weave through these spaces, often unknowingly completing the composition and street photography isn’t always about faces. Sometimes it's about presence, a blur of motion, a silhouette, or the moment just after someone has walked out of frame, their trace still lingering
Try standing in one street or city square and find a composition that could work to capture the scene. Then wait, watch, and see what human elements enter the frame. It could be cars driving by, cyclists, or people walking their dogs. Now capture an image that showcases the human presence, whether it’s with blurred movement, or a documentary style image.
When people do appear, the story shifts. A single figure walking through light, a silhouette framed by a doorway, or someone pausing at the edge of a crossing can add scale, contrast and emotion. There’s a delicate balance between observation and intrusion and it’s important to also respect someone’s privacy when photographing in public. Wait for those serendipitous alignments where everything clicks into place and the city offers up a perfectly timed gesture and subject.
COLOUR, TEXTURE, AND THE ART OF NOTICING
In cities, colour doesn’t shout. It hums quietly in corners and unexpected places. A cobalt door set into a grey wall, bright white laundry against colourful patterned tiles, or a rust-red staircase twisting through a pale building can transform a frame. It’s also visible in our clothing, as people enter the frame and bring with them a pop of red.
Texture invites you to look closer. Flaking paint, cracked pavements, aged signage and weathered bricks become a visual language of time and use. These surfaces tell stories of everyday life and the marks people leave behind. Documenting the small and imperfect can feel more intimate than capturing wider cityscapes.
Pick a colour and challenge yourself to compose a set of images that feature it in various ways. For example, it you opted for the colour red you could find it in clothing, store signage, traffic lights, and car brake lights. Focusing on a single colour will open the creative possibilities for composition and framing, you’ll need to adjust from the norm and scout subjects to photograph.
With the right composition, even a peeling wall becomes a subject worth remembering and the art of noticing the world around you becomes a skill you can call up again and again on your travels.
CAPTURING CITIES IN MOTION
Movement gives cities their pulse and photographing it requires a shift in perspective. Rather than freezing the moment, long exposures allow you to blur and bend time. Streams of light from cars, commuters crossing in waves or escalators gliding endlessly upward become visual expressions of pace and flow. These images don’t just show where people are, they suggest how it feels to be there.
To capture motion effectively, choose a strong anchor for your frame. A static structure or shape can provide contrast to the movement passing through it. Slowing your shutter lets the scene breathe and reveals patterns that may be otherwise invisible. Whether you’re perched above an intersection or watching umbrellas bob past from a quiet café, photographing movement in the city is about celebrating its rhythm, not just its speed.
SLOWING MOTION
You’ll want to time your shutter speed based on how fast the subjects are moving and your desired result. Do you want the subject completely blurred, or still slightly visible so you can make our various details? To capture movement, you may only need to shoot a 0.5 second exposure to see movement in the frame. If, however, things are moving slower, perhaps a 1-2 second exposure is required. For those long, shiny movement lines of traffic that weave their way through the frame you can experiment with much longer shutter speeds, especially if the traffic is consistent!
CHALLENGE YOURSELF IN THE CITY
If you’re wandering in an urban environment sometime soon, challenge yourself to observe and explore the scene with a single focal length. This pushes you to seek out creative compositions and angles you may otherwise overlook. Sure, it gets frustrating when you want to zoom in but you opted for a 50mm prime lens, but challenging yourself in this way reveals new ways of photographing a familiar scene, or capturing a new one.
LINES, LAYERS AND LIGHT — WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Layers in reflections or glass
An aerial perspective, find a viewpoint that allows you to look down over the scene to reveal streets, lines and layers within the city.
Symmetry in stairwells, alleys, and rooftops
Soft morning light against textured walls
The harsh midday contrast between buildings
Evening glow on tiled or metal surfaces
SNAPSHOTS — FIVE PHOTOGENIC CITIES
1. Marrakech
Earth-toned textures, hand-painted doors, and the rhythmic beauty of shadows in motion.
Photograph the quiet alleyways of the Kasbah district just after sunrise, where golden light meets terracotta walls and faded blue doors.
2. Macao
Where Portuguese tiles meet Chinese temples, pastel walls fade beautifully with time, and every corner holds a story.
Take a morning walk from Lilau Square to A-Ma Temple, photographing soft colours, worn shutters, and quiet lanes coming to life.
3. Paris
Stone façades soften under morning mist, with reflections shimmering along the edges of the Seine.
Frame the Île Saint-Louis from Pont de la Tournelle for a quiet riverside perspective.
4. Utrecht
Hidden squares, ivy-covered walls, and canals reflect a slower rhythm beneath gothic spires.
Wander early through the old town, photographing quiet courtyards before hiring a kayak and paddling along the Oudegracht.
5. Tokyo
Lanterns sway beneath tiled eaves as glass towers shimmer in the distance, where tradition lingers quietly beside the future.
Photograph around Asakusa at dawn, where the gates of Sensō-ji glow and the skyline softens behind ancient rooftops.
THINK YOU'VE GOT A WINNER?
Send us your best travel photos for a chance to win an OM-5 + 14-150mm Kit, valued at AU$2,399, plus have your image featured in the magazine! This stylish, compact, interchangeable-lens camera is perfect for travel. explore.omsystem.com
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