The Challenge of Photographing Classic Sites

Photography Tips  •  Travel Photography

Classic or iconic sites. There’s a multitude of these all around the world. They are so popular that they are visited by millions of people every year. As a result, there are also millions of images of each of them.

As photographers, our challenge is how to give our photographs of these sites a personal stamp to make them ‘ours’. This should actually be an enjoyable challenge which will make our visits very personal and, hopefully, productive.

Here are a series of suggestions as thought starters. These are by no means intended to be definitive; they’re just some of my takes while trying to capture my views.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa

Other interpretations:

Approach everything with a completely open mind. Try to forget what other people have done.

The Joan of Arc statue in Paris

Remember that it is fine to lie on the ground to get your shot. Changing your stance is a great way to add creativity.

The Eiffel Tower

Other options:

The London Eye

Options always include coming back at a different time of day.

In this case, you can also cross the river. Don’t be afraid to walk to really change your perspective.

Zoom lenses are great but they don’t replace your legs!

Another iconic site in London is, of course, the clock tower housing Big Ben.

Moving across the water we get to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

It’s an impressive, much-photographed memorial, but we do need to add just something.

When dealing with tall buildings in a confined space, such as the Empire State building, the best option is often straight up.

Another solution is to try to use a reflection to solve the problem. It’s all about trying to be a bit creative and think outside the box, as they say.

The Bridge of Sighs in Venice is also an obvious classic, as it’s beautiful.

But it’s worth including an image of the view from inside the prison—an inmate’s view, as it were.

This was really a bunch of thought-starters, which hopefully will enthuse you to try to be a bit different in your travel photography. It’s all about your images and what you do to make them as interesting as possible. The really important part is to enjoy it and have fun while you do it!

About the Author:
Roger Lee is a Johannesburg based photographer who runs a one day course based on “we don’t want to drown in detail, we just want to know how to use our cameras and enjoy ourselves!” He also does an ebook version of his course.