5 Urban Night Photography Composition Tips

Shop Lights

Light, Layers and Framing. I am constantly thinking about these compositional elements when I am shooting Urban Night Photography. Here are explanations of how I utilise them in my work and will hopefully provide some tools for you to use when you are out shooting.

Placement of Elements

With urban night cityscape photography, I try to balance a composition by generally placing objects (street lamps/windows) anywhere on the right or left section of the Rule of Thirds. Once an object is placed in the centre the viewer's focus is forced to directly look at the centre object which may not be the main focal point of the image. People generally find elements on one of the intersections or gridlines more visually appealing as the rest of the image is balanced by the rest of the composition, (buildings, a wall, windows).

Of course, there are no hard rules to this. An image can work by placing an object in the centre, such as if you were creating a symmetrical composition.

Here are a couple of examples.

With this photo, the main subject is the house, the graveyard, and the window light. I deliberately placed the streetlamp on the left to balance the rest of the elements and I also kept it in the composition to show where the subtle illumination was coming from. Also, because it looks atmospheric. If I had moved slightly and placed the lamp in the middle of the frame, all the other elements would have fallen into the background and wouldn't have generated any interest.

The Window on Church Square

However, in this image, the main focal point is the streetlamp which is why it is placed in the centre of the frame.

High Street Blues

Leading Lines

Leading Lines are one of my favourite compositional tools in urban night cityscape photography as they serve a number of purposes.

They draw the eye directly into the image, onto the main subject.

Depending on the detail of the Leading line, they can provide an interesting and powerful foreground object.

They also create depth.

You can utilise Leading Lines by emphasising the contours or the detail in a particularly picturesque street, that leads up to a building, or simply has a lot of visual interest. Leading Lines can also be used subtly. Road markings can point in the direction of a subject (i.e. a person). Even a row of streetlamps, bins, windows and houses can make an interesting Leading Line.

In this simple example, I have shot from a low angle to emphasise the curvature of the pavement that leads up to the Ypres Castle, in Rye.

Night Castle

In this shot, there are a number of leading lines. The road, the pavement, the yellow markings and the street lamps.

High Street Dreams

Shadows and Highlights

One of the best aspects of night photography is the presence of well-defined highlights and shadows. These can be used to sculpt the composition by adding depth or even subtracting depth if you wish, such as a minimalist street photo where someone is standing in the light but surrounded by shadow. Shadows and Highlights can also be used to create mystery and atmosphere.

In this composition, the main focal points are the window, the streetlamp and the reflected glow on the foliage on the wall. The shadows that surround the image do two things. They help the highlights to stand out and the shadows also add an air of mystery. The darkness that surrounds the window is quite ominous.

Windows and Dreams

Layers add interest

Finding juxtaposing elements and working them into your compositions will add layers of interest to your Urban Photography.

I found that incorporating this wall into the foreground adds an extra amount of depth to the image.

Night Colours

With this image, I deliberately placed the shop window and the stop sign in the frame. There are parallels between the No Entry markings and the red stop sign and also the light in the window and the wall-mounted street lamp. The shop window adds an aesthetically pleasing layer to this photo. I could have simply just had the street in the composition but I looked for surrounding element to add further layers to the image.

Stop Sign Lights

Light paints the scene

Without light, there is no photo.

In night cityscape photography nearly everything you photograph is illuminated by some kind of light. Even most shadows are lit to a certain degree.

Look for well-lit areas (street lamps, shop windows, cars, reflected light) and compose an image with the surrounding elements. Reflected light from shop windows that cast on pavements and roads can produce beautiful coloured glows. Street lamps can illuminate passers-by and bring out the texture on a close-by wall. Car lights, especially on a busy main road, add vibrancy and colour details and window lights can also create atmosphere.

These are just five tools in my arsenal of composition tips that I have learnt over the years which have helped my Urban Night Street Photography immensely. I really hope that you can utilise these for your work. Go forth and create.