Did you know it’s possible to take amazing cityscape photos with your smartphone?
Well, it is! And I’m going to tell you how in this article.
Here, you’ll find some tricks to take your smartphone cityscape photography to the next level. If you want to learn how to do it with your camera, check out this article.
Tips and Tricks for Amazing Cityscape Photos with Your Smartphone
A phone with a good camera sensor is essential for cityscape photos.
However, this alone isn’t always enough. In this article, you’ll learn that taking awe-inspiring cityscape photos with a smartphone also requires the right tools.
This sometimes refers to hardware (tripod, lenses, etc.) and at others to software (camera app, editing app, etc.). The rest is based on planning, determination, and creativity.
Find the Best Location
Credit: Belle Co
It doesn’t matter if you use your smartphone or the most professional camera – if you don’t have a good vantage point, you won’t have a good picture.
It’s key that you find an unobstructed view of the city. You can find suitable locations online, but scouting them in person beforehand is also helpful.
You can use Instagram, Flickr, or Google Images to start your search. There are apps and websites dedicated to finding photo spots near you, too.
Lastly, you can download apps like PhotoPills and The Photographers Ephemeris.
If you’re in a known tourist destination, you’ll likely find many people using the same location. So, to capture sunsets, firework displays, or any timed event, ensure you arrive with enough time to find a good spot.
Consider getting on higher ground – even from the window of your hotel room, you might have a fantastic view, and you won’t have to fight for your spot.
Use Composition to Your Advantage
Credit: Thể Phạm
Wide views like cityscapes can be a bit boring. Creating a good composition is the best way to separate your images from the bunch.
You can use leading lines to draw the attention of the viewer. It’s also helpful to use negative space to highlight the main subject.
A beautiful way to compose a cityscape is by including reflections if you have a body of water in front. Otherwise, you can use trail lines from cars at night if there’s a street.
Including an object in the foreground is also a good technique. In short, experiment with different composition guidelines to see which one is best for the scene.
Take Control of the Exposure
Credit: Ugur Tandogan
When you launch the camera app on your phone and snap a picture, you’re using the auto mode. While this is a fast way to get OK photos, it doesn’t give you enough control to capture a stunning cityscape the way you want.
There are two ways to control the exposure on a smartphone.
The easiest way is to tap and hold on the main subject. This will lock the focus point, and the camera will calculate the exposure based on the available light in that spot.
This is called AE/AF lock. Then, you can swipe up to lighten or down to darken the picture.
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To have even more control, you can switch to Pro mode, where you can manually set the ISO and shutter speed. Depending on the camera app, you may also have exposure compensation and other features.
If your phone doesn’t have this feature in the native app, you can download plenty of free and paid apps.
Try HDR
Credit: Nancy Bourque
If you’re having trouble balancing the exposure between the subject and the sky, you might need to use HDR.
HDR stands for High Dynamic Range. As you can probably guess, it expands your pictures’ dynamic range by blending different exposures into a final photo.
Most recent smartphones have this feature included in their native camera app. If yours doesn’t or you want to have more control over the effect, there are dedicated apps you can download, such as HDR, Fotor HDR, and AuraHDR.
Use Different Focal Lengths
Credit: Artem Beliaikin
Usually, cityscapes are captured with a wide-angle lens. However, the right focal length depends on how far away you are and how much you want to include in the picture.
If your phone only has one camera lens, you might want to buy external lenses to capture better cityscapes. These lenses are usually clip-ons you can attach to your phone, and you can find them at a wide range of prices to fit any budget.
However, many modern phones come with multiple lenses. Make sure you switch between them while taking your pictures to avoid using digital zoom, which diminishes the quality.
It’s also important to note that the maximum resolution often changes between lenses. Try to capture your photos with the highest resolution possible.
Choose the Right Time of Day
Credit: Pixabay
For cityscapes, you rely 100% on natural light; the only way to control it is by choosing the right time of the day.
As you know, the golden hour offers lovely warm tones and soft shadows – which are excellent. The blue hour, however, is my favorite for cityscapes. There’s enough light in the sky to capture details, but the lights from houses and buildings are already on.
However, the blue and golden hour happen twice a day. To choose the best one, you need to know where the sun rises and sets in relation to your location.
This also applies to other times of day. You need to choose the right time when the buildings won’t cast shadows where you don’t want them.
If you can’t scout the location in person to plan the best time, you can use apps like The Photographers Ephemeris to see how the sun hits the city at different times.
Experiment With Silhouettes
Credit: Mohammed Nasim
While having the sun behind you allows you to capture all the details of the buildings, silhouettes also make stunning cityscapes.
To capture silhouettes, you must ensure the sun is behind the buildings – this may happen at sunrise or sunset, depending on your location.
Then, set the exposure to the sky and underexpose it. To do this, tap and hold on the sky. This will already underexpose the subject. However, if you swipe down, you’ll underexpose the picture, obtaining a darker, more defined silhouette and more saturated colors in the sky.
You can further enhance the effect in editing.
Best Practices for Night Cityscapes
Credit: Aleksandar Pasaric
You can also shoot cityscapes at night using your smartphone. However, you need to consider a few things that may not be necessary when you do it during the day.
You’ll need a slower shutter speed at night or in any low-light situation, including the blue hour. Therefore, you need a tripod to prevent camera shake.
If you don’t have one, try using your backpack or another surface to stabilize your phone.
Then, set the self-timer so you don’t risk moving the phone when pressing the shutter button. If you have one, you can use a remote control to fire the camera via Bluetooth.
Use a camera app that allows you to choose the exposure settings. This way, you can keep the ISO low and prevent noise. Otherwise, the phone will automatically raise the ISO to set the fastest shutter speed possible, and you don’t want that.
Alternatively, you can use the camera phone’s Night mode if it has one. iPhones have this feature, which gives you more control over the exposure time and delivers good-quality photos.
Post-Processing
Lightroom mobile.
Proper editing is the final step to capturing professional-looking cityscape photos with your phone.
To do a better job, you need a raw file. Most camera apps offer this format if you shoot in Pro mode. Alternatively, you can use a third-party app.
Then, download an editing app that gives you all the necessary tools to edit your photos properly.
This means having manual options to edit exposure and color. Using masking for selective edits is essential for cityscapes. You can use filters and presets, but don’t let this be your only edit.
Make sure you also straighten the horizon and remove unwanted distracting elements. Using more than one app is OK if this gets you the best results.
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