I’m working on a business flyer that showcases our small town. I need a photo that captures its charm and character. Do you have any tips or examples for taking good photos of small towns? Here is one I took recently:
Air 2s Small Town Photo Suggestions
- Thread starter dougga
- Start date
Jug's Life
Well-Known Member
I use the AEB 5 Photo function in raw mode, then in photoshop, click file > automate > merge to HDR then select the 5 files and merge, then i click auto and see what photoshop thinks, and start tweaking it from there, you can really boost the shadows and highlights and detail/texture/clarity to make it really stand out. Nice photos, great job.
Thanks. I used AEB with 3 photos to get the pic above and a little work on the sky still to pull up some of the blues. I may try 5 photos to get a more dynamic range. I was also close to the golden hour.
Doing some research, I did not find many doing many different photos than me. I may try again with some wider shots. I have to be cautious because there is a private airport 2.5 miles away - but I have never seen one fly over the downtown area. But....don't want to be a problem.
Beautiful town, though not so small compared to where we live! Please publish your final version here....great job.
Jug's Life
Well-Known Member
can you send me the 3 photos and ill see what i can pull out of, just for fun. Can you send me the raws?
If you can firmly establish the town's identity in the shot, it will have more appeal. Consider a shot that includes a sign with the town's name on it. Maybe use the sign shot as an inset on a more panoramic shot?
What's special about Smallville? Statue of founder Jedidiah Small on the town square? Beautiful courthouse? Cherry blossoms in spring? Famous big tree?
[An aside. Thomasville, Georgia has an enormous old landmark live oak tree downtown. For years, residents have proudly know it as The Big Oak. Recently some Chamber of Commerce types have been trying to re-name it as The Great Oak. Locals with a more down home approach have responded by calling it The Great Big Oak.]
What's special about Smallville? Statue of founder Jedidiah Small on the town square? Beautiful courthouse? Cherry blossoms in spring? Famous big tree?
[An aside. Thomasville, Georgia has an enormous old landmark live oak tree downtown. For years, residents have proudly know it as The Big Oak. Recently some Chamber of Commerce types have been trying to re-name it as The Great Oak. Locals with a more down home approach have responded by calling it The Great Big Oak.]
Here are two more photos. I don't have a lot yet. I am thinking of trying to create some panoramas to see if I can get better views.
Great collection of photos. Have you considered a night shot or two? I noted one long exposure of traffic, but how about traffic going to or from a local event like a high school game or similar? What about a few interior shots of the courthouse, school or church? Change of seasons shots? Just suggestions. I am a small town guy too.
Excellent ideas. A night shot would be very cool. The high school is across town and next to the small private airport, so will probably avoid the high school. I have done some night flights, but not a long exposure from my drone yet.
This will be a single photo they need, so I may incorporate a city building and stitch the aerials.. Thanks
Something to consider with all the other stuff mentioned are a few of the basic's of photo composition such as leading lines, rule of 3rds and the actual subject of the photograph. Shooting a 'whole' town from a drone makes some of these basics difficult because we want to include the entire town but then we loose focus of just what it is we are trying to convey and instead just show a bunch of buildings.
B&H has excellent articles on these aspects of photography that might lead you to new ideas, here is the one on Leading Lines that I have found very helpful in real estate photography. Much like shooting a town from a drone, shooting a single property tends to make one put the drone at high angles to capture 'everything' but then this can detract from the natural beauty of the structure (home) because it was designed from what is called 'elevation' - it is meant to be seen from low angle.
Another thing to consider is whenever possible; include the sky, sun, cloud formations or other unique phenomenon to play along with, or augment, what you're showing on the ground.
B&H has excellent articles on these aspects of photography that might lead you to new ideas, here is the one on Leading Lines that I have found very helpful in real estate photography. Much like shooting a town from a drone, shooting a single property tends to make one put the drone at high angles to capture 'everything' but then this can detract from the natural beauty of the structure (home) because it was designed from what is called 'elevation' - it is meant to be seen from low angle.
Another thing to consider is whenever possible; include the sky, sun, cloud formations or other unique phenomenon to play along with, or augment, what you're showing on the ground.
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Good points and right on target. But the nomenclature needs a tweak. The plan view is the "footprint" of the house, what you'd see from above. The ground level view is the elevation.
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