Glasgow, as I’ve mentioned a couple times of the past few weeks, became one of my surprise favourites so far on my trip across Europe. Sure, there might not be as many things to do as places like Dublin or Edinburgh, but the mood in town is a photographer’s dream. Glasgow always seems to have a vibrant sky that is full of life and emotion. The historical buildings too capture the mood in their gothic architecture and intricate design. Oftentimes too that history is juxtaposed beautifully with modern creations. While other cities in Europe might appeal to the general tourist much more, Glasgow is as photogenic as anywhere in the UK. And although I’m just displaying one image as the photo of the week I’m sure I could show off about a dozen more from this beautiful city.
How I Got this Shot
A productive day in the life of a travel photographer often comes down to planning. The day before I took the above photo of Glasgow I wandered town during the day taking notes and drawing a rough map of the things I wanted to photograph. I then decided a few things: what mood do I want to portray from each setting, what light will I need, where is the sun going to set? That day of planning meant for an amazing day of photography the next.
I started by shooting photos of Glasgow Necropolis around sunset to capture a nice contrast in colour in the cemetery. Then, as the light became faint I ran (I’m not exaggerating) to the square to capture this blue sky behind the Ferris Wheel.
The tech behind the photo of Glasgow City Square is quiet simple. Take your filters off the lens, set it to a narrow aperture like f/16 so the street light doesn’t look like a blob of light, focus on something well light about 1/3rd the way into your photo, and take the picture (preferably with a remote control or at least on timer mode). The slow shutter speed will give the wheel it’s movement and the rest of the image will stay sharp as a tack.
“Glasgow City Square” was taken at 18mm with a shutter speed of 2.5 seconds and an aperture of f/16; ISO100.