Creative urban photoshoot ideas to inspire your next session.

Discover a new side of the city with these unique urban photoshoot ideas and photography tips.

Many photographers find urban landscapes contemporary, gritty, and even romantic at times. They can be challenging environments to shoot because they’re unpredictable — but that’s also what makes them so interesting.

Are you ready to take on your city and discover its hidden gems? Try some of these urban photoshoot ideas to capture unique, city-inspired shots.

Tell your story with interesting urban backgrounds.

Urban landscapes are rich with unusual elements you can use to your creative advantage. Look for visuals you can incorporate into your photograph such as:

• Street art and graffiti
• Architecture
• Skylines
• Concrete or metal textures
• Interesting storefronts

Explore your local community to find new spots with unique backgrounds. You can pose subjects to show off cool street fashion or simply snap the locations you’ve scouted for a contemporary perspective. Plus, urban areas are a great way to practice new photography techniques as you get to know your camera.

Use urban lights to add intrigue.

Urban areas are filled with unique lights. Swap out your lenses to play with reflections and neon signs — this is an easy way to creatively frame your subjects or highlight a different view of the city.

With a slow shutter speed, you can catch buses, trains, and cars during rush hour traffic with dramatic light trails. You can also speed up your shutter to freeze subjects in time like a bird flying by or heavy rain as it bounces off a building. If you don’t get the exact exposure you were looking for during the shoot, you can always adjust it after the fact with the right photo editing software.

Bring urban photography to a whole new level and explore everything you can do with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom today.