Bus Chicago Flower Show Trip

"What can you possibly photograph in this city?" I get this question often and the answer is simple - everything and anything! No matter what subsection of the world of photography you subscribe to (landscape, street, nature, etc.) most urban settings are ideal photo playgrounds. Whatever the time of year your city offers a wonderland of photo opportunities for the beginner to the most seasoned photo hound in all of us.

I will use, for the purpose of this article, the example of my city - Guayaquil, Ecuador. A hot, hazy, stinky, beautiful city - Guayaquil, like all large urban centres, offers a wide variety of exciting and overlooked photo opportunities that most of us look at everyday but never see.

Whether you are walking the streets of your city or relaxing in one of its many parks, people are always available as subjects for your lens. Even the most mundane of daily activities happening all around you can make for a beautiful if not inspiring photograph.

Landscapes more your cup of tea? In Guayaquil a walk along the Malecon 2000 or the Malecon del Sur will provide your camera with a card full of fantastic panoramas that will make it look like you were not in the city at all. Every city has this slice of life that hides the concrete and glass and makes you feel as if you are in the country once again. Find it, exploit it and you have your landscapes/seascapes and if you are lucky you may just find a hidden treasure along the way.

My personal weak point is nature photography and in more specific terms flowers/plants etc. Iguanas I am good with! Luckily most cities like Guayaquil have man мейд oasis's filled with nature from parks to large city gardens. In Guayaquil the Malecon gardens is a pristine example of nature captured by man. Consisting of every plant and flower species native to the coast of Ecuador it is a microcosm of nature and a great place to practice your photography skills! If you are looking for more wildlife city parks are teeming with opportunities, in Guayaquil alone parks in the central commercial core are know for the local iguana life.

"Adrian, that is all great and good but I love architecture!" Guayaquil, like any city, has it's unique neighborhoods, quaint eateries and unusual modern architecture. From the Las Peñas district to the modern Crystal Palace, Guayaquil is rich in a mix of the old and new, monuments and statues line the streets. Urban settings offer the photographer the opportunity of interesting mixtures from the past and the present in their photographs, you just have to open your eyes to your own city and see what is right in front of you.

Take a look at your city today - look with new eyes and a new perspective. Photography is less about the exotic locations of some distant island and more about the imagination of the photographer. With imagination you can make your city, your own back yard, into the most exciting and exotic land imaginable. It just takes a new perspective.