Photographing interesting shops

For a while now people have voiced how they're bored of seeing the same line of shops in every town that have repetitive signs, the same window displays and products on offer. But even though these giants are all over the country you can still find the quirky shops with interesting frames and signs to photograph. Areas such as Camden High Street are well known for their unusual shops but if you take a stroll around your local town, which isn't probably anywhere near as eccentric as Camden, you should still find at least one that's worth a quick snap.


Gear
As you may be hunting for a while take your standard zoom along to stop you lugging 10kg of lenses with you and carry a monopod instead of a tripod as it's easier to keep on the move. You may get glare and unwanted reflections off the shop windows so pack an ND or polarising filter and keep your bag size to a minimum so you don't get in the way or look like you're carrying lots of expensive kit.

Technique
When you find your quirky shop it's polite to ask whoever is working in the store if they mind you taking a few photographs. That's unless you are somewhere such as Camden where the shop owners are used to tourists with cameras by now. If the whole shops worth photographing stand back on the other side of the street and get it all in frame, just watch out for converging verticals and passes by getting in your shot. It may just be the way the shop sign's written that interests you so fill the frame with the words or look for detail in the window and door frames that make it unique. If the shop sits among a row of other, less interesting stores why not photograph the whole row? A panorama would work well or shooting at a slight angle, focusing mainly on your chosen shop but having the others as background interest. The window displays may be particularly interesting too but this is something we'll be covering later on in the month.


You've read the article, now go take some fantastic images. You can then upload the pictures, plus any advice and suggestions you have into the dedicated Photo Month forum for everyone at ePHOTOzine to enjoy.