Finding the right place to take your photos can take a bit of research.  Timing is also very important as a sunrise or sunset can have a dramatic effect on the composition. So, here are a few locations that I’ve found offer great views of New York, London, Hong Kong and Florence.

New York: Locations, Rockerfeller Center, Empire State Building, Staten Island Ferry

New York is such an iconic City offering many great photographic opportunities. Firstly, there’s the Rockerfeller Center.  This skyscraper has the advantage of often being less busy than the Empire State Building. In addition, taking photos of the New York skyline which actually includes the Empire State Building, is also a bonus. The one drawback of taking photos from the Rockerfeller center is that at the top, the area is enclosed in glass which increases the chance of reflections appearing in your shots and somewhat impares lens focusing.

Always very popular is the view from the Empire State Building.  Often very busy so it can be hard to find a good location to take photos, but it has the advantage of not being enclosed by glass.

The Staten Island Ferry is a great way to see the New York skyline.  The ferry service is free which is another advantage, and as the boat leaves, it’s possible to take photos of the skyscrapers of New York’s financial district.

London: Houses of Parliament from outside the London Aquarium, The London Skyline from Greenwich Park.

Just outside the London Aquarium there’s a great photo opportunity of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge. There’s a suitably wide wall overlooking the Thames which is great for resting your SLR camera on.

Greenwich Park affords superb views of the City of London, in particular Canary Wharf and London’s financial district.  By going to the Greenwich observatory, there’s a number of excellent vantage points overlooking the City. By going at the right time in the late afternoon and evening, it’s possible to take some pretty stunning photos of London at sunset.

HongKong: Views from Victoria Park and Kowloon Sea Front

Hong Kong is crammed with high rise sky scrapers, with only a small amount of land surrounded by mountains, building upwards seemed to be the only way.  So, for landscape photography and taking photos of City skylines, Hong Kong is ideal.  At night time the sky scrapers on Hong Kong City are lit up providing an excellent visual display of neon glows and laser beams.  An ideal location to photo this spectacle is the seafront on the Kowloon mainland, specifically The Avenue of the Stars.

A great vantage point to see Hong Kong from on high is Victoria Park accessed via funicular in Hong Kong city.

Florence: The Duomo from the Campinile Tower, The Arno River and Surrounding Buildings from the Ponte Vecchio

A truly beautiful City. Stunning photos of the Duomo can be taken from the top of the Campinile Tower in Florence.  It’s a bit of an effort to climb the tower – some 414 steps – but well worth it.

Normally packed with tourists, the Ponte Vecchio bridge offers great views of the Arno river.  Timing a trip to co-incide with the sun setting is a good idea.

Get Paid to Write Your Own Photo Journal

Don’t forget, if you’ve found an excellent place to take photos, we’ll pay for you to write a photo journal on SLR Lens. You can find out more by reading our blog post ‘Become an SLR Lens photo journalist!’