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A theme, like doors, turns a walk into a photo series.Photo: EHRENBERG Kommunikation, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You don't need to travel to take great travel photos. A photo walk in your own city, with a camera or just your phone, is a brilliant way to notice details you've been walking past for years. Here's how to plan one that gives you better photos and a more interesting walk.
Story companion · Places in this guide
Explore the places in this story
Select any point of interest from the narrative to inspect it on the companion map or add it to a walk.
A theme gives your walk focus and makes your photos feel like a set. Try doors and windows, street signs and old lettering, reflections, bridges, a single colour, shadows, or people at work. Themes also push you to look harder at ordinary streets.
Plan around the light
Light makes or breaks a photo. The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, often called golden hour, give warm, soft light and long shadows. Blue hour, just after sunset, is perfect for city lights. Midday light is harsh, but it suits strong shadows and graphic architecture. Check sunrise and sunset times before you go.
Practical tip: walk with the sun behind you for well-lit façades, or towards it for silhouettes and dramatic skies.
Use the Sightseer vibe as a starting point
Landmarks, galleries and historic buildings make great anchors for a photo walk. Plan a Sightseer route between two places, then slow down and explore the streets in between. The best shots often turn up on the way to the landmark rather than at it.
Dublin's Georgian squares are a classic subject. Merrion Square and Fitzwilliam Square are known for colourful front doors and fanlights, and early mornings bring quiet streets and soft light. The Liffey quays offer reflections and bridges, from the Ha'penny Bridge to the Samuel Beckett Bridge in the Docklands, which looks great at blue hour. Henrietta Street, just off Bolton Street, is full of architectural detail.
Phone photography tips
Clean your lens. A quick wipe makes a big difference.
Tap to focus and adjust exposure, especially in bright or dark scenes.
Turn on the grid to keep horizons and buildings straight.
Get closer instead of zooming digitally.
Shoot a few versions of each scene from different angles.
Carry as little as possible: a phone or one camera with one lens, a spare battery or power bank, and a lens cloth. Fewer choices mean more time looking and less time fiddling with settings. A small bag you can reach into easily beats a big backpack you have to take off for every shot.
Be respectful
Photography in public places is legal in many countries, but courtesy matters. Ask before taking close-up photos of people, especially children, and respect requests not to be photographed. Don't block pavements or doorways while you shoot, and take care near traffic.
Photo walks are slower than normal walks, so plan a shorter route, perhaps 2–3 km for an hour or two. Stop often, look up, look back the way you came, and wait for the right moment, like a cyclist passing through the frame.
Review and share
Afterwards, pick your five to ten favourite photos rather than sharing everything, and note what worked: the light, the angle, the subject. If you share on social media, tag us on Instagram so we can see where Joyride took you.
Reference & tools:
Dublin through the year
In Oct, golden hour starts around 17:44 and the sun sets around 18:32 in Dublin.
SunsetGolden hour starts
Show the numbers
Month
Golden hour
Sunset
Daylight
Jan
15:32
16:34
8 h
Feb
16:42
17:33
9.8 h
Mar
17:41
18:27
11.7 h
Apr
19:36
20:23
13.9 h
May
20:24
21:16
15.8 h
Jun
20:56
21:54
17 h
Jul
20:52
21:47
16.5 h
Aug
20:07
20:56
14.9 h
Sep
18:58
19:44
12.8 h
Oct
17:44
18:32
10.7 h
Nov
15:34
16:31
8.7 h
Dec
15:00
16:07
7.6 h
Averages for 2015–2024 from Open-Meteo historical weather (CC BY 4.0); sun times calculated for the 15th of each month, local time.
Worked out on this device from the time, the weather and your recent routes and reads. Nothing is sent anywhere. · · Was this useful? · · FeedbackThanks for letting us know. · Feedback
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