Change Your Perspective
Everybody photographs the Roebling Bridge — and for good reason. You really can’t take a bad picture of it. But instead of photographing it from the usual viewpoint, I went underneath it and looked up. Suddenly, all those beautiful cables, beams and architectural details became a completely different photograph, creating this incredible grid of lines, shapes and textures that you simply don’t see from the riverfront.
When you’re photographing an iconic Cincinnati landmark, don’t assume you have to photograph it the way everyone else does. Walk around it. Get underneath it. Get behind it. Change your perspective. The landmark hasn’t changed — you just found a new way to see it.
Shoot Through Things
Sometimes the best frame is the one you find inside another frame. For this shot, I photographed through an opening in a sculpture and caught a pedestrian walking through the other side. Converting it to black and white helped simplify the image and put all the attention on the shape of the sculpture and the person passing through it.
When you’re out photographing Cincinnati, don’t just look at things — look for ways to shoot through them. Doorways, arches, fences, railings, sculptures, windows and even tree branches can create a natural frame around your subject. It’s an easy way to turn an ordinary moment into a much more interesting photograph.
Notice the Details
You don’t have to find a famous landmark to make an interesting Cincinnati photograph. Sometimes it’s an old fire hydrant hiding in the grass, surrounded by leaves, with layers of peeling paint showing its age.
I love details like this because they tell a little story about a place without trying very hard. When you’re walking around the city, slow down and look at the things most people walk right past — old signs, rusty fixtures, worn doors, faded paint and little bits of history. Get close, fill the frame and let the texture do the work.
The city has plenty of pretty things to photograph, but sometimes the really good stuff is what’s been sitting there for 50 years.
Look Up
Sometimes the best way to photograph a building is to stop trying to photograph the whole building. Point your camera straight up.
I took this downtown high-rise and framed only the repeating balconies and windows, then converted it to black and white. Suddenly, it feels less like a building and more like a graphic pattern.
When you’re walking around Cincinnati, look up — really look up. Buildings are full of repeating lines, shapes, shadows and patterns that you completely miss when you’re only looking straight ahead.
Try shooting straight up, getting low and tilting your camera, or filling the entire frame with one small section of a building. You might be surprised by what’s hiding above you.
Look for the Beautifully Broken
Not every great Cincinnati photo needs to feature a skyline, a bridge or a famous landmark. Sometimes it’s a crumbling old building that looks like it has seen better days.
This one caught my eye because of the repeating grid of the windows, the texture of the peeling paint and the contrast of the rough brick against the dark plywood. There’s something wonderfully imperfect about it — and that’s exactly what makes it interesting.
When you’re wandering around the city, train yourself to stop looking only for places and start looking for patterns, textures, repetition, color and contrast. Look up, look down, peek around the corner and notice the buildings everyone else is ignoring.
You might find that the best photo isn’t the prettiest thing in front of you. It’s the thing with a little character.
This article appears in Annual Manual 2026.
