Photographing Graffitti

I'd start with a camera of some sort. Then try to point it at some graffiti...

A polarizing filter will push the colors - if You shoot black&white try some green or orange filters. I would try some longtime-exposures with ghosting artists or passants. You could even try some kind of multi-exposure or a sequence. Please excuse my funny English, Georg.

Watch your exposure. Much graffiti is darker than 18% gray. Use exposure control to avoid overexposure and get rich colors. Check your histogram if digital. Good composition is always in style. Good luck!

You often see the same thing graffitti'd in a few different places in the same vicinity which might make some good shots that relate to each other.

Get the right size please! Sorry about that.

Its really not terribly difficult, especially if you're shooting from front on. Its flat so you don't need to worry about depth of field; it generally has some sharp lines you can focus on. Its not moving so if shooting digitally you can check the histogram and white balance and retake if necessary and even if you screw up a bit there's always photoshop. About the only things you need to do are to use a fast enough ISO to avoid shadow noise and to frame it right.

Oh- and one other thing- its been done a million times. If you want to do anything remotely original you're going to need a different approach. You will need to decide whether you want to show the graffiti in the context of where it is, or just the graffiti itself -depending on what you're trying to document. Of course if you wanted to be a little different you could work to win the confidence of some artists who might let you photograph the process of making graffiti- but then thats more difficult than just photographing whats there.

Try to add people or movement to what is a very fixed, flat subject. Also, message grafitti has more interest.

Add an extra element to add interest. Also, great light cures a lot of sins...