Final Thoughts
Much of this article may sound like I’m too picky of a photographer. That’s entirely possible. I equate these preferences to a landscape photographer hoping for a cloudy, cotton-candy pink sunrise, or the wedding photographer praying that Aunt Martha doesn’t stand in the center of the aisle to get photos with her iPad.
In photography as a whole, we’re all looking for those perfect conditions to get a great shot, but most of the time we have to just work with what we’ve been given. These three characteristics of urban exploration are elements that we have no control over. We can’t make buildings age faster, we can’t make sure artifacts don’t get stolen, and we can’t make places decay the way we want them to. The best thing you can do is to decide what your perfect conditions are and always try to find the locations which have them.
In the meantime, keep exploring and always push yourself to get great shots in imperfect places.