Architectural Photography - Care To Give It a Shot?
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Architectural photography involves capturing images of buildings and other structures, both interior and exterior, with an emphasis on accuracy, composition, and aesthetic appeal. Architectural photography sometimes gets buried in street and even landscape work but it is its own discipline, one that you may choose to build expertise within.
The Subject
To do architectural photography well it requires preparation on your part. The most successful work takes into account more than just the building. You want to learn about the subject and use that learning in the images that you create. Otherwise, it might just be a snapshot of another building.
Consider learning about the historical context of the building. When was it built? For what purpose? Who was the primary architect? Does it replace something that was there before and if so why did it happen. What drove the building of the structure? Was it political, social, government?
In your research and prep you want to be able to know and photograph what makes the structure special or unique. What materials were used and why? Was there a particular reason for the design ethic? Is there a cultural or time oriented rationale in the design?
Your Camera
Architectural photography is about detail. So you will want a good interchangeable lens camera to do this of moderate (20MP) to high resolution. Any modern mirrorless or DSLR will serve, but the camera in your phone is not the right tool. Computational photography gets in the way more than it helps in this discipline.
Your Lenses
Most architectural photographers start with wide angle lenses and these are good choices where space is limited. However, if you want to record specific design elements, you will need a long focal length lens, particularly if there is a lot of fine detail very high up. Remember that some of the most fascinating detail particularly in older buildings is high up, by design to be “closer to God”. Churches and cathedrals are specific examples.
When the plane of your sensor is not parallel to your subject you get the sense of the building being not aligned, or falling over. While current software has excellent transformation correction elements, these all involve a warp and crop process and if you have not left enough dead space around the building you may find that the cropping required eliminates features that you want to collect. The way around this is the very specialized tilt-shift lens. These lenses are optically amazing but they can get pricey and there is a definite learning curve with them. However, if architecture photography becomes a key point of your work, you will need to get one.
Other Gear
Architectural photography emphasizes depth of field. This means a tripod and that can be a problem in some places where tripods are not allowed. Call ahead and if not permitted, ask about a monopod. If that’s not allowed, then ensure that your camera delivers the image quality that you want at higher ISOs because you cannot bring enough flash to light a building.
If you will be photographing a building from outside, you want a polarizer even if the sun is not direct, to help you manage reflections.
You may want to make very long exposures of the building to allow distractions to blur into invisibility. Your tripod and strong neutral density filters will be a real asset in this kind of work. You can also use a neutral density inside on a very long exposure if your tripod is allowed to “remove” the people.
Composing Your Images
Composition planning is critical in architectural photography. There is no replacement to planning.
In order to leverage the power of perspective and the illusion of perspective exaggeration you will want to experiment with angles and viewpoints to highlight the building’s design. Low, high, and oblique angles can provide unique perspectives. They will also allow you to show the building in ways different from those more commonly used.
Use lines, shapes, and patterns to guide the viewer’s eye through the image. Leading lines can create depth and interest. Consider how the lines of the building flow, the patterns of window layout, patterns created by material choices. These are not accidents, they were done with intent by the architect. Make images that expound on these design decisions.
Balance symmetrical compositions for harmony or use asymmetry for dynamic compositions. Your work is actually best served by different images using either symmetry or asymmetry. Symmetry creates balance but gets boring quick where as asymmetry creates dynamic tension that can be more engaging to the viewer.
As you would in any photography try to use natural elements or other structures to frame the subject and add context. Placing a building in the context of the buildings around it creates a more interesting story. You may find this particularly in areas undergoing redevelopment where the first new buildings are the steps in transforming an area that had gone to seed.
Managing the Light
Optimal times for photography are during the morning blue hour and the afternoon golden hour. You’ll get more interesting contrasts, tones and shadows. You may also find that the building owners are more receptive to you photographing when the building is not at its busiest.
Capture the building’s exterior and interior lighting. Night shots can be striking with illuminated buildings. In this scenario, this artificial light is the stuff supplied by the architecture not what you bring with your.
Expose to the right to capture details in both highlights and shadows, especially in high-contrast scenes.
Post Processing
Shoot in RAW. You will be post processing. That’s a given. Choose whichever tool you prefer and work with it. Try to avoid adding a ton of plugins that can make for enormous files and excess troubleshooting.
I mentioned transformation tools earlier, but don’t forget applying corrections for the lenses used for perspective and chromatic aberrations.
Your processing should reflect what you want to tell with your image. Architectural photography is not documentary photography unless you choose to make it so. Feel free to use toning, colour adjustment and sharpening. If you have had to go higher than you’d like in ISO, noise reduction might be helpful. Feel free to use removal tool to take away stuff that’s distracting such as those cones to indicate a wet floor. Do avoid composites if you can. They are easily recognized and will often put a viewer off.
We used to be really concerned about using HDR practices but modern camera sensors have such massive dynamic range that HDR is now mostly a waste of time. Expose to the right and work your magic on a single frame, not a stack of them. Most HDR processes and auto-bracketing do not give enough spread in exposure between images.
Detail Matters
Feel free to use your content aware tools to get rid of stuff that detracts from your image, but don’t remove things that provide context to your image. That makes the image stagnant and boring. Include surroundings to provide context and a sense of place, but ensure the main focus remains on the architecture.
While you can choose to remove people, consider blurring them if their presence is integral to the value of the building. Consider two photos inside a rail station, one with no people and one with movement blurred people. Those photos tell very different stories so make the images that support your plan.
Storytelling
You already know, or should know, that a photograph without a story is just a snapshot that has no legs and no life. If there is no story, there is no shot. Convey the story behind the building, its purpose, and its place within its environment. Often, a series of images (exterior, interior, details) is required to comprehensively document the structure. These images can then be combined into a short video with text overlays and music or in the form of a self running slideshow.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
Sneaky can get you in serious trouble. Obtain necessary permissions for shooting on private property or in restricted areas. Respect the integrity of the architecture and its surroundings. This is particularly true in religion based buildings. If you are disrespectful, arrogant or rude, expect to be thrown out and to meet the local constabulary.
Wrapping Up
By considering these elements, architectural photographers can create compelling and visually striking images that showcase the beauty and intricacy of buildings and structures. Architectural photography is a discipline within itself. By being playful, doing your research, doing your prep and being a decent person, you could create the opportunity to make some really incredible images.
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