Transcript
Page 1: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

28 digital photographer

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

IN-DEPTHFEATURE SPECIAL

Capture architecture

12-PAGEGUIDE

The urban landscape is worth

exploring – take inspiration from

the weird and wonderful

buildings captured by these pros

Page 2: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

digital photographer 29

architectural photography

8

Architectural photography

Architect and photographer Chris Humphreys guides you through a professional shoot and the challenges facing an architectural photographer

GEomETRy Santiago Calatrava is renowned for his stunning creations which express the structure of the building as the architecture. this shot emphasises the rhythm created repeating structures and although open to one side, it gives the impression of an enclosed spaceShot details: Nikon d80 with 18-135mm lens at 18mm and f8, 1/80sec, iSo 140© Chris humphreys

Page 3: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

30 digital photographer

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

W e live in houses, shop in retail parks, learn in universities, work in offices and eat in restaurants. Our lives are influenced by architecture every day without us realising it, so it is no wonder

that our fascination with the built environment translates into architectural photography being a hugely popular genre.

Commercial architectural photography has been ongoing since the 1860s, but it was only with the introduction of half-tone printing in the 1930s that photography became the chosen medium to portray architecture. Major publications were able to print photographs, illustrations and text side by side for the first time and architects relied on photographs as the main way of publicising their work. In an era of ultra-realistic 3D visualisations and stunning graphics, photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner.

Architectural photography has evolved over time. In the early days images were of clean and clear spaces, free of clutter and people. The spaces within the building and the building itself were the main focus of the image, perhaps with a few select pieces of architectural furniture. The image was to sell an idea of utopia, a statement of what the architect was capable of. Landscaping was simple and pristine, often with hard landscaping being designed as an extension of the building.

Photography allowed that architectural ideology to be recorded in a way that no other medium could.

Today an architect’s thinking has moved on, buildings are more about functionality combined with joy and a sense of place and the way people interact with buildings is fundamental. This is not just a case of including people in the photograph, it is about how the building and spaces inside look and function in use. In the case of homes, it is about how the architecture allows people to personalise a space and take possession. Architectural photographs must now take this into account, with buildings that can often only be photographed once furnished and occupied.

Of course, architectural photography isn’t just for new buildings or even buildings alone. The genre encompasses all man-made objects, from bridges to bus shelters. But for professional architectural photographer Paul Zanre from Penicuik near Edinburgh, his bread and butter is new build work. “My client base is quite wide – anyone from architects, interior designers, building contractors, property professionals, manufacturers and property agents,” Paul comments. Paul started out as an interior designer, responsible for organising his practice’s photography: “I’ve always been interested in photography; when I was at college I bought myself an Olympus OM-1, and I used that to photograph all of the projects I was working on through the early days.” Paul went on

STITchEd pAnoRAmIcthe tilt-and-shift lenses used for architectural photography not only allow verticals to be corrected, but can also be very useful for perfect panoramics. here the lens has been shifted to the left for the first shot and to the right for the second. Because both shots are taken on the same focal plane, there’s no parallax error and the shots stitch easily in photoshop Shot details: d3X with 24mm t/s lens at 24mm and f22, 1/30sec, iSo 100

“Photography still stands as the best way of representing architecture artistically”8

SUBdUEd lIGhTInGthe interior of this penthouse apartment had very subtle lighting; the aim was to capture this without overexposing the scene and giving a false impression. the shot was timed so that there was a little bit of light left in the sky, leaving the city skyline clearly visible and leaving the viewer in no doubt that this is a penthouse apartmentShot details: Canon eoS 1ds with Canon 24mm shift lens at 24mm and f22, 5 secs, iSo 100 8

Page 4: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

digital photographer 31

Paul ZanreWeb: www.pzphotography.com

Email: [email protected]

Paul Zanre has been a professional architectural photographer for almost two decades since leaving his

previous career as an interior designer. His background in the building industry allows him to instinctively capture clean and simple images that have placed him as one of Scotland’s top professional photographers in this genre.

A design background has allowed Paul to understand what makes good architectural images. “I treat each photographic assignment as if I had been the designer. If I am shooting an interior I try to follow the logic of a journey throughout the interior space. Starting from the entry point, I shoot an image that captures the all-important first impression. In each assignment I like to produce a balanced portfolio of images. I try to think of it from the point of view of the designer and how they’d want to represent the building.” Paul’s extensive back catalogue of images can be viewed and purchased from his website.

1 Wide-angle Use a wide-angled lens for interiors, but be careful with objects or people placed at the edge of the frame as they can appear distorted.

2 Both formats When shooting a scene, try the view in both Portrait and Landscape modes – if it works in both, then shoot both. It gives you the flexibility later to choose which shot works the best.

3 White balance An 18% grey card is a useful bit of kit to carry on an architectural shoot. It can be included in each scene with a different lighting condition, and then selected in your favoured RAW editing program to give the correct white balance.

4 Deep skies Use ND grad filters to darken the sky on exterior shots, but you need to be really careful not to affect the exposure of the building.

mEET ThE pRo

© paul Zanre

© paul Zanre

Page 5: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

32 digital photographer

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

to commission the renowned professional photographer Alastair Hunter: “There weren’t many what I would call ‘pure’ architectural photographers in Scotland. At the time you had photographers such as Richard Bryant and Dennis Gilbert and all the big guys down in London, and Alastair Hunter was on the same playing field as these guys. So I organised for him to photograph various projects and I used to go out on all the photo shoots. I got used to seeing his world of architecture upside down on a plate camera, which was quite intriguing and made you focus more on composition. The plate camera would allow you to compose a shot by shifting the lens plate or the back plate and it presented quite a different way of taking a photograph than I was used to. So it was quite good going on all of these shoots and seeing how he went about his work; I was giving him my brief and we were bouncing ideas off each other.” Paul made a gradual transition to becoming a full-time professional when Alastair Hunter died in the late Eighties, which in combination with a recession meant that Paul was tasked with seeing what he had learnt and taking on the role of practice photographer.

As a former interior designer, Paul understands that an architect will agonise over natural light, artificial lighting, orientation, materials, connecting spaces, integration into the surroundings, mood setting, style, reflections and all manner of things. The job of the architectural photographer is to capture all of this, to see into the designer’s mind and present an image which reflects the original design intent. The architectural shoot needs to tell a story, the images need to show how the building has been integrated into its setting whether it is urban or rural, or perhaps illustrate how the building has been designed to stand out and detach itself from the surroundings. The images need to illustrate detail, material choices, structure and composition within the building elements. All of this has to be carefully timed to make the best use of light, or sometimes lack of it. An architectural shoot requires rigorous planning and efficient execution.

Shift lensesThe shift lens has been the favoured choice of the pro architectural photographer since the switch to digital. Previously the pros would favour view cameras, which would allow the lens and film plates to be moved independently. This movement would allow easy correction of vertical perspective, giving the characteristic appearance of the architectural photograph.

Nikon’s first shift lens was the Nikkor 35mm PC f3.5 introduced in 1962 (pictured). The ‘PC’ stands for perspective correction. Quite simply, if you point your camera upwards at a building, the verticals converge. To stop this from happening you must keep the camera level – with a standard lens this usually means missing off the top part of the building and including a lot of foreground.

The shift lens has a much wider image circle than a standard lens, meaning when the lens is shifted upward the camera can remain level and the top half of the building will be included in the shot. The other significant advantage is the ability to shift the lens sideways, take a shot then rotate the lens through 180 degrees and take another shot, giving a perfect panorama with no parallax issues.

In a competitive commercial environment, time is limited and unpredictable weather makes it all the more important to be prepared.

The artistic aspect of architectural photography is something that comes naturally to some people, particularly if you come from a design background. The technical aspect of taking photographs is something that can be learnt over time, but if you want to be successful it needs to become instinctive. At some stage, though, it’s time to tackle that first assignment. The phone rings, an architect wants his newly completed visitor centre photographed inside and out. Hopefully it isn’t one of those calls where the shoot needs to be done yesterday, you need time to formulate a game plan and wait for a slot in the weather. You ask the architect to email you a location plan, site plan and building plans, together with

STAndInG TAlltaken for cre8architecture, this photograph of an office building in edinburgh was shot from street level at the main entrance. the wide-angled shift lens together with this being the focal point of the building produces a very dynamic image. one side of the building was in deep shade, but the huge dynamic range of the d3X allowed for these details to be pulled back at the post-processing stageShot details: Nikon d3X with 24mm tilt-and-shift lens at 24mm and f22, 1/40sec, iSo 100

EvEnInG hUE Chris humphreys’ house. evening is a great time to shoot architecture; the magic moment is when the daylight fades and balances the interior lights. it is a narrow time slot so it pays to be set up in time and take test shots to make sure you have the best angle and composition. it is sometimes necessary to reduce the saturation of the interior lights as they can often appear too yellow against the cooler exterior light. Shot details: Nikon d80 with 18-135mm lens at 18mm and f11, 5 exposures, iSo 100

AlIEn hoUSE Sometimes buildings need to be isolated from the surroundings to allow the viewer’s imagination to fill in the blanks. a wide-angled shot standing close with corrected verticals gives a dynamic edge to the shot Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm, f11, 1/25sec, iSo 200

8

8

© Chris humphreys© Chris humphreys

Page 6: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

digital photographer 33

© p

aul Z

anre

Page 7: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

34 digital photographer

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

any snaps they’ve taken of the building. The size of the building, location, the number of shots required and/or the time availability will dictate your fee quote. The location plan and site layout will give you the orientation of the building, the floor plans show the internal layout and the snaps fill in the blanks. You now have everything you need to plan the shoot.

The orientation of the building will have a bearing on how you plan the shoot. As a general rule of thumb, start outside with context shots and work in to detailed shots, then move inside. If the weather is looking good in the morning but not so good in the afternoon, at least you’ll have your external shots complete in good light – the sun isn’t so critical for the internal shots. You’ll need to make sure you arrive at the right time, to catch the sun on the first elevation worth shooting. Don’t forget that in the height of summer you can catch the sun on a north-east facing elevation if you get up early enough!

If possible, visit the building before the shoot to get a feel for which shots are a must and how long it might take to cover the various angles. Visiting the building will also give you the chance to have a look at any neighbouring buildings which might overshadow certain shots. If you can’t visit the building, try Google maps street view. However, it isn’t always possible to plan ahead, as Paul Zanre explains: “Sometimes a client phones up and needs the photographs straightaway. So you’re turning up blind at the building, not knowing in advance the orientation, floor plans or surrounding area. You spend the first hour of the shoot walking the building to familiarise yourself with the best shooting angles, and all of this takes away from precious shooting time in good weather.”

Assuming you’ve been given the chance to prepare and have a game plan, aim to arrive 20 minutes early to give you time to quickly walk the building. You’ll want to check for unexpected obstacles, such as delivery vehicles, which might affect your timing. Have a think about what equipment you carry around with you and what you can leave in the car. Finally, if the building is occupied, go and say hello to the owner, tenant or security guard. This particularly applies if shooting in a security-sensitive location like a shopping centre, and saves time on being challenged later.

You will most likely have planned to carry out the shoot on a nice sunny day, but sometimes the weather doesn’t turn out as planned. However, all is not lost, as Paul Zanre comments:

“Not all architectural shots need to have a bright blue sky. In fact, there is a recent trend in certain publications for buildings to be shot under diffuse light with the sky appearing white. It creates a flat light, which can sometimes produce quite pleasing images.”

It’s a good idea to capture the context views first and work your way in close to the building. These are the shots that show how the building relates its surroundings, be it an urban or rural setting. If you think of the building as having a face, which way is it pointing? Try to include a reasonable amount of foreground in front of the main face and place the building off-centre for a stronger composition.

Lenses can be varied, but a medium focal length of around 50mm on a full-frame camera or 35mm on a DX camera works well. This will allow you to work from a distance and foreshorten the perspective slightly, sitting the building more

“As a general rule, start outside with context shots and work in to detailed shots, then move inside”

ShooT In conTExTthis recently completed house faces due south and stands proudly looking onto a wildflower meadow. the retaining walls have been used as lead-in lines and the flowers give a nice foreground to the image. a low shooting angle emphasises the prominence of the building overlooking the surrounding countryside and separates it from the distracting neighbouring buildings Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm and f11, 1/125sec, iSo 200

8

© Chris humphreys

Page 8: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

Room with a viewSometimes the view through a window is part of the magic of an interior space, but the chances are that several stops of difference in light between the interior and the exterior will make capturing the shot in a single exposure and retaining the view impossible. One option would be to take several exposures and use exposure blending or HDR in a program like Photomatix. The trouble with this is that it’s time-consuming and doesn’t always guarantee that the view through the window will be as expected.

The more controlled method is to take one exposure metered for the interior scene and one metered for the view through the window, but around one stop overexposed. The reason for overexposing the second shot is because we perceive the view to be brighter when seen from inside, due to the high-contrast ratio.

Paste the second exposure on top of the interior space exposure in Photoshop and add a layer mask. Simply paint in the view, taking care to blend in the edges around the window. Use the Opacity slider on the pasted layer to make sure you have a natural look, while still maintaining the view.

architectural photography

comfortably in its context. This focal length is also close to that of the human eye, so the images retain a natural appearance.

Sometimes you simply can’t get far enough away from the building, so a wide-angled lens is the only option. Just be aware that this will make any neighbouring buildings or greenery beyond the subject appear to be even further in the distance. For most of the general shots you will want good front-to-back sharpness, so put the camera on a tripod and select a small aperture of f11-f14. Paul Zanre knows the value of a good tripod: “I currently use a Manfrotto 475B digital pro-geared tripod with a Manfrotto 405 geared head, and I find that it is worth spending the time properly setting up and levelling the camera to save on time in processing later. The geared head allows for very precise adjustment.” If you’re trying to shoot a building from across a busy road, try using an eight- or ten-stop neutral density filter to increase the shutter speed to 20 seconds or more. This will result in a traffic-free image, as the passing cars won’t register on the sensor.

For your general building shots you will be moving closer to the building, but still include some of the neighbouring context. The purpose of these shots is to show the principle elevations off to their best and capture the overall composition. There is no set formula for which angles to use, but suffice to say that variety is a good thing – some angles may not look great in camera, but work well when viewed later at the post-processing stage.

In general, because you are closer to the building you will want to use a wider-angled lens. For example, you’ll want something in the range of 14mm to 24mm for full-format cameras, or 10mm to 20mm for DX-format. Wide-angled lenses can make even the simplest building look dynamic, and in confined urban environments can allow for very close-proximity shooting. However, they are not without their problems, as some lenses will display significant distortion, and a building with a uniform pattern of materials (timber boarding, for example) will show this up clearly.

Close-proximity shooting and tall buildings will also result in converging verticals. Simply put, this is the appearance of the vertical edges of a building appearing to disappear into

dynAmIc RAnGE Most buildings were in shade with the low sun only lighting some areas. the original shot was underexposed to retain the highlight detail, and processed to pull back shadow detail and add mid-tone contrast. it often leads to an over saturation, so the vibrance slider in raW was turned down Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm, f11, 1/15sec, iSo 200© Chris humphreys

doUBlE ExpoSURE this is image represents reality. the interior is exposed accurately and the view is slightly overexposed, then both shots are combined in post-processing Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm and f11, 1/500sec & 1/15sec, iSo 200© Chris humphreys

8

Page 9: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

36 digital photographer

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

Night shotsBuildings lend themselves perfectly to night shots – reflective glazing during the day gives way to transparency as the interior lights take over as the main source of light. Public buildings and transport interchanges with plenty of glazing make great subjects and will often have the added bonus of attracting plenty of people to create some interesting motion blur.

The best time to shoot is in the early morning or evening, when the ambient external light is low but not completely dark. A little natural light is needed to subtly illuminate the exterior of the building and must be balanced with the intensity of the interior artificial lights.

The same goes for night shots taken inside a building looking through a window. Falling external light will make balancing the interior and exterior light much more simple.

look Up in this case the photographer looked up and liked the light on the timber cladding. Capture anything that catches your eye as soon as you see it before the light changesShot details: Nikon d80 with 10-20mm lens at 14mm and f13, 1/50sec, iSo 100

RAISEd vIEWpoInT a shutter speed of 1/10sec adds blur to the moving people – just wait for willing volunteers to pass by Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm and f11, 1/10sec, iSo 400

mATERIAlS pAlETTE look for different materials and create a sample palette shot. they work best square on to the plane of the wall under diffuse light. architects love this type of shot as it shows off their material detailingShot details: Nikon d700 with 50mm lens at 50mm and f3.2, 1/400sec, iSo 400© Chris humphreys

© Chris humphreys

© paul Zanre

Page 10: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

digital photographer 37

architectural photography

the distance. The human eye is very good at telling the brain that verticals are straight up, so in reality we don’t read these converging lines (unless you are standing at the base of a tower block). There are two options to correct verticals: one is to use software such as PT Lens or the lens correction filter in Photoshop. However, the preferred method of the pros is to use a tilt-and-shift lens. If you are using a standard lens and planning to correct in post-processing then include slightly more content in the image than you will eventually want, as a corrected image will need to be cropped, meaning lost pixels. One other way around this is to shoot in portrait format and level the camera – this will result in straight verticals, but a lot of foreground. The foreground can be cropped in post-processing, giving a square-format photograph.

Look for compositions within the façade, elements of structure or features that define the building’s character. We’re not talking about detailed studies of materials here, those shots come next. The building entrance is a good place to start – architects will often try and design a building to create a distinctive entrance. There will often be some form of covered canopy, walkway or feature lighting that can be used to frame an outside space. Variety is key here, as Paul Zanre notes:

“When shooting a scene, try the view in both Portrait and Landscape modes. If it works in both, then shoot both. It gives you the flexibility later to choose which shot you like the best.”

“Look for elements of structure or features that define the building’s character”

WhITE BAlAncE a grey card was placed in this scene and a duplicate shot was created with the same exposure as the final scene. the raW file is processed to correct the white balance using the grey card shot. the window is deliberately clipped as the view was quite distracting Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 16mm and f11, 2/3 sec, iSo 200

Detailed building views, particularly around entrances, are a good opportunity to use a neutral density filter to slow the shutter speed and motion blur any passing people. A six-stop ND filter used in bright daylight will give a shutter speed of 0.5-1sec, ideal for producing just the right amount of blur without losing the people altogether. Lens choice is fairly flexible for this type of shot. Wide-angled lenses will produce dynamic images but potentially with some distortion at the edges, while a longer focal length will allow you to step back and see the compositions within the building more easily.

Architects, contractors and suppliers will always be keen to see close-up shots of how successfully they have put the building together and married various materials. A longer focal length of between 70-100mm will work well for full-frame sensors, or 50-80mm for cropped sensors. The aim is to illustrate a pleasing composition of a number of different elements. Including some glazing can give pleasing reflections and work well with this type of shot. Square-on views giving a ‘materials sample palette’ shot also work nicely. Experiment with a wider aperture to give a shallow depth of field and isolate a certain detail within a composition. If you see something that catches your eye while you are walking around taking the wider shots, capture it there and then, as the light will have changed by the time you go back and it may not look as attractive. Remember that the purpose of these detailed shots is to complement the whole set of photographs and tell part of the story.

Interior photography could be an entire subject in its own right, as there are many nuances that can make or break an interior shoot. As a rule of thumb, the strategy for the

8

8

© Chris humphreys

Page 11: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

lighting situations to shoot under are full-spectrum daylight fluorescent lights. Under average white balance shooting the images almost come out black and white, so in these situations I sometimes use fill-in flash, which actually allows a bit of colour to show through in the image.”

So that’s it – you’ve completed your shoot and have a couple of hundred images to process, stitch, blend and whittle down to a complete set of around 50-60. One thing to remember when post-processing is to keep your white balancing of the images consistent. It is a good idea to view the set as a whole at various stages, to make sure you achieve a unified appearance.

You don’t need a big budget to get started shooting the built environment, but there are subtleties that separate the average shot from a great architectural photograph. It is worth starting with a wide-angled lens and a sturdy tripod; expensive kit such as tilt-and-shift lenses help if you shoot a lot of architecture, but they aren’t critical to making a start.

The skill sets learnt in other genres of photography can translate well into architectural photography. For example, composition, lighting, mood and control of focus are all common techniques. Combine this with our instinctive harmony with the built environment, and with a sympathetic approach architectural photography can prove to be a very rewarding genre. Hopefully these tips from the pros have helped you to gain inspiration, and encouraged you to get out there and start seeing the buildings around you in a very different way.

BIGFEATURE4 architectural photography

38 digital photographer

interior shoot should mirror that of the exterior shoot. Start with wider general shots of each space and work in to more detailed shots. Pay attention to where the natural light is coming from: if the sun suddenly appears from behind a cloud lighting up part of an interior that you aren’t shooting, be prepared to stop what you are doing and grab the shot while you can.

One of the key factors to consider when shooting an interior is how to light the scene – in the past it wasn’t uncommon for architectural photographers to spend hours carefully setting up additional lights to produce even lighting for a scene. Today digital cameras allow us much more flexibility, as Paul Zanre describes, “The main advantage of digital cameras is the ability to check the histogram for correct exposure at the time of capture. I would say that the majority of interiors that I shoot are photographed under available lighting conditions. I will only use fill-in flash using a Nikon Speedlight SB900 when it is needed. Designers take great care to create the desired mood in an interior, the last thing I would want to do is flatten the lighting scheme and make the images look like they have been artificially lit. When using fill-in flash I will place the flash unit off camera and bounce diffused light carefully off a wall or ceiling to fill in shadow areas.”

One of the many challenges facing the architectural photographer shooting internal scenes is balancing artificial and natural lighting. Understanding the different types of artificial light and how they affect the colour cast of a scene is crucial, as Paul Zanre explains, “I have become very good at reading the colour temperature of lighting by eye at the time of the shot, it has become instinctive and allows me to accurately adjust the colour temperature in post-production. I will be able to detect a green cast from fluorescent or an orange cast from tungsten. One of the most challenging artificial

Gear guideChris Humphreys’ kit picks for architecture

Nikon D3Xprice: £6,130 (body only)

contact: 0871 200 1964

Web: www.europe-nikon.com

Nikon’s flagship professional FX camera. Many architectural photographers

favour large-format cameras with digital backs due to the superb image quality and high resolution. The Nikon D3X provides a (relatively) cost-effective alternative, with a huge dynamic range and 24-megapixel sensor.

Manfrotto 405 Geared Headprice: £295

contact: 01293 583300

Web: www.manfrotto.co.uk

A geared head is a must for any architectural photographer.

Cameras will most often need to be levelled particularly when used with a tilt-and-shift lens. The precision controls on the Manfrotto 405 head combined with its quick release feature make it ideal for quick set ups.

NIKKOR 24mm f3.5 PC-E lensprice: £1,400

contact: 0871 200 1964

Web: www.europe-nikon.com

Nikon’s wide-angled tilt-and-shift lens is a popular choice. The shift

mechanism allows verticals to be corrected without post-processing and the rotating bezel allows for flawless stitched panoramas.

NIKKOR 16-35mm f4G ED VR lensprice: £845

contact: 0871 200 1964

Web: www.europe-nikon.com

To make the smallest of interiors feel bigger, only a

wide-angle will do. On an FX sensor this lens is about as wide as you’ll need. Nano crystal coating reduces flare and reflections with VR for hand-holding in low light.

DP

“One of the key factors when shooting an interior is how to light the scene”

SqUARE on one-point perspectives work well in rectilinear spaces, the effect is emphasised by the columns. the inclusion of the dog and open patio door give the impression of a lazy summer’s day Shot details: Nikon d700 with 16-35mm lens at 24mm and f11, 1.6 sec, iSo 200

8

© Chris humphreys

Page 12: BIGFEATURE architectural photography... · photography still stands as the single best way of representing architecture in an artistic manner. Architectural photography has evolved

digital photographer 39

YourImagesThe DP readers show what they’re made of with

this selection of stunning architectural shots

SloBodAn BlAGojEvIc

“Chicago’s river Walk at sunset; a stretch of the Chicago river with some of the best architecture Chicago has to offer. distortion and perspective corrections and post-processing for a strong impact (a pseudo-hdr effect) done in lightroom 3, with finishing touches in photoshop CS4”Shot details: Canon g10 at f4, 1/160sec, iSo 80dp gallery address/website: www.flickr.com/photos/slobodan_blagojevic

dIRk SmITh “i wanted to make the

infinity Bridge in Stockton look as symmetrical as possible and line up the horizon with the upper hand rails. to represent the name of the bridge, i also wanted the central support and the downward curve to look as if it was going ‘to infinity and beyond’”Shot details: Canon eoS 500d with 18mm-55mm lens at 18mm and f14, 16sec, iSo 100dp gallery address/website: www.dphotographer.co.uk/user/dirksmith

RyAn cApUlonG

“Four exposures, taken with different exposures to expose the frame. one is taken for the sky, one for the middle, one for the lower portion and one for the stores”Shot details: Nikon d90 with 10-20mm lens at 10mm and f8, 5-61sec, iSo 200dp gallery: dphotographer.co.uk/user/ryancapulong

nIcolAS oRIllARd“the long shutter speed helped me give movement to

the clouds and make the people appear as shadows”Shot details: Canon eoS 5d Mark ii with 17-40mm lens at 20mm and f16, 20sec, iSo 100dp gallery address/website: www.dphotographer.co.uk/user/pablo

© Nicolas orillard

© ryan Capulong

© Slobodan Blagojevic

© dirk Smith