Sunday, January 27, 2013

9 Secrets To Uncovering The Essence Of Architectural Photography

By Sue Carpenter


Boston architectural photography is not just about following the linear pattern literally and putting two and two together. It requires the understanding of how lines and patterns work to lead your attention towards a focus point, even without showing it outright. Here are 9 tips to polishing your skills and making the viewing audience discern the character of your photos with depth.

Primarily, you need to have ample knowledge about how the lighting would highlight different parts of the subject. Whether you want to emphasize on the texture or bump up the contrast, it is up to you to position yourself and use the necessary settings. If you are dissatisfied with the fall of light, you can play with different exposures and turn the shots into one high dynamic range image.

Whatever the body of the camera is, you need to use the appropriate glass or lens. Considering that you are photographing buildings that are larger than you even when multiplied by tenfold, you need a lens that wide angled. This helps you fit the subject in the frame without having to move back farther.

Do not neglect the wonderful details you can capture in the interiors of the building. They are just as telling if you take time to do the proper exposure. Considering that you do not have enough natural light to illuminate the scene, learn about other techniques like long exposures to still get a well lit subject.

There is also the method of taking a silhouette shot of the outline of the building. The trick is in shooting the structure against the sun so that no exposure will be found on the foreground. As a result, you can create a dramatic look that is highlighted by the gorgeous reds, oranges and yellows of the darkening sky.

Even when you worry about the weather, use it as a challenge to explore your limits. In fact, you can play with the lighting and experiment on concepts. Bright days call for vibrancy while gloomy ones are all about drama and contrast. Think about the possibilities, let your mind work and translate it into a visual masterpiece.

Be mindful of the presence of reflections. Usually, you can play around with a lot of mirror like concepts when there are puddles on the street you are walking on. For a more rural appeal, you can shoot landscapes in front of the river and see the creative distortions that come out of it.

The only reliable secret to getting better is to keep studying about the subject that interests you the most. You would be surprised that for every article you read in random, there is an equivalent surge of inspiration that would consume you to the brim. Although this may just be in passing, once you keep going at it, you will continue to get these happy vibes until you find the courage to challenge yourself.

When you have a good eye for details, that means that you can also properly compose your subject. This is the key to making every detail work. With practice, the good taste for beautiful composition will grow in you and it will be second nature. If this information about boston architectural photography is enough to entice you, then pick up that camera and start shooting.




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