Learning : Photographing Architecture

Celebrating 1st Anniversary.......

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"Learning"

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.....PHOTOGRAPHING ARCHITECTURE

Friends,

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Like various other subjects, beautiful buildings (especially historical structures, old religious edifices etc.) offer us fine opportunities to get good pictures. Various places of our planet are rich in gorgeous architectures. These structures attract a photo artist at first sight and he/she wishes to shoot them at his/her best. A few points can help us representing an attractive architecture brilliantly:
1. Lighting plays a vital role in photographing architectures. Sun light of early morning and late evening is ideal for our purpose as this light falls on a subject at low angle and creates long shadows. This adds depth to a structure and on the other hand highlights the dimensions. Moreover this type of light brings out the details of the subject. Falling of this light on the subject from one side results in superior quality images.
2. Good equipment is an essential factor for our intention. So we should choose a camera with all necessary features. The most important thing is selection of right lens. In my opinion a normal lens is ideal because this helps out in avoiding distortion in our results. Sometimes it becomes difficult to cover a structure from one edge to another due to the lack of space. In such case a wide angle lens is of great use. But a wide angle lens tends to distort the image. This problem can be overcome by not going very close to the subject. A perspective correction lens can also help us avoiding unnecessary distortion. Moreover Photoshop also helps us eliminating the distortion from our subject.
3. Composition is an imperative aspect in architectural photography. We should always aim at simple and aesthetic composition. Shooting a building straight way is not enough. Our aim should be to make an interesting photograph. We have to involve the surroundings also in our photograph along with the major subject. Involving trees, plants, human beings, etc. in the frame adds meaning to our photograph.
We have a tendency to look into a scene from left to right (this may not be true in every case), as our eyes are inclined to read from left to right. So if we shoot architecture from its left elevation, the picture will be a little eye catching.
4. Since we want to see maximum elements of a building in focus with ultimate depth, we have to use a small aperture (22, 16 or 11).
5. Shooting the whole structure of a building is not necessary in every case. Sometimes a specific part of the building can provide a good image. The presentation depends on our approach. Few buildings can be rich in artistic forms. If we shoot these forms aesthetically, we are sure of getting outstanding pictures.
6. Sky has an important role in architectural photography. We should avoid flat and dull sky. Blue sky is always ideal and if the sky has clouds too, we are lucky enough to get a decent shot. Flying birds (if we luckily get) in the sky also give strength to our photograph.
7. Sometimes we can get good pictures of architectures during night (if they are illuminated well). While doing so we should always rest our camera on a firm tripod. In low light conditions the shutter speed of camera goes very low and in this situation tripod works friendly.

--Dr. Pankaj Sharma