Architectural Photography – tips & tricks

Architectural Photography: Photographing a building or home can involve a whole lot more than one might think.  There are a myriad of issues to deal with and because so much of a good architectural shot is done in post production, you must make sure that all the necessary photos were done right before you hit the lab.   I’ve written out some great things for you to consider while doing your architecture photography (in particular for Realty Photography where homes are involved).

What is it?

Architectural photography is about attempting to make buildings and interiors:

• look similar to how the eye sees it (blending of exposures, hdr, etc)
• fixing any flaws to the architecture (cracked walls, sidewalks, etc)
• enhance existing attributes (wall colors, paintings, carpets, etc)
• enhancing the “feel” (adding lights where there are not, removing objects in windows, etc)
• enhancing surroundings (adding “perfect” sunsets, skies, gardens, trees, etc)

Home Interiors:

• Aperture: you should always shoot with a constant aperture throughout any single series. This allows you to do post production layering and blending without varying the depth of field between exposures.

• Manual Focus: the camera auto focus can cause images in your series to vary slightly in framing.. this will be detrimental in post production blending.

• Take a test ambient exposure to analyze on a computer on location so you can see in detail what areas are hot, what areas are dark and if there are color casts.. Also it helps to see the image on a large screen, as you’re going to shoot it, to identify distractions etc. This way you don’t waste a day shooting only to notice that there was a house plant blocking your view of the chandelier.

• Notice details: Keep an eye out for flaw in the scene. Like what direction the window shades are pointing, how are books and magazines laid out in the room, is there dust on the furniture, what are the furniture shadows doing, are there electric cords in unsightly places, etc

• Bracket your exposures: You want to take images in ½ stops as high and low from “0” exposure as you can (at least 2 stops each way, more if you can). You can then use Photoshop to blend “perfect” pieces from each exposure into a single final image. (ie: the darkest shadows have full details and yet the brightest windows still have detail).

Getting Correct Lighting:

• Some ways to make existing light the way you want it.

  • Gelling the windows (thin plastic gel which you can use to cover windows). Gels can be bought in different colors, neutral density, polarizing, and more.

    • reduce incoming light intensity

    • change color temperature of light

    • add creative coloring

  • Use bank lights and strobes for fill (soft boxes) similar to doing a portrait.

  • Be aware of reflections from your lights. Homes are full of glass windows, cabinets, vases, and other reflective surfaces.

    • If you can’t get your shot without a light showing up in a reflective surface, then do your series followed by a single shot with the offending light removed (be sure to take that photo at best exposure for that single reflective surface). Then you can use that additional image to blend out the reflection from the rest of the photo.

Exterior:

• If you can light the windows from inside (using powerful strobes), it can make the house look better by making the windows not look dark and uninviting.

• Move signs, hoses, toys, etc from the exterior,

• If possible, prop up trees which may be leaning.

• Think about blinds and drapes. Do they look best closed or open, up or down?

• As with any outside shot, if you can shoot during the “golden” hour it will make life easier. However, you must keep in mind the direction which the house/building faces. You don’t want back lighting for your photograph.

• Be sure to deal with the natural perspective issues that will occur when shooting buildings. Because the top of a building is always going to be higher than your shot, you’re going to get a perspective where the building narrows toward the top. (fix this in Photoshop or Lightroom)

• You still want to use multiple exposures to get perfect exposure for windows, shadows, highlights, sky and more.

• You may want to shoot over a long period of time as well… You may get all the perfect exposures for the building quickly, but you could wait to get the perfect sky/clouds later in the day.

Remember! The most important tool for any of these techniques is your Tripod. You cannot do any of the necessary post for this technique without all photos being shot from the exact same position. So a tripod is a must.