8th March 2023
Photographs of architecture continue to intrigue our image obsessed culture. The benefits of architecture photography are many: it permits people to have a visual understanding of buildings which they may never get a chance to visit in their lifetime. Architectural photography also freezes time.
The following tips from top ranking photography institutes India not only help enhance the visual strength of your photography but also indicate the relationship of buildings with the time, space, and context of their images.
Variety of Conditions
Many persons attempt to capture images of buildings seeking the most dramatic lighting like sunset hours when colours are bright, and shadows are long. Though this makes for dramatic images, they remain frozen in time. Alternatively, you can do well by shooting in different times of the day or in different weather conditions which aid in painting a fuller story of the relationship of the building with its environment.
Reflections
Reflections contribute to an extra dimension to architectural images and permit the photographer to design a canvas on which the building can be playfully distorted. The environment in urban areas are littered with multiple reflective surfaces, so you have no shortage for practice, for instance, water features, windows, wet streets & puddles, rivers, and sunglasses.
Research the Building Before
When you read up on the context and history of an architectural site, prior to visiting it, it is an indispensable resource that will undoubtedly aid you in focusing your photography on a relevant idea or story which captures the essence of the building.
Revisit the Site
When you return to the same place again and again, you will discover new layers to the architecture which can help capture the development or even, degeneration of a building over time. Viewing the photo of a new building might be fascinating but it is intriguing to photograph the same one after passage of time, when new aspects may be revealed.
Invest In Equipment
In case you are serious about beginning with high quality architectural photography, you can reap handsomely if you invest in good photography equipment. A wide-angle lens is most commonly used for photographing interior spaces and buildings. A tripod will help in shooting in low light conditions. A polarizing filter can help add contrast and make your images more vivid. For a hi-tech effort, camera mounted on a drone can create amazing images.
Post-Processing Tools
Processing of images has become common practice in photography and is part of curriculum of top photography courses in India. You can tweak images as per the atmosphere you wish to capture. There are many tools in the market which enable advance functions like lens correction. There are also tools for making panoramic photography using series of images.
Avoid Objectifying the Building
You may be shocked when you visit a building which you have shot only from one angle. When you objectify a building by visualizing from one point of view, it is a great disservice to the art of architectural photography. Trying to record the entire spatial context of the building is tough, but not impossible.
These are all some top tips for great architectural photography.
