Talking about interior and architecture photography, surely an image of large glass buildings over the skyline of any modern capital city comes to mind, those commemorative buildings of the World Fair or unique buildings by architects such as Frank Owen Gehry, Richard Meier or Antonio Gaudí to be something more timeless.
But it is not the purpose of this article to talk about such celebrities, or unique buildings, but from a more professional point of view, within architectural and interior photography.
The importance of light
Photography and architecture have something in common and it is the fundamental aspect of light. Without light there is no visual effect that we want to capture in the photo. Perhaps it is the most important of all techniques and the result can be the star of any high quality photographic project.
It is the skill of the photographer and his technique on this element that will make the difference between a photo and a unique photo. Look for the natural blue of a clear day to highlight an architectonical element or the lights and shadows of a sunset in the field or the beach to find a romantic point in the photography. But not only you can get unique photos with natural light, knowing how to expose the camera to different shades of artificial light, both warm and cold, will make a house seem minimalist and cold or a warm cozy and familiar home.
That is why light is what will finally bring out the true meaning of what we want to capture.
The technique and the photographic material
Architecture photography is perhaps one of the most technical there is, since we try to capture different materials and highlight their own nature. It is important to have a good camera, a few lenses of different apertures, a tripod and our skill and technique.
To be able to photograph buildings or large spaces we will need wide fields of vision and optics with the least possible distortion, for which we will use angular and standard lenses.
The tripod is extremely important to be able to frame our photograph well, especially if we are taking indoor shots since we will usually spend long periods of time looking for the perfect angle for the ideal photograph. If we have a good tripod head and a bubble level, we will have the perfect equipment.
We must not forget the polarized filters, especially if our mission is to photograph buildings with many glass elements to avoid reflections, saturate the sky or contrast the clouds.
When the distance prevents us from taking a photo, we resort to off-center lenses to correct the perspective or a more technical camera or what professional photography like use a very ingenious resource called an optical bench, to keep the sensor plane vertical and move only the lens.
These types of lenses are not cheap, so for this type of photography it will be necessary to hire the services of a professional photographic studio. At Perspektiva360 we count with these elements and state-of-the-art software such as Lightroom 5 that we complement with precise retouching in Photoshop. This is what we call ‘post-processing’ the photos to obtain the desired final result.
New architectural projects. Some Advice
When we talk about a new project, it is very convenient to talk to the architect before anything else, since generally they tend to be quite vain about their new work, as if it were a newborn baby, they like to show the project and explain it in detail, especially if there are going to be unusual elements and materials or very personal architecture. So it is important to understand the project very well. That is why as professional photographers in Bogota, we understand this important detail very well.
Detail, texture and creativity
As this is a very technical type of photography, it is essential to focus on the most important details and those that we are really going to publish in the project. You have to be creative and look for those corners, details and textures of the building that make it stand out, those are the ones we should publish. That is why it is interesting to experiment with effects, look for special frames, black and white photos, add creative filters, look for an abstract photo… Anything goes to get the perfect project that our client will like.
Movement and environment
It is rare to make a unique architecture design without being located in a unique environment, since all the landscape as the gardens and location are agreed in advance in the architect’s design. So you have to capture the environment well so that the project takes on a life of its own.
Architecture photography is sometimes quite static and it is good to achieve what we call movement in photography. And that is achieved by adding dynamic elements, such as vehicles that pass through a street, people and, of course, resorting to techniques such as virtual tours in which Perspektiva 360 are specialists.
Last but not least
For both neophytes who like professional photography as well as professionals who need this type of service, we hope you have enjoyed reading this short article and we just to remember that architecture photography is something that we only know how to do with passion to create the best of projects.
