Most buildings, unless they are slab-sided and featureless towers, have countless different angles, faces, moods, and features to offer the camera. As you move around the
building you are interested in photographing, keep a careful watch for architectural details both above and below your usual eyeline. Look for the flow or rhythm that the building projects and see how you might enhance these characteristics on film, or even suppress them for a more personal interpretation.
Look, too, at how the angle of light strikes the building, and decide when the optimum time of day is in terms of lighting for your photographs. Lenses of varying focal lengths, or different settings on a zoom, can influence the appearance of a building dramatically. Try viewing the subject through the camera with a series of different lenses attached before you start to take any pictures.
Extreme viewpoint, above
The dizzying convergence of vertical lines is produced by an extreme camera angle, near ground level and shooting upward. This approach imparts a sense of exaggerated height.
PHOTO SET-UP: Lloyds of London
A visually complex building such as the Lloyds Building in London provides innumerable photographic opportunities.The overall shape of the structure makes a powerful design statement and the geometric arrangement of steel pipes and girders is striking.
Design of building allows plenty of opportunity for picking out interesting architectural details Light coming from directly behind the photographer casts a strong forward-pointing shadow Hand-held 35mm camera with a 28mm wide-angle lens Glass reflects the blue sky and white clouds – a polarizing filter could be used to cut down these reflections
Usual viewpoint, left
This picture is taken from slightly farther back than the position shown in the photo set-up. There is some convergence of the parallel lines, but the distortion effect is minimal.
V I E W I N G A B U I L D I N G 1 8 7
Implied movement
The camera viewpoint in this shot emphasizes the vertical nature of the architecture and introduces movement in the frame.
Tilting the camera
An interpretative approach has been achieved here by photographing the building from an unusual angle. This effect is created by tilting the camera at an angle to the subject.
Abstract pattern
A striking way to portray this modern building is to emphasize the abstract pattern produced by the gleaming steel pipes.
1 8 8 H OW TO TA K E B E T T E R P I C T U R E S : A R C H I T E C T U R E
USING A WIDE-ANGLE LENS
Wide-angle lenses are essential for many architectural subjects, simply because it is often impossible or impractical to move far enough back to use a longer lens. When outdoors, other structures usually restrict your vantage point, and when shooting interiors, walls present an insurmountable hurdle.
Moderate wide-angle lenses (with a focal length of around 28mm) allow you to tackle most exteriors. A lens with an even wider angle (16–20mm), however, is useful for shooting smaller rooms. Such ultra-wide lenses also seem to suit modern architecture well. Lenses in this focal length range produce a certain amount of distortion that can be inappropriate with some subjects, but suits the forms found in many modern landmarks. By framing the subject symmetrically, the bowed lines created by such lenses seem to become part of the design.
Handheld SLR, above
A wide-angle lens gives enough depth of field without using small apertures, so camera shake is minimized.
Barrel distortion, left
The extreme angle of view turns the straight paving stones into curved lines.
U S I N G A W I D E - A N G L E L E N S 1 8 9
Unusual angles, opposite
Many grand-scale interiors look interesting if you look upward at the ceiling. This may mean lying down on the floor, or resting the camera on the ground as impromptu support.
DIGITAL SOLUTIONS
•
To achieve ultra- wide focal lengths on digital cameras with built-in lenses, use a wide-angle or semi- fisheye attachment.•
Set the white balance manually for interiors to allow for a mixture of light sources.Leading the eye, right
Wide-angle lenses can be used to create a strong feeling of linear perspective. Photographing this staircase from the bottom step creates strong, converging diagonal lines.
Elevated position, above
Shooting from halfway up the structure gives a fairly undistorted view of both atrium floor and roof.
1 9 0 H OW TO TA K E B E T T E R P I C T U R E S : A R C H I T E C T U R E
Sense of space, far right
In most pictures you avoid showing large, empty areas in the foreground. Here, the white floor tiles help to convey the feeling of space, light, and openness of this public building.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f4, 1/60 sec.
Adding curves, right
The use of an ultra-wide- angle lens does not always have to be apparent, but here the distortion has been used to contribute to the composition.The straight, rectangular barriers of the balcony have been transformed into a curved shape that echoes the curves seen in the roof.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/60 sec.
Searching for symmetry, right
One of the most successful techniques to use with all modern architecture is to search out the shapes and patterns used in the building – and then show these in isolation. This frequently produces powerful abstract studies.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/250 sec.
A R C H I T E C T U R E G A L L E RY 1 9 1
Ancient and modern,
above right
It is sometimes possible to contrast different styles of architecture by
photographing old buildings reflected in the mirror-like glass of new ones. Here a slightly different approach has been used. Using an ultra wide-angle lens, the entrance of the new building becomes a frame for the neighboring church.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/250 sec.
The Forum, above
All the pictures in this gallery are taken of, or from, the same building in Norwich, England. It is such a fascinating, well-lit building that wherever you point your camera there is a picture.This view shows the entrance with the church framed in the windows.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/60sec.
Surroundings, right
Avoid always showing buildings in isolation. Often the neighboring landscape and street scene are important to show their impact, as well as their context. By including The Forum small in the frame, it is possible to see how well this ultra-modern structure has been integrated into the historic city around it.
Digital SLR, 11–22mm zoom lens, ISO 200, f8, 1/250 sec.
1 9 2 H OW TO TA K E B E T T E R P I C T U R E S : A R C H I T E C T U R E
The apparent convergence of vertical lines at the top of a picture frame is most noticeable when a camera is tilted up to include the top of a tall building. This is caused because the back of the camera, and the film plane, are no longer parallel with the subject. The base of the structure is closer to the film and seems larger; the top is farther away and appears smaller. This results in the sides of the building appearing to converge at the top. By moving back from the subject, you may be able to get all the building in without tilting the camera, but details might then look small. Using a shift lens is the solution to this problem.
PHOTO SET-UP: Perspective problems
This 17th-century customs house on a quayside in Kings Lynn, England, illustrates the problems of distorted perspective. If shot from close-up with a wide-angle lens, the building would appear to fall away and topple backward.
Sides of the building remain vertical-looking when a shift lens is used 35mm camera
with a 28mm shift lens
If a shift lens is not used, perspective distortion tends to be more obvious toward the tops of buildings
Telephoto lens result, left
Distortion occurs if a shift lens is not used; compare the top of the building with the result of the set-up (right).