Architectural photography is a sub-genre of photography that emphasizes capturing photographs of buildings and architectural structures. Architectural structures are highly valued subjects of photography, due to the community’s appreciation of architecture, and its cultural and historical value. Architectural photographers are not only interested in ancient architectural structures or those that have historical value, as some modern buildings are considered very popular photography subjects because of their great architectural value, beautiful design, and construction.
Architectural photography should not be confused with real estate photography; architectural photography is more artistic and expressive in nature. Real estate agencies hire professional photographers to obtain attractive pictures that can be used for marketing purposes. Even though the subject matter is the same, the approach used by a photographer is usually different depending on if the photoshoot is considered a real estate or architectural shoot.
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Cameras and lenses used in architectural photography
Starting with cameras, architectural photography by its nature focuses on fully stable subjects, so you will not need features aimed at action photographers like fast continuous shooting modes, face-tracking, or auto-focus systems.
Fortunately, all a photographer will need is a good DSLR or mirrorless camera and preferably a full-frame sensor for a wider field of view, a feature that you will really appreciate when taking photos of large buildings.
Regarding lenses, it is a little more complicated, for a start, you will need a set of lenses, not just one. A wide-angle lens is the main lens that you will use to get photos of an entire building or architectural structure because it gives a wider field of view.
Then, there is a telephoto lens, which will be needed to take photos of certain elements of the building, such as the roof, decoration, window frames, doors.. etc. A telephoto lens allows you to reach angles that are almost impossible on a large subject such as buildings.
Also, a prime lens offers sharper images with less distortion, unlike zoom lenses. So it would be convenient to have at least one prime lens in your architectural photography kit.
However, if you want to take your architectural photography to the next level, you should use tilt-shift lenses aka perspective control lenses. Tilt-shift lenses are a little complex lenses often used in architectural photography (although they can also be used in other types of photography. These lenses have two features:
- First one, the tilt feature
This feature allows the lens to be rotated at a certain angle (true physical tilt). This feature allows the photographer to extremely maximize or maximize the depth of field, in a way that other lenses cannot achieve. This feature can be used to create a miniaturization effect.
- Second one, the shift feature
This feature allows the lens to be vertically and horizontally shifted (real physical shift) against the camera sensor, allowing obtaining photos with perfectly paralleled exterior and interior lines without distortion. Without using tilt-shift lenses, the building will appear as if its base is larger than its top.
This feature can also be used to generate panoramic photos by taking several shoots with different lens shifts (horizontal in this case) and merging them together. Panoramic photos taken with tilt-shift lenses are often better in quality than photos taken by moving the camera itself.
Photo-editing software (such as Adobe Photoshop) can be used to play with perspective control to add the same effect as using a tilt-shift lens. This actually gives excellent results, but you will crop away some pixels, therefore, it is not the ideal solution if you want to the highest possible photo quality.
Top architectural photography tips
Architectural photography challenges may seem uncomplicated at first glance. But when you try to practice shooting buildings and architectural structures, you will find that it is not as easy as it sounds; there are challenges in all types of photography; the challenges of architectural photography are just different. Here are a few tips to make it easier for you:
- Read about your subject and get to know it
Knowing some information -even some basic ones- about the subject will give you a special relationship with it, and will help you in choosing angles that you will start working with later. Fortunately, many famous buildings and architectural structures are well documented, and it is easy to obtain a lot of information about them from multiple sources. It is also a good idea to walk around the subject and try to enter it if it is allowed. All of this will help you decide the best way to shoot it.
- Having crowds around isn’t always a bad thing!
Some photographers may find that the presence of crowds in a photo of a building or a structure is something that reduces its value, however, try to think about this as: architecture is only found to make beautiful buildings and structures for people to use, therefore, the relationship between people and buildings is a real relationship, the presence of this relationship in the photo is totally natural. In fact, you can take advantage of the presence of crowds around the subject in a way that adds more value to your photo.
However, if you want to focus on the building itself, and do not want any people to appear in your photo, a good solution is to take a series of shots without moving your camera (using a tripod of course), then use a photo editing software to layer all of the shots and erase the people from each layer, that would be much easier than annoying people by trying to keep them away from your frame!
- Try Shooting at various times, it will give you completely different photos
The effect of the alternation of day and night, and even the different angles of the sun during daylight hours on large buildings and structures, is huge, shooting at various times of the day will give you the opportunity to get unique photos if you choose the right time to take it.
- Look at the available photos first and find your own perspective
There is a high probability of having previously photographed photos of the subject that you try to shoot; it is very useful to look at those photos, to know their strengths and weaknesses, to know any possible ways to improve them, and the most important, to try to find your own perspective of the subject.
Consider, for example, this photo by Polish photographer Lucas Albuquerque from under the Eiffel Tower; it has a so rare perspective that may make many peoplemost structures not recognize the tower, even though it is one of the most famous structures in the world. This image establishes an indescribable feeling of the magnitude of the tower, the complexity and beauty in its design, and shows the steel beams used in its structure. A photo like this would not have been made public if the photographer had only limited imagination and stuck to the typical photos that most photographers take of the tower.
Final note: When you prepare to take a photo of an architectural structure or building, especially a famous one, make sure that you are not violating copyright law. The copyright laws for structures and buildings are vary according to the jurisdiction in which they are located, the age of the structure or building, and its architectural nature.
For example, French copyright law prohibits the publication of night photos of the Eiffel Tower, after the famous lighting engineer Pierre Bideau installed the current lighting of the tower in 1985, which is considered an art work protected by copyright laws. This is despite the fact that the copyright of Eiffel Tower itself entered the public domain in 1993, 70 years after the death of Gustave Eiffel, the architect who held the copyright for the tower.
Also, make sure that you are not violating the laws prohibiting photographing sensitive facilities, such as government buildings, and military units, especially if you are doing so in an Arab country or one of the countries that strictly enforce those laws.
