Exposure and Lighting For Digital Photographers Only

Chapter 15. APPROACHING ARCHITECTURAL SUBJECTS

Architectural photography is one of those photographic specialties that look fairly simple. How hard can it be to point a camera at a building and click the shutter?

But getting great architectural shots like figure 15-1 takes much more effort than most people realize. You need to have a good eye to find interesting and attractive angles that show off the unique features of each building. And dealing with perspective issues can test a photographer's skill. But most of all, architectural subjects can present some exposure and lighting challenges with demanding outdoor locations and confined spaces and mixed light sources indoors.

Figure 15-1. 

Photographing Architectural Exteriors

Photographing an architectural exterior has a lot in common with shooting a landscape. You can't move the subject to put it into better light, and you can't light the whole structure yourself with normal photographic lighting instruments. Instead, you must wait for the available light to be right, which usually means waiting for the right time of day for the sun to be in position to light the building in an attractive way.

Architectural exteriors can be more demanding than landscapes because the photographer usually has much less leeway in subject selection. When you ...