Architectural Photography

Architectural photography might seem boring at first.  Straight lines, walls, buildings, metal, and many other things you see in buildings these days.  However, if the photographer uses design techniques like the use of line, perspective, and vanishing points, among many other things in an interesting way, the composition of the photos can become intriguing and mysterious.  That's my take on it.  You personally may find a picture has a happy tone, whereas someone else sees it as mysterious and dark.  It all depends on each persons unique opinion and take on things.

I think because the composition of architectural photography is mostly made up of harsh lines and geometric shapes the colour or lack there of is very important in how the end product looks. 

*HERE* you can see a picture of two buildings in colour.  *HERE* you can see a similar picture of (I'm pretty sure) the same two buildings in monochrome.  The first coloured photograph seems more lively and exciting to me.  The second monochrome photograph, while still very good, seems to me to be more blah and less exciting compared to the first.  However, in many cases monochrome can make a photograph look better and more intriguing, in this case it worked the opposite.  For example, sometimes there are pictures with so much colour it's overwhelming, and monochrome simples the focus points and cleans it up.  However, a lot of colour is not always a bad thing because there are pictures out there with every colour of the rainbow and they look fantastic. 

I think that not only does the composition play a key role in how great a picture is, but the actual subject matter does to.  Although, don't take that as me saying that you can't photograph a boring piece of wood and not have it turn out great.  Because you can.  It's the role of subject matter and composition and how you portray your idea through your image.

So I'm pretty much saying that you can do anything in photographs.  You just have to think about it as a piece on it's own, and bend the 'rules' to make it look its very own personal best.  Because as we know, not all rules work for everyone.  I think knowing and learning how to take great pictures comes from experience.  I'm just guessing here, but I'd say that the best photographers around the world love what they do.  They come up with new ideas for shoots because they love it and it's fun for them.  They know when to use what and how to think out of the box.  I'd say they've practiced endlessly and gained know how that you can't learn from a book.   

Below is a list of links (1-11) that take you to some of my favourite architectural photography examples:

1

 2 

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

&

11

 

Photographer: Alisdair Miller