Commercial Architectural Photography
I have been commissioned to photograph architecture for many reasons over my career. Often as a component of a broader brief that includes all of the key facets of a business. Photography work for restaurants, wineries, manufacturers or retailers may include architectural photos which can be atmospheric and reasonably creative.
A lot of my photographic work with buildings has been for architects, builders and interior designers, primarily in either in Adelaide, the Adelaide hills and beaches and I have done a number of shoots in Hobart. They use the work for advertising and also for architectural awards submissions. These images tend to be technically orientated. It may appear a dry subject initially but it’s full of complexity and challenges. I’ll discuss some of the considerations for this documentary style of photography.
By its nature, a building is an amalgam of very deliberate choices, where the only thing really left to chance is the furnishings. The architect and the interior designers are making clear statements of aesthetics, form and function. The creative desires of the photographer are secondary to communicating the composition of the architecture itself. It is similar to copying artwork, the primary objective is to give an accurate rendering of the final piece. Crisp accurate detail is important.
The form of the structure, the colour pallet, the textures of material and the interplay of light within the spaces are the primary elements requiring documentation. There is still a large amount of input required by the photographer, mainly around composition but there are stronger parameters here than in many other styles of work.
Fino Restaurant in the Barossa Valley
The key images aim to tell the story of the completed building. What it is, where it is, what was it made from, and what is it like to occupy? Given that buildings are so multifaceted, this story is told over a body of images. External photography should aim to show the building within the area it inhabits, including landscape architecture and the natural environment. If the building is site specific some of the photographs should illustrate context and scale whilst showing the way the building ties in with its location.
Dowie Doole Cellar Door
The architectural choices and interior design will create an intended mood within the rooms. The interior photography should work to show scale, functionality and light within the space. It’s documentation, but the photography should always try and create a sense of the feeling within the rooms, how the external light influences the interior or the snugness or spaciousness of the rooms.
The colour palette of materials needs to be represented as accurately as possible, so colour correction of lighting is often important. One of the difficulties is in mixed lighting situations as different lighting types have different colour casts.
Most architectural photography is done with very wide-angle lenses which have inherent distortion. The physical height and alignment of the camera within the space will heavily influence the distortion in the final image. I will do perspective correction in post-production, I’ll realign the principal vertical elements within the frame.
A key part of the storytelling in a group of images is “joining images”, these images capture one space but allude to an adjoining space. These images provide context and together give an idea of how the areas fit together.
Coglin Street interior
Coglin Street Exterior
One of the strongest ways to capture external images of buildings is after sunset. If the building has external lighting or can be adequately lit it could lend itself to dusk photography. This style of shooting is very atmospheric and shows off the way the building has been lit.
Tusmore Property Photographed for Scholz Vinall Design
The technicalities of balancing external and internal lighting, adequately conveying the design language of the designers, in conjunction with the sheer scale of some buildings, combine to make this challenging and interesting work.