Photography at the Tucson Medical Center
I flew into Tucson the day before the shoot so that I could do a walk-through of the new wing and familiarize myself with the project. The front of the building faces south and is well lit at night, so I decided to begin the next day by shooting at sunrise.
On shoot day I arrived an hour before sunrise to find an SUV parked on the sidewalk at the front entrance. It turned out that a film crew (along with models and stylists) would be shooting a couple of TV commercials in the new wing. Since the hospital had hired the film crew and I was shooting for the architects, I was going to have to work around the film crew.
The guys were nice enough to move the SUV so that I could get the sunrise photographs and I spent the rest of the day trying to get my shots without getting in their way. In addition to having to work around the film crew, at 8:00am a construction crew began tearing up the driveway right in front of the main entrance. This would really interfere with the daylight exterior photos!
The film crew wrapped at 4:30 and by 5:00pm the construction crew had left, but by that time the sun had swing too far to the west to get the sunlit exteriors that I wanted. But with both crews gone I was able to make good progress on the shot list. I did a few exteriors as the sun set and by 11:00pm I had the last interior photograph finished. Seventeen hours after I started, I was finished. A typical day shooting architecture! http://www.claytonstudio.com Follow Me on Twitter
Architectural Photography Books Top Ten List
Not all of these books are “how to” or photography technique books. As important as technique is, more important is the way in which a photographer approaches and views his subject.
For that reason A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman is on this list. Understanding how this master of architectural photography worked and approached his subject can have a tremendous impact on the work and career of an aspiring architectural photographer.
Also, the last book on the list is not an “architectural photography” book, but it is a book that no professional architectural photographer should be without. Best Business Practices for Photographers is about the business of photography and the practices that will allow one to build a successful career in photography. This book should be mandatory in all photography curricula!
And so, without further ado, here is today’s Top Ten List:
-Architectural Photography: Composition, Capture and Digital Image Processing by Adrian Schulz
This is a must read book!
-Architectural Photography: Professional Techniques for Shooting Interior and Exterior Spaces by Norman McGrath
Norman McGrath’s first book, “Photographing Buildings Inside and Out”(published in 1987) was a classic and one of the best books ever published on the subject of architectural photography. This latest book features discussion on the use of digital cameras and digital post-production techniques in professional architectural photography. The section “Masters of Style” features five top architectural photographers (including the late Julius Shulman) with accompanying photographs and a discussion of the working methods of each photographer. I would recommend this book even if you have already read “Photographing Buildings Inside and Out” and if you do not have McGrath’s first book, this is a must read!
- Architectural Photography Inside and Out by Jim Lowe - Photographing Architecture: Lighting, Composition, Postproduction and Marketing Techniques by John Siskin
A great book!
This is an excellent book that just came out in December 2011.
- Architectural Photography The Digital Way by Gerry Kopelow
Another excellent book by Gerry Kopelow.
- Lighting for Interiors by John Freeman - The HDR Handbook: Unlocking the Pros Hottest Post-Processing Techniques by Rafael Concepcion - Photoshop Compositing Secrets: Unlocking the Key to Perfect Selections & Amazing Photoshop Effects for Totally Realistic Composites by Matt Kloskowski
John Freeman presents the work of some of the U.K.s finest interiors photographers in this excellent book.The variety of photographs and the varied techniques used by the 14 photographers whose work is presented in this book makes this an invaluable resource for any architectural/interior photographer. All of the images were shot on film and rely 100% on lighting and photographic shills. A diagram and a description of the photo and set-up accompany each photograph. High quality reproduction and printing by Switzerland based RotoVision. My #1 choice for an interiors photography book.
Realistic looking HDR techniques (not cartoonish, surreal looking images) can greatly enhance an architectural photographers arsenal of techniques. This book will show you how.
In our new digital world architectural photographers must be skilled in three areas; composition, lighting and Photoshop. This book will help any photographer improve their Photoshop skills.
The inspiring work of a master architectural photographer.
-Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition by John Harrington
This is a must have, must read book for any professional or aspiring professional photographer! If followed, the business practices recommended in this book will help any photographer achieve greater professional and financial success. In these days of $1.50 royalty free images, photography is becoming a commodity. If you allow your work to become a commodity than your only leverage in the marketplace will be lower pricing. If that happens you'll need to make sure that mom & dad won't mind you living in their basement for the next couple of decades. Please follow John Harrington's advise!
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One Haworth Center green roof
When planning the photography at One Haworth Center, one of the priority photographs was an elevated view of the building that would show the new green roof as well as the glass curtain wall.
Shooting from a helicopter would give us the most flexibility in terms of vantage point but would be costly and tricky to schedule due to the rapidly changing weather that we were facing. Turner Construction had a 60-foot boom lift on site and offered its use for the shoot.
On the second day of our 3-day shoot we contacted the boom lift operator and asked him to move the lift into position for the shot. Within 15 minutes he had me over 50 feet in the air and I was able to get a shot that showed both the green roof and the glass curtain wall of the LEED-NC Gold certified building.
Eastern Market Shed 3
I was hired by Turner Construction to photograph the completed project which was a joint venture with Turner Construction and KEO Construction. The architect was Kraemer Design Group. http://www.claytonstudio.com
Truck loads of produce arrive well before sunrise.
Saturday Market Day!
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One light lighting test
In the old days (4x5 sheet film), small rooms such as this were very tricky to light. Achieving good interior lighting without any stands, lights or grip equipment in the shot could take hours!
For this test I put the camera on a trip, set the aperture to f11.5 and use radio controlled triggers to fire the camera and single strobe for the multiple captures used for this image. For many of the captures, I was in the scene holding the flash. The multiple captures were then assembled using Photoshop layers and masks. Most of the layers were set to “Lighten” mode. When the time spent making captures is added to the time spent assembling the and fine-tuning the final image in Photoshop, it is often no less time than in the “old days” using sheet film. The big advantages now are more control over the final image and much less time required at the location. When an interior photographer can produce excellent images without tying up a space for days, clients love that!
Wil Armster houses
Nicola’s house is a modest size house that perfectly fits the lifestyle of her and her husband.
Heidi’s house is a much larger house built on a wooded lot and provides plenty of space for the young family. 
When your father is Wil Armster, you’re not going to live in a three bedroom brick ranch!
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Woodward Tribute, Pontiac
Colori & Vanden-Eynden wanted to submit the project for an awards show with a deadline in late January 2011 so we decided to go ahead and photograph the tower after a fresh snowfall. Since the Detroit area received a near record snowfall during the 2010/2011 winter, scheduling the photography was easy. Short winter days also made the photography a little easier. Producing sunlit and twilight photographs in the summer can result in some very long days! The cold was a significant challenge on the day that I chose to shoot. Even in the mid-day sun the high reached only 18 degrees (F). In the evening the temperature dropped to near single digits. Because of the lack of dexterity with mittens, I use gloves with a Thinsulate lining. They are fairly thin and yet do a pretty good job of keeping my fingers warm. It’s really nice to be able to use the camera controls without having to remove my gloves.
As with the first Woodward Tribute, I needed to illuminate the base of the tower with portable flash for the night shots. Cold temperatures will cause battery powered flash units to recycle slower than normal so I made sure that the battery pack had a full charge and kept it warm in the car until ready to use. The finished twilight photos are composites of 10+ different images; sky, snow covered ground, illuminated tower, flash illuminated base and several captures of traffic.
While photos such as these are not difficult to produce, they do require some planning and the right equipment. A solid tripod and a radio transmitter to trigger the camera from a distance were invaluable! http://www.claytonstudio.com Follow me on Twitter
Photography of the Woodward Tribute
Architectural photography is often described as photography of the built environment. Signage certainly fits into this category. Calori & Vanden-Eynden, one of the worlds leading firms in the field of signage design, asked me to photograph their newly installed Woodward Tribute in the fall of 2008.
The 30 foot tall solar powered glass tower is internally illuminated by LEDs. The controls and storage battery are housed in the concrete base. While CV&E needed both daylight and night photographs, we knew that the hero shots would be the twilight photos.
The concrete base of the Tribute is not lit at night, so to prevent the base from going too dark I used a wireless trigger to release the shutter and fired flash units by hand during the long (up to 1 minute) exposures.
The plan is to install 26 tributes, each one mile apart, along the length of Woodward Avenue from downtown Detroit to Pontiac. The economic train wreck of 2009/2010 has slowed things down but a second Tribute is being installed at the north end of Woodward Avenue in Pontiac.
Exterior Photography at Mercedes Benz of Chicago
My client requested sunlit photographs of all sides of the building and twilight photography twilight photography of the front. The photos are to be used on their website and in product brochures. Because this building faces south, I knew that we could produce nice photos at both sunrise and sunset. This would mean a long shoot day, but that’s what we get paid for!
We arrived in Chicago the afternoon before shoot day to scout the location and plan the next day’s work. On shoot day we arrived before sunrise to begin the sunrise photographs. We worked throughout the day wrapped up shortly before 10:00PM.
The dealership is a former parking garage that has been brilliantly transformed into a state-of-the art auto dealership by the team of Gensler (architects) and Skender Construction. The 80,000 square foot dealership has separate floors for new cars, used cars and vehicle service. Interior elevators transport cars and customers.
The dealership is located on a very busy road next to a freeway. The traffic and dense urban setting did present a few challenges but our client seemed very pleased with the resulting images.
Interior photography at Quicken Loans
Apparently the people at Quicken Loans have not read “ The Financial Services Industry Interior Design Guide”.
Quicken Loans Detroit offices in the Compuware Building bare little resemblance to the typical mortgage company, which made my job of interior photography much more fun!
Because of the tight deadline for the interior photography, my assistant and I had to begin shooting while the construction crews were still at work. This did make things a little more complicated, but with help from the marketing director and his assistant, we were able to get all of the necessary shots completed in one day.
To add color and interest to the interior, a local graffiti artist was hired to add graphics to some of the exposed concrete floor areas. We were told that all of the employees in the mailroom are all members of local rock bands (lots of tattoos and piercings).
We were able to produce some of the images using only available light, then layer masking in post to control contrast. Strobes bounced into white umbrellas were used when the available light alone would not give us the results that we needed.
Overall; a fun and very colorful architectural photography project!
Twilight photograph of the Compuware Building, home of Quicken Loans.
