Architectural Photographer | Architectural Photography

Dime Building to Chrysler House

Curt Clayton — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:20:02 GMT

This past February I was asked to photograph one of the newest additions to the “Dan Gilbert Collection”; the Dime Building. Once again Mr. Gilbert had taken a neglected building and transformed it. With the Dime Building he’s gone a step further and renamed it. It’s now Chrysler House and Chrysler employees will occupy the 33,000 square feet in the building.

It’s awesome to have Chrysler in Detroit!

Architectural photography at the Detroit Port Authority

Curt Clayton — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 21:08:37 GMT

I was hired by Hamilton-Anderson Architects to photograph the new Detroit Port Authority building in downtown Detroit. This beautiful new facility is on the Detroit River just west of the Renaissance Center. The goals of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority include promoting Detroit as a freight transportation and distribution hub for the U.S. Midwest and southwestern Ontario and also promoting the Great Lakes as a tourist cruise destination.

As with any architectural photography project, weather and sun position are extremely important. The metal clad exterior looks great in hard sunlight but I was hoping to also do a twilight exterior photograph of the building. This would have required someone from the Port Authority to come in after hours and turn on the interior lights for us, something we were not able to convince the Port Authority to do this. It would have been a beautiful shot!

Sunrise on the Detroit River

Curt Clayton — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:55:13 GMT

While photographing the Detroit River one morning, a ship loaded with sand came along to unload on the Windsor side of the river.

As I watched, the eastern horizon began to glow red. The color spread until the entire sky glowed red for about 90 seconds and then faded back to blue.

At mid-day this would hardly be worth photographing but the beautiful light produced at sunrise turned this rather mundane view into something very nice.

BTW, the colors in these photos have not been enhanced. Sometimes you just can’t improve on the real thing.

The ship turns directly toward the shore with it's flood lights on.

The ship then turned 90 degrees and began moving sideways toward the shore on the right.

An atypical architectural photography project

Curt Clayton — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:14:33 GMT

I was hired by an architure/engineering firm to produce photographs for their marketing material. One of the projects on the list was the Point Pelee boardwalk.

Point Pelee National Park is a 4.5 mile long peninsula that juts into Lake Erie and is the southernmost point of mainland Canada. Point Pelee is a unique ecosystem of Carolinian Forest and marshland. My client recently redesigned the boardwalk, which extends out into the ecologically important marsh.

As an architectural photographer I am usually photographing the interiors and/or exteriors of new or renovated buildings. A project like this is a wonderful change of pace, and the awesome weather on the morning of the photo shoot made the project even more enjoyable.

Photography at the Tucson Medical Center

Curt Clayton — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 02:10:09 GMT

When planning the architectural photography of the new pediatric wing at the Tucson Medical Center we were faced with a couple of typical challenges, a tight schedule and a tight budget. The hospital would be moving staff into the new wing as soon as construction was completed, so I would be doing the interior photography while the contractors were completing their work. I would have one day, from 6:00am until 11:00pm to complete the interior and exterior photography.

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

Curt Clayton — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:54:49 GMT

Here is my updated Top Ten List of the very best architectural photography and interior photography books available for 2012. This list is not in order of importance; that will depend largely on the photographer’s situation and skill level, yet each of these books belongs in every serious architectural photographers library.

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
A great book!

- Photographing Architecture: Lighting, Composition, Postproduction and Marketing Techniques by John Siskin
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
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.

- The HDR Handbook: Unlocking the Pros Hottest Post-Processing Techniques by Rafael Concepcion
Realistic looking HDR techniques (not cartoonish, surreal looking images) can greatly enhance an architectural photographers arsenal of techniques. This book will show you how.

- Photoshop Compositing Secrets: Unlocking the Key to Perfect Selections & Amazing Photoshop Effects for Totally Realistic Composites by Matt Kloskowski
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.

-A Constructed View: The Architectural Photography of Julius Shulman by Joseph Rosa, Julius Shulman and Esther McCoy
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

Curt Clayton — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 19:46:52 GMT

Architectural photographers are often asked to capture photographs from an elevated vantage point. Planes, helicopters, scissor lifts, boom lifts and even the roof of an adjacent building can all be used to capture such images.

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.

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Eastern Market Shed 3

Curt Clayton — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 16:35:53 GMT

Since 1891 Eastern Market has been the place for Detroiter’s to buy fresh produce, meat and flowers. The renovation of Shed 3 is phase 1 of the revitalization of this historic Detroit marketplace. On any Saturday as many as 40,000 people shop at Eastern Market. Flower Day (held in May) is one of the largest flower shows in the US attracting more than 150,000 people.

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

Curt Clayton — Fri, 20 May 2011 22:22:00 GMT

This interior photograph was done as an experiment in “one light" interior photography. I like the rich colors and textures of this room and decided to experiment.

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

Curt Clayton — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:45:00 GMT

After I photographed his Bridge House in 2009, architect Wil Armster asked me to come to Guilford, CT and photograph two houses that he had recently completed for his daughters, Heidi and Nicola.

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

Curt Clayton — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:35:00 GMT

The second Woodward Tribute is located in Pontiac, Michigan near the north end of Woodward Avenue. When the installation was finished in the late summer of 2010, the landscaping surrounding the tower was bare dirt and burnt grass. Because of the lack of funds for landscaping, we weren’t sure if waiting until spring of 2011 would improve the situation.

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

Curt Clayton — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 14:14:00 GMT

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.

Woodward Ave. & Cambourne, Ferndale, MI

Exterior Photography at Mercedes Benz of Chicago

Curt Clayton — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 15:28:00 GMT

The assignment was to produce exterior photography of the new Mercedes Benz of Chicago automobile dealership for the manufacturer of the steel siding used on the building.

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.

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Interior photography at Quicken Loans

Curt Clayton — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:00:00 GMT

Most people would expect the offices of a mortgage company to be in that very conservative “financial industry” style. You know the look; gray offices, dark wood desks & employees in dark business suits.

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.

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Architectural photography at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport

Curt Clayton — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:43:00 GMT

In 1999 Kent County international Airport was renamed in honor of Grand Rapids native son and former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.

The Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR) recently underwent a major face lift with the addition of a new parking structure with enclosed walkways to the terminal building and a beautiful new canopy that sweeps across the area between the parking structure and the terminal building, covering the entire pick-up and drop-off areas.

I was hired by the architects to photograph the project. There were a few interior photographs interior photographs on the shot list but the majority of the required images were exterior photographs exterior photographs.

The architect flew in from Texas for the shoot. We met him at the information desk at 10:00am and did a quick walk-through of the facility before beginning the photography.

We began the architectural photography architectural photography in the late morning with the sun shining through the canopy and striking the “Welcome Wall”. I did a variety of exterior photographs throughout the day, finishing the exterior photography well after sunset. At 11:00pm traffic had slowed so we did a couple of interior photographs of the nearly empty terminal building before the next plane arrived and the building filled with people. By midnight we were finished.

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Twilight photo shot 20 minutes after sunset

One of the first shots of the day. The sunlight through the canopy was very cyan.

I used six florescent fixtures with cool white tubes for fill.

Location scouting for architectural photography

Curt Clayton — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:03:00 GMT

Because there are so many variables with an architectural photography project, whenever possible I try to do a walk-through (scouting trip) prior to photography. Whether I’ll be producing interior photography , exterior photography or both, a pre-shoot walk-through is always helpful, especially if my client can accompany me. This gives us the opportunity to walk the project, study the building and see things as they really are, which is not always as the architect intended. If something is not finished or is installed incorrectly, it’s much better to find out during the walk-through than to be unpleasantly surprised on shoot day.

While doing our walk-through prior to the interior photography of a soon-to-be finished project, my client and I were startled to find a body on the floor in a small office of an otherwise empty building. On closer inspection we realized that a painter was sleeping on the floor. Apparently he had come in very early to finish up a few things on the punch list and was just taking a short nap.

This photo was not used in the architect’s AIA awards submittal!

Digital Black and White Infrared Photography

Curt Clayton — Mon, 31 May 2010 19:48:00 GMT

What do you shoot for fun? Forget your portfolio, your website, your school assignment or that new marketing piece that you’re working on. I’m talking about shooting just for fun, just to make images that you think are really cool. Don’t worry if anyone else likes the images. What would you shoot if you won the Super Big Ass Freaking Lottery and didn’t have to worry about money ever again? I would shoot black & white infrared.

I was probably 10 years old when I first saw black & white infrared images and I was blown away! And while infrared photography has very limited commercial use, I have always had a couple of black & white infrared images in my portfolio and on my website. They just look so cool!

In the “days of film” I would always keep a few film holders in the refrigerator loaded with Kodak High Speed Infrared film. I dismantled my black & white darkroom shortly after Kodak announced that they were discontinuing infrared film in both 35mm and sheet film.

Digital photography makes it easier than ever to produce really nice IR images. Just for fun, I removed the low-pass filter from a D70 and shot a few test images. This is the first shot with my newly modified camera. I’ve always preferred the look of images shot with a dark red filter over images shot with an opaque IR filter. For this image I used a red #91 B+W filter over the nikkor lens.

How about an entire portfolio of architectural photography done exclusively in black & white infrared? That would be fun!

*Note that removing the low-pass filter will void the warranty on your camera!

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architectural photography

Aerial Photography

Curt Clayton — Sat, 08 May 2010 20:37:00 GMT

The client who needs architectural photography of his/her project will often want aerial photography done as well. Cityscapes, industrial and commercial buildings, golf courses and resorts; these are just a few of the project types that may require aerial photography.

Unless you are terrified of flying, there is no reason that you should not offer aerial photography service to your clients.

When planning your aerial photo shoot you’ll need to make the decision between a fixed wing aircraft (plane) and a rotary wing aircraft (helicopter). Your budget may well make this decision for you since planes are much less expensive to rent than helicopters. My favorite plane for aerial photography is the Cessna 172. In southwestern Ontario and the U.S. Midwest I usually pay in the area of $150 per hour for the plane and pilot. The 172 has it’s wing over top of the cabin (a necessity!) and with the window fully opened (do not try shooting through the glass!) you have a fairly unobstructed view for shooting.

Since you will not get good photos shooting through glass, be sure that the window will open all of the way before you leave the ground. The Cessna has a bracket on the window that allows it to open only a couple of inches. Removing a small screw from the bracket will allow the window to open all the way, but this must be done before take-off. Be aware that the wing, wing strut and landing gear can all end up in the photo when using very wide lenses. Even though a plane cannot legally fly as low as a helicopter, with an experienced pilot this is a very good and safe way of shooting aerial photographs.

I love helicopters but I’m not a fan of small 2-seat helicopters for aerial photography. These small machines are at their maximum capacity with 2 people on board and flying at maximum capacity leaves very little room for error. The larger 4-seat helicopters such as the Bell Jet Ranger or Robinson R44 are at approximately half capacity with two people on board. This provides surplus power making it much easier for your pilot to recover from problems or errors.

I usually have to pay at least $1200 per hour for one of these machines with pilot, but when shooting from the back seat of an R44 (or Jet Ranger) with the door removed and a good, experienced pilot at the controls, I can produce far more and better photos in much less time than is possible from a plane.

I recently did a two-hour shoot over the Detroit River from an R44. We had a long shot list of photos that needed to be done in full sun between 8:30am and 10:30am. To attempt this shoot from a plane would have required several days of morning photo-flights.

I like to bring two DSLR camera bodies; one with a super wide zoom and the other with a mid-range zoom. I use a polarizer on the mid-range zoom, a skylight filter on the super-wide and camera straps on both bodies. I almost never use long lenses when shooting from the air as movement and vibration are magnified by their use. Using two camera bodies avoids the possibility of dropping something in (or from) the aircraft while changing lenses. And airtime is expensive! You need to spend your time shooting, not changing lenses and digging through a camera bag.

There is a lot of planning that needs to go into an aerial photo-shoot; aircraft and pilot availability, site orientation relative to the sun, weather conditions and your equipment. Be sure to bring everything that you will need, but nothing more.

Don’t forget to check on conditions at the site you’ll be shooting. Make sure that the property is cleaned up. Do you want parking lots empty or filled with cars? Is there equipment or machinery on the property that should not be there? Any of these could cause an expensive re-shoot.

If you have properly planned your photo-flight you should have a good time and come back with some great photographs. For me personally, few things are as much fun as hanging out of a helicopter taking photographs on a beautiful morning.

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Detroit River

Bob-Lo Island

Marketing architectural photography

Curt Clayton — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:24:00 GMT

I had a meeting recently with the marketing director of an architectural firm whose niche is educational facilities. For several decades this firm has specialized in schools, particularly K through 12. While they do occasionally do commercial and residential projects, this firm is well known for their work in the educational field.

Once the main business of our meeting had concluded the conversation turned to photography in general. We discussed the “old days” of film, Polaroid’s and C prints. The marketing director then handed me a large envelope containing several 8.5” x 11” ink jet prints that had been dropped off as samples by an aspiring architectural photographer. Each print had a single image surrounded by a large white border that contained the photographers name and contact information.

The overall design and look of the prints was very nice. Unfortunately for our young photographer, these prints will not be earning him any commissions from this architecture firm.

The photographs were of empty, crumbling industrial buildings. The extremely oversaturated colors and unnatural tones screamed HDR and looked like images from a photography students FLICKR page. Photomatix, anyone?

He may as well have shown a portfolio of food photographs! The first rule of marketing is to know your market. This architectural firm specializes is very clean, bright, modern educational facilities. Their advertising and marketing is directed toward and reflects their specialization. When hiring architects and interior designers, they look for people with education experience.

The samples left by our aspiring architectural photographer showed the marketing director that he did not understand her firm, her firm’s clients or their architectural photography needs. Before sending samples or showing a portfolio, it is imperative that an architectural photographer architectural photographer understands the needs of the potential client. Architectural Record and Architectural Digest contain much better samples of the type of work required by the majority of commercial architects and interior designers.

There is a place for very artsy, edgy photography, but it will not earn you many commissions from architectural firms.

An unusual architectural photography project

Curt Clayton — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 23:57:00 GMT

A recent architectural photography project had me shooting something a little out of the ordinary.

This building is a switching station for a cellular phone company and will be filled with computers, batteries, power systems and other state-of-the-art equipment.

My client wanted interior photography of the space before the cellular service equipment was installed. They also wanted photographs of the very specialized mechanical work they had done, much of which was in the ceiling. The photos below show some of the sheet metal work and support hardware that will help provide electrical and communications wiring/cabling and also temperature and humidity controlled air.

Architectural photographers often use ladders, but this is the first time that I have used a 12’ step ladder to take photographs in a ceiling. Once the tripod was positioned on the suspended steel girders, I did a custom white balance for the florescent lighting and then did a bracketed set of exposures to capture highlight and shadow detail. The final images were produced by layer masking in Photoshop. This was not a typical interior photography shoot, but it was an interesting one. http://www.claytonstudio.com Follow me on Twitter