Architecture and glass help and advice.

bass_junkie83

bass_junkie83

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Dave
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I work for a structural engineering consultancy and we specialise mainly in glass structures or steel structures with a lot of glass incorporated in it. The boss has decided it is time to give our website an overhaul and also spruce up the office so has asked me to spend a couple of days photographing some of our past work.

This will pretty much all be based around central london. I have a couple of days of my choosing so i have a fighting chance of some decent light.

From some of the reading i have done on here already i now not to frame the building too tightly so there is scope to adjust the images later and get the verticles right.

The equipment i have is a canon 400D, a sigma 18-50 f2.8, a 50mm f1.8 and a 70-200 (don't see that being too usefull).
I also have a nice stable tripod, a circular polarising filter for the sigma and a not so glamarous assistant.
Is it worth taking a laptop too so i can check over the images before moving on to the next building?

The shots will be used mainly for the website, though some will be used for largish prints and/or canvases.

These are a couple i took nearly a year ago now back when all i had was a kit lens and zero experience. But it gives a good idea of the sort of structures i will be photographing.

Image00002.jpg

Image00004.jpg


So if anyone has any advice that will help me out, technique, is the kit i have suitable, is there anything else i could do with etc that would all be a great help.

Also we want some images of our work from inside Wembly stadium. My boss suggested taking a tour to get in, but i have reccomended he send them a letter requesting permision for photos to be taken as they will be used on a website. Hopefully they won't say no seen as we did the design, but if anyone has experience of formally requesting permission and could advise the best way to go about getting it that would be handy too.

Thanks all.
 
OK ,no replys.........I have not done this sort of shot,but I think you will need to plan the shoot ,
The buildings you are going to shoot

The way they face,north,east, south ,west.

Shooting east facing in the morning west in the evening etc.

Maybe shoot weekends in City's for less crowds.

Get a pass from police in area you are shooting.(might save a lot of bother.)


:shrug:
 
There's a couple of decent architectural photography books around which may be of help if you can get hold of one before you head out. Try "Architectural Photography" by Jim Lowe.
 
Are some of these buildings lit up at night? Glass can really look good when the light source is either from behind the glass (internal to the building) or is strongly reflecting the sky (so long as the sky is interesting).

I would look at the possibility of a night shot. A longish exposure (3 to 20 seconds) from a tripod can be very effective as any passers by are blurred (to the point of transparency) as is any traffic. You may need to use a ND filter to get the exposure you want.

A polarising filter is useful for minimising reflections but it then becomes a juggling act of the composition of the building in the frame, your position relative to the building, the buildings position relative to the sun direction and your position relative to the sun as well as the position of the polarising filter to the sun. You can also use your polarising filter as a variable ND filter (approx 1 to 2 stops).

You could also look at late evening or early morning and layer a shot exposed for the building with a shot exposed for the sky. The use of a tripod is essential for this one.

Look for angles which are not necessarily obvious. Laying on your back up close to the building and shooting up the side. Look for opportinities to get the building as a reflection in something else.

Be creative :)

Getting permission to shoot installations provided by your company is usually straight forward. Don't do the tour bit and try to get them on the sly. One phone call is usually all I have needed in past to secure access for work I have done for architects. One phone call was all it took to get permission to take a band onto the roof at Walthamstow Dogs :) and there only connection was that the band was from Walthamstow.

I have not shot at Wembley (had the chance last year for a football match but it clashed with another job) but I understand that they are very protective of their rights. I doubt you will have a problem as your shot is not event related but building related. Phone them and find out or contact the architect who commissioned you and ask him/her to arrange access.

Hope this helps
 
Early mornings are a good idea, less people and less vehicles around. Longer evenings at the moment too so could try and get subjects in the sunset light too.

Obviously the outside of the building is important so getting the whole structure in is a must. But dont forget the details either. Unique trim, close up angles that sort of thing. I also believe that as much attention is given to the way the the building looks from the inside out these days. So maybe getting inside and showing the interior design too.

So you may need to plan in advance. You obviously have project managers in your company. Try and find out who was the PM for each specific building that you want to shoot and see if they have a contact name. You could get special access out of hours. If you don't ask then you don't get.

FYI, the Wembley tour is good, but a bit fast and lots of people. So getting some decent shots for this sort of project may be difficult. Again maybe see if someone you company has a contact.

It sounds like an interesting project, and if you pull it off it will obviously boost your brownie points.
 
18-50 lens is perfect, and I like the idea of night shots, or even better with a twilight dark blue fading to black. Polarising filter will be very good for skies, and killing reflections, although reflections might also be good.

You could also use a grad to dramatise the sky, but this can be tricky with buildings, as they will be also be graduated when they cross the sky line. So bone up on HRD technique in post processing.

The best way to get rid of people and cars is with multiple exposures in camera, but I don't think you can do that with your Canon 400D - eg instead of one image at 1/100sec, shoot ten, one on top of the other, over a short period at 1/1000sec each. You can't replicate this effect in post processing, but you should be able to get a similar effect with a very long exposure using a strong netutral density filter, like the B+W 10 stop jobbie. These seem to be hard to get hold of these days but I notice Kerso is selling them (cheap) - he has posted something in the Wanted section to that effect. If you get a slight colour cast as is often the case with ND filters, correct it in post processing. If you use an ND filter, be sure to cover the camera eyepiece during the exposure to prevent light leaking past the mirror and streaking the exposure.

You will also get some distortion with that lens, barrel distortion at the wide end I guess. Again, you can correct that in post processing very easily, or try PTLens software here http://epaperpress.com/ptlens/ It also cleans up vignetting and CA.
 
Cheers for the help guys. I ordered that book so will have that to read up on too.
I did look into those ND filters a while ago but they are pretty pricey, i'll drop kerso a message and see what the deal he is doing is.
 
bass_junkie83 said:
Cheers for the help guys. I ordered that book so will have that to read up on too.
I did look into those ND filters a while ago but they are pretty pricey, i'll drop kerso a message and see what the deal he is doing is.
Click to expand...

B+W ND 10-stops, 77mm, £90 from Kerso, in stock now. Warehouse Express have it at £155.
 
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