First time architecture (C & C)

[Merlin5]

Hi guys. I wonder if you can give me any comments and critique on these. I drove to Islington yesterday and saw an interesting modern building so took some photos of it. It's a 330 feet/36 storey building in Islington. It gave me neck ache looking up and a kind of reverse vertigo! There was absolutely no sky though, just pale blue. It was a sunny evening, these were taken around 6 to 7pm, but no clouds at all. So I used a gradient filter in lightroom to try and give some effect to the sky which sort of gives it more of an abstract feel. I just felt that if I left the sky, there was nothing to accentuate the building. What do you think of these? I'm looking forward to getting a wide angled lens for these kind of shots.

(1 and 4 edited as per Brazo's comments.)


Skyscraper 1 by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Skyscraper 2 by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Skyscraper 3 by Merlin 5, on Flickr


Skyscraper 4 by Merlin 5, on Flickr

 

[Brazo]

1 and 4 aren’t straight and need to be for this type of image.
3 is good. I think 4 has more potential without the bottom 3rd.

 

[Merlin5]

1 and 4 aren’t straight and need to be for this type of image.
3 is good. I think 4 has more potential without the bottom 3rd.

Thanks for the observations Brazo, you're right, they weren't straight. I've replaced 1 and 4 with edited versions and put 4 into black and white and cropped the bottom a bit.
I've tried to straighten them by eyeballing it but I'm still not sure they're actually completely vertical, maybe leaning towards the right a tad? Also, by reframing the angle of 4, I've lost the very tip of the tower. Maybe there's a better way in lightroom to reframe and still keep the whole image.

 

[Brazo]

Thanks for the observations Brazo, you're right, they weren't straight. I've replaced 1 and 4 with edited versions and put 4 into black and white and cropped the bottom a bit.
I've tried to straighten them by eyeballing it but I'm still not sure they're actually completely vertical, maybe leaning towards the right a tad? Also, by reframing the angle of 4, I've lost the very tip of the tower. Maybe there's a better way in lightroom to reframe and still keep the whole image.

Four definitely has more impact now at the bottom and is a cleaner image but may have to reshoot to get the top in!

 

[Merlin5]

Four definitely has more impact now at the bottom and is a cleaner image but may have to reshoot to get the top in!

Yep, does need reshooting. When I shot it, I turned the camera 90 degrees in portrait orientation to get more of the length of the tower in view. If I had a camera with a horizon levelling graphic, is that the best way to guarantee getting it perfectly vertical without having to adjust in post? Do pro photographers generally get shots like mine 100% perfectly vertical straight out of camera before editing? And in lightroom, is there a way to keep the whole image without cutting the top off after adjusting the angle of the frame?

 

[Brazo]

Yep, does need reshooting. When I shot it, I turned the camera 90 degrees in portrait orientation to get more of the length of the tower in view. If I had a camera with a horizon levelling graphic, is that the best way to guarantee getting it perfectly vertical without having to adjust in post? Do pro photographers generally get shots like mine 100% perfectly vertical straight out of camera before editing? And in lightroom, is there a way to keep the whole image without cutting the top off after adjusting the angle of the frame?

Pro togs will often use a specialist lens to get verticals straight called a tilt shift lens. These are very expensive though.
Reference the editing technique yes there’s a way.

How to Use Perspective Corrections in Lightroom and Photoshop

A couple of weeks ago I wrote the article “Four Simple Tips for Better Composition”. In that article, I discussed in-camera techniques for keeping your horizons level and verticals vertical. However, even if you are careful, this is not always possible. This is especially true when trying to...

photographylife.com

 

[NPUK]

I like these. I find these type of images difficult to get right from a perspective/geometry point of view because I'm never sure whether to try get the edge of the building a bit more upright or not.
No. 3 is my favourite but I'd also be interested to see a colour version too.

 

[Merlin5]

Pro togs will often use a specialist lens to get verticals straight called a tilt shift lens. These are very expensive though.
Reference the editing technique yes there’s a way.

How to Use Perspective Corrections in Lightroom and Photoshop

A couple of weeks ago I wrote the article “Four Simple Tips for Better Composition”. In that article, I discussed in-camera techniques for keeping your horizons level and verticals vertical. However, even if you are careful, this is not always possible. This is especially true when trying to...

photographylife.com

Ah yes, I should have known better as I already learnt about tilt shift the other day. Yeah, they're around £2000, yikes! There's adapters which are cheaper. But I dunno, I'm not planning to be a pro or even a semi pro photographer or photo a lot of architecture, so I'll try and just get the vertical as correct as I can whenever I shoot these kind of things.

Thanks very much for the perspective correction link, I'll have a read of that!

I like these. I find these type of images difficult to get right from a perspective/geometry point of view because I'm never sure whether to try get the edge of the building a bit more upright or not.
No. 3 is my favourite but I'd also be interested to see a colour version too.

Thanks. Yep, I didn't get them completely right, they're quite difficult.
Here's a colour version.


Skyscraper 7 by Merlin 5, on Flickr

 

[Merlin5]

This is another one I did of a telecommunications tower standing in the grounds of a Tesco superstore. Don't know if it works or not as there's no clean lines as such.



Telecommunications Tower by Merlin 5, on Flickr

 

[NPUK]

This is another one I did of a telecommunications tower standing in the grounds of a Tesco superstore. Don't know if it works or not as there's no clean lines as such.



Telecommunications Tower by Merlin 5, on Flickr

Personally I'd say that's exactly the right line. The only slight criticism I'd have and it really is being picky is that I'd prefer a little bit more room between the top antenna and the top edge of the photo.

 

[Merlin5]

Personally I'd say that's exactly the right line. The only slight criticism I'd have and it really is being picky is that I'd prefer a little bit more room between the top antenna and the top edge of the photo.

Thanks. I agree with that. I can't remember whether I cropped the top or if that was the extent of me pointing my camera upwards in order to get more of the tower in.