I have been starting research and photographing for Project 3 despite not quite finishing off Project 2 (I have a plan for my 2nd assignment).
Looking into Architectural Photography for research has been interesting. This
link gives examples of 'traditional' architectural photography. They show rooms/buildings lit with beautiful light, the colours are complimentary, B&W is used to emphasise pattern and repetition. All lines that should be straight _are_ straight! This is achieved either with a tilt-shift lens (pretty expensive) or can now be done more and more easily in post-processing (not something I've done myself).
This link:
http://www.smashingapps.com/2009/03/22/50-stunning-examples-of-architecture-photography.htmlwas suggested by fellow P&P student
Paul Burgess and shows some great examples of 'architectural' photography. I recognised a number of locations in the images but have never taken such photos myself! Some were a little 'extreme' in my opinion, with very stange angles and slightly severe post-processing on some of them. Reflections and dramatic lighting seem to be quite common in this particular set of images.
I am a fan of order and clean lines in my photos so I'm going to post below some examples I've taken in the past of buildings that might fit loosely in the 'architectural' category and provide good starting point for this section of the course. I have not been taking photos of buildings much lately so need to get my eye back in. Most of my photos for the last year have featured my family!
Split, Croatia. This photo was converted to B&W to show off the lovely form of the circular open dome. The strong sunlight worked to my advantage in this photo.
Rooftops in Dubrovnik, Croatia. The patterns of the roof tiles and similar colours throughout make this photo effective.
Croatia. In this photo taken in the dawn light, the beautiful warm light on the building contrasts nicely with the blue clouds behind. A low angle looking up at the building means that although lines aren't straight, because of the unusualness of the angle it doesn't matter.
Trogir, Croatia. This alleyway in the small walled town of Trogir is low key and almost monochromatic. The texture of the bricks is brought out and the inclusion of the pigeon finishes off the image. There is a nice leading line through the photo in the bricks in the pathway.
Madrid. This plaza was quite busy and I struggled to get a good angle. Here I capture a cyclist going past one of the entrances. I have placed the entrance off-centre using roughly a rule of thirds.
Building in Madrid. This painted building was bright and asking to be photographed! Some interesting people on the balcony would have completed the picture.
Munich. Statue and building photographed in (very) cold morning light. The building is very uniform and linear (though not straight in an architectural sense) and the statue reminds us that we are in Europe.
Amsterdam. An old favourite that I used in TAOP1. The sun came out at just the right moment and I captured this great image of balconys with shadows. I converted to B&W to emphasise the abstract nature of this image.
Amsterdam. Another image from the same area of town, I have focussed on the repetition of windows and subdued colour palette with striking orange doors (well it is holland!).
Amsterdam. A very thin building! Well, the end of it anyway. I like this slightly unusual angle.
Florence. Beautiful light and dramatic clouds gave me this lucky photo in Florence, Italy. Light like this is unusual (though I notice it much more now than I ever have before starting to study photography), and needs to be captured!
Venice. Stairs up on the left, water in canal on the right. I like the juxtaposition and this is seen everywhere in Venice (though is challenging to capture well).
Venice. Lovely evening light and a long exposure capturing the tiny cafe (with concealed entrance apparently) and canal.
Paris. More 'lucky' light at Notre Dame in Paris. Being at a greater distance from the cathedral means that some of the unsightlier aspects (people everywhere, scaffolding etc) can be removed.
Adelaide, Australia. A slightly quirky image of a shade at the beach with brilliant blue sky beyond. Taken with a woolworths disposable camera bought as they went into liquidation in the UK.
Glenelg, South Australia. A lifeguard hut and glenelg jetty. Taken with same disposable camera as previous. I really like the slight vingetting and grainyness of these images. Thinking of getting another disposable camera or possibly going down the holga route... another post another time...
This look-back over my photos has really inspired me to take more photographs of buildings which I have not been doing much at all lately.
