Architectural Accreditation by Ottawa Photographer Jean Chartrand MPA

When preparing a series of images for an accreditation it is very important to read the image requirements for the selected accreditation.  Let’s look at the image requirements for Architecture found in the PPOC Policies and Procedure Manual.

“Ten images of ten different man-made structures, including five interiors and five exteriors. An architectural photograph must successfully define and/or portray outstanding architectural features of a building interior or exterior by dramatic use of point of view, perspective and lighting. Must demonstrate how to control distortion and perspective within the entry.”

Here are my submissions with some notes on the preparation of the images.

Image 1 (original) 24mm shift lens F32 1/40 ISO 100 Nikon D3

Final

I usually photograph with a lot of extra space, this enable me to apply perspective controls when needed and leaves me enough area to crop to my final size. In the final image I removed all the parking signage, the yellow parking lines, dodged and burned the building, darken the asphalt, corrected some of the perspective issues and cropped the image tight.

Image 2 (original) 28mm F16 30s ISO 100 Nikon D200

Final

It is important to note that even if my view was somewhat looking up it is important to keep the camera as parallel as possible.  For this image I used some sharpen software as well as doing some dodging and burning and a little perspective correction.

Image 3 (original) 24mm shift lens F32 1/40 ISO 100 Nikon D3

Final

In this final image I did quite a lot of things. First thing was the removal of the sky which I replaced with one of my own stock photos of clouds. I removed all parking signs, bicycle racks, yellow lines and darken the asphalt.  On the lower right hand corner I removed a large sign and traffic lights that were in the background by cloning in a hedge. The building needed a little perspective correction and to give that image some pop I dodged the glass so we could see the clouds and added some added sharpness to the image.

Image 4 (original)     24mm shift lens F32 1/20 ISO 100 Nikon D3

Final

For the Brookstreet Hotel photo I did not do too much. There were some open windows on the front of the building that I found distracting so I cloned in some closed one for a uniform look. I also removed the building in the background and cloned in some clouds. I then adjusted the exposures for the clouds and on the front of the building. The final steps was to add some sharpen and some burning and dodging.

Image 5 (original) 24mm shift F16 4s ISO 200 Nikon D3

Final

Not all architectural photos have to be done during the day, case in point the photo of the Montana’s Restaurant. For this photo I made several shots of the building at different exposures to capture different tonal values. In the final image I used two layers one for the top and one for the lower covered area. In each layer I adjusted the color and exposure to maximize the detail. Once satisfied with the each layer, I painted in the lower half of the image in the layer with the top image. The next thing I did was to darken the asphalt and remove the sign over the window. I also corrected some perspective issues, did some dodging and burning and added some sharpening.  The last thing was to remove the black sky and add a layer of stars for effect.

Image 6 (original) 24mm shift F16 2s ISO 100 Nikon D3

Final

Here is perfect example where line of a building can give you an interesting look. The angle I chose was created by having all the main design lines lead to a vanishing point which is the exit doors at the top of the image. I also removed some signage, a hand sanitizing station and the bottom of a ramp at the bottom of the image. I also burned in the lights and dodged the paintings as well as part of the walls to create some lighting as this hallway was dark all the way down. The final steps were to crop slightly and add some sharpening.

Image 7 (original) 10.5mm Fisheye F22 1/2s ISO 100 Nikon D200

Final

Using a fisheye lens in architecture photography does not excuse you from achieving some perspective control. By making sure that my camera was level and square to the subject  I am able to make sure that the stairscases were not distorted. Because of the 180 degree view of the lens, I was able to incorporate the posts that were behing me in the image by shooting verticaly and created directing lines to the main subject of the image the ceiling painting “Morning Star”. With some cropping at the top and sides of the image, some burning and doging of the painting as well as converting the image to BW (except the painting) I was able to create a stunning image. This image also won the a Best in Class, A Judges Choice and an Award of Excellence in the 2008 PPO Print Show.

Image 8 (original) 28mm F 8 1/60 ISO 100 Pentax LX

Final

This image of the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City was shot in 1990 on Ektachrome slide film. Taking the slide film I produced a high resolution scan on my Nikon 8000 scanner. Having to shoot hand held I braced myself on a wall and made sure that my camera was square as possible to the subject. The combination of the early morning sunlight and people walking created some interesting shadows that added a touch of realism to the image. In the final image I removed the banner by copying a section of the windows and pasted over the banner. I converted the image to BW, dodged and burned to even out the exposure, added some sharpening and a little cropping. This image won the Best in Class and am award of Excellence in 2010.

Image 9 (original) 24mm shift F32 10s ISO 100 Nikon D3

 

Final

This image of the Notre Dame Basillica in Ottawa is a good example for the use of a shift lens. Because of the view angle and the verticle lines, a shift lens makes it a lot easier to correct the lines in this instance.  I used two layers for this image, one layer was for the highlights and the second for the overall image. After painting in the highlights, I burned and dodged different areas of the interior, adjusted the color and exposure. This image was selected in the 2011 PPOC Loan Collection.

Image 10 (original) 17mm F4 1/4s ISO 100 Nikon D200

Final

This interior shot of a Café was a bit of a challenge as we wanted to keep the look of intamacy created by the natural room light and candles. I also wanted to use the curved wall as a focal point. I corrected the exposure and color of different areas of the scene by selecting that area using the lasso tool. To clean up some tricky areas I dodged the chairs and tablecloths to appear white and burned in the light and artifact showcases.

When doing architectural photography here are a few things you should have and do:

-       Scout the area to see the best time to photograph.

-       Make sure your camera is always square to the subject.

-       Leave enough room around your subject for post production.

-       Good sturdy tripod.

-       Shutter release cable.

-       Polarizing filter.

-       Light conversion gels.

-       Ladder.

-       Small level.

-       Shift lens when possible.

Happy shooting and all the best to everyone submitting in the next round of accreditations. For details and deadlines, please visit the PPOC website.

If you would like some help reviewing your submission(s) for both accreditation and the Professional Photographers of Canada - Ontario Image Salon Print Competition, please join myself and fellow accredited and award-winning photographers on October 11, 2011 for an honest critique and tips on ensuring your entry is as strong as possible. Click here for details and to register.