Abstract Architecture Photography

The funny thing with structure photography is the fact that its biggest advantage – your topics don’t move – can be its biggest downside – you can’t move your topics! Never ever worry. We’ve put together a list of our 16 most useful architectural photography ideas to allow you to start thinking much more abstractly and taking more imaginative images of structures.

Suggestion 1: Believe various
Look for fascinating and strange viewpoints, or you will need to choose astonishing and interesting details in order to prevent getting an accumulation of samey ‘chocolate box’-style pictures of buildings.

Tip 2: In The Evening
Some buildings actually become more active after darkness drops, when they’re lit with dramatic floodlights or specialist lighting shows (see our 7 evening photography tips for the architectural professional photographer).

Idea 3: Set a thin aperture
Whenever shooting architecture, it pays to utilize a slim aperture to ensure that all things are sharp. Architects love range and detail, and architectural pictures should reflect this.

An aperture of f/13 or f/16 gives the perfect compromise between level of area in the one hand, and picture quality on the other side (many lenses have actually a ‘sweet spot’ in the center of their aperture range, and aren’t rather as razor-sharp at top end of the range – (learn How to discover your lens’ nice spot)). An ISO of 200 or lower normally important to guarantee grain-free shots.

Suggestion 4: search for shape and information
Make use of your viewfinder to framework – and photo – different shot choices; it’s frequently difficult to tell whether a composition will be able to work simply by looking throughout your camera’s viewfinder (learn how to make use of your camera’s viewfinder). Be aware of repetitive forms and details and zoom inside and outside to separate all of them.

Powerful diagonal lines will help to create your shots look more dynamic. For more abstract photos, try tilting your camera, using worry to eradicate any elements which will provide an excessive amount of in the way of context, because wil dramatically reduce the abstract experience of one's shots.

Tip 5: Handheld or tripod?
Architectural photos are generally shot using a tripod, but if you are shooting abstracts, shooting handheld makes it much simpler to move around and try out different sides. If for example the lens features picture stabilisation, be sure to switch it on.

When you hit your shutter release, adopt a broad stance, tuck your arms into help your digital camera, and take several deep breaths to steady you to ultimately make sure sharp shots. If you work with a tripod, a ball head, like the Manfrotto 352, offers more freedom of action than a traditional pan-and-tilt mind (see our 4 methods for sharper shots when working with a tripod).

Idea 6: Await it…
The best thing about structure is that your topic won’t move, and that means you have time to obtain the shot you want.