Hi everybody. Welcome to Episode 33 of the photography explained podcast. In this episode, what is architectural photography?
I'm your host Rick and each week I will try to explain one photographic thing to you in plain English in less than 10 minutes without irrelevant details. My aim is to explain things in just enough detail to help you and I without photography are no more.
I'm a professionally qualified photographer based in England with a lifetime of photographic experience which I share with you on my podcast.
What is architectural photography?
Architectural photography is the specialism of photographing buildings and structures. The building or structure is the main subject of the photo. And the photographs are used to show the subject in an aesthetically pleasing and technically correct way.
Okay, that's the scripted bit out of the way. And now it's on to the ad libs. As my phone goes, perfect.
Sorry, I put my phone on Do Not Disturb to stop that from happening. I'm not going to edit this out. This is real life.
So ironic really, this is take 3 (actually 4) of this podcast episode.
Take 1 was spoiled by a message that came in.
Take 2 was a failure just because I was rubbish.
Take 3 - I was about five minutes into it, and one of the neighbours started beating the living daylights out of something in their garden which which was nice.
So this take has been interrupted by a phone call, but I shall crack on.
It's ironic, really, because architectural photography is my thing. This is what I do. And this is the one thing I was really excited to talk about.
But events look like they're trying to stop me. Anyway, let's get on to it.
I've got a list of bullet points here, which are my own little prompts. Apart from that this all straight off the top of my head.
1 What is architectural photography use for?
Architectural photography is used to record completed buildings or to re-record previously built buildings and structures.
Buildings are a major things - there's a lot of work that goes into creating a building. So it's important that they're recorded.
There's many different uses of the photos. I'll get onto those in the next points.
2 Why do I love architectural photography?
I love photographing buildings. I love photographing the interiors of buildings. When we go on holiday, I photograph buildings, churches, anything. I love photographing buildings. I have worked in construction for a lot of years to be fair, so I guess it's ingrained in me now.
My first job in construction was when I was about 15 (of which I made a particularly poor job), and I still love architectural photography, I still love photographing buildings.
3 Who do I take photos for?
On the last episode, I touched on product photography. I have done construction product photography. Now the problem is getting the volume of work to make a living is difficult. Construction product photography is quite a niche.
But that's one group of people I've taken photos for - construction product manufacturers.
My other main clients are architects,
Architects design buildings.
Why do I like working for architects?
Because architects care very much about their architecture, and want it recording in the best way possible, both aesthetically and technically. I love working for architects - they share their passion for their work.
(And the phone's just gone again, unbelievable.
4 Can you make a living from architectural photography?
Yes, you can.
Now, if you think about this, logically, there are always going to be buildings, and there's always going to be a need for photographs of buildings. In theory, there will always be a need for architectural photography.
So yes, you can make a living.
And it's a very, very good niche to get into. And I'll tell you why in a minute.
5 Do you need specialist knowledge?
Hmm, not really. But it wouldn't harm your ability to take photographs if you had a basic understanding of architecture and construction. Obviously, the more you know about something, the more specialist you can be and the more effective you can be.
So you don't need specialist knowledge but it'd be good if you had it. And also liking buildings would be a good thing. If you like photographing buildings then then that's gonna help.
6 Do you need specialist gear?
The unfortunate photographic answer is it depends.
Now, I've used a Canon 6D with a Canon 17-40 mm lens. I use that combination for probably 90% of my photos and 95% of my architectural photos.
Is that a specialist gear?
Well it cost a couple of grand, so yes, it is, but it's not specialist specialist, it's just gear. =
I have, however, done an architectural shoot using an Olympus EM1 (micro four thirds camera). Again, not cheap. But there's more than one way of doing these things.
7 - How do you process architectural photos?
This is just a list of 10 things I wanted to just get over in the short time that I have in each episode. How do I process architectural photos?
The answer is realistically and technically correctly.
You must have verticals vertical, horizontals horizontal, colours correct colour. These are vitally important things.
If an architect wants you to do something funky with a photo, that's absolutely fine, but you have to get the base correct image first, most important thing.
I’ll give you a quick tip here. When you straighten your verticals, it looks a little bit too vertical. So you make it lean back. Just give it a little bit of lean back, maybe 5%. And it looks natural.
8 – How do you start as an architectural photographer?
Start photographing buildings. It is that simple. This is one of the beauties of architectural photography. There's lots of photography genres (that's a posh word for me, isn't it?) that you could get into, but you need something to photograph.
If you got into fashion photography, you could photograph all people with clothes, sorry stupid example. But for architectural photography, what do you need to photograph? Buildings. That's it. It's that simple. And, as I said on many, many episodes, and also on my blog
Practice, practice, practice.
It's a great niche to get into, (or niche depending how you say it – I know this does not work in a transcript).
There's lots of scope to practice and develop your skills. So yeah, start by taking photos of buildings.
Oops
My prompt has just jumped now - please bear with. I guess I'm improving now because I'd have panicked earlier in previous episodes if I'd done that, because I couldn’t see what I was going to be saying next.
9 - Do I need to be qualified?
When I say I I mean you the listener?
No - you don't have to be. There's no architectural photography qualification (as far as I know). I mean, I'm a Chartered Builder, member of the Chartered Institute of Building (MCIOB). I'm also an Associate of the British Institute of Professional Photography (ABIPP).
So I'm qualified in architecture. No I’m not qualified in architecture - that would make me an architect, wouldn't it? No, I'm not an architect.
But I qualified in construction, and photography, which, which makes me a little bit unique, (other things also might make me a little bit unique, but we won't talk about them now).
No, you don't need to be qualified, but to have a professional qualification in photography, I would always recommend.
Now others may disagree with that, but I don't care as my podcast my opinions.
10 Check out my website.
Now this podcast isn't about self-promotion of me and my work and how brilliant I am. But I will make an exception for this episode in the next episode because my website Rick McEvoy Photography is all about my architectural and construction photography work.
That’s the main bit of my business website.
Okay, quick recap.
Architectural photography is a specialist area of photography, taking photos of buildings, and their architecture.
Didn't quite like that one.
What do I want you to do now?
1 Do this one thing
Go out and take some photos of a building or buildings.
2 Let me know how you got on.
Send me a message on Twitter to @rickphoto
3 Subscribe to my podcast
If you enjoyed this episode. This helps me
4 Rate and review my podcast
Again. If you enjoyed this episode, this helps me too.
5 Tell someone you know about my podcast.
This also helps me I know asking for a lot of help here.
Next episode
I'm going to go into the other part of my specialism and talk about construction photography, which is actually quite a different subject.
Okay, now I'm done.
Thanks for listening to my small but perfectly formed podcast. Check out my website, Rick McEvoy Photography where you can find out all about me and my architectural and construction photography work as well as my blog where you can learn lots more about photography.
Photography Explained Podcast website
Also, check out the brand new Photography Explained Podcast website which is the new home for my podcast.
Finally, let me know if there's a photography thing you want to explain and I will add it to my list, head over to my Photography Explained Podcast website and click on the podcast episodes title, tile, I nearly got to them without making a mistake.
And if I explain your thing, I'll give you a shout out on episode list is live for all to see.
I made it!
This episode was brought to you by the power of hope that I can speak without making a mistake one day
I've been Rick McEvoy thanks again for listening to me and for giving me 10 minutes of your valuable time. And I will see you on the next episode.
Cheers from me, Rick.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
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