From a architectural photography standpoint, few compositions are more challenging than the “one point” or “single point” composition.  This truly is a study of perfection.  Essentially, placing the camera sensor completely parallel to the scene in which you are attempting to capture;  being off even a single degree will destroy what might have otherwise been a beautiful photograph.  When your camera is placed in the proper position, your horizontals and verticals will be perfect!  These take time to set up but once complete, ahhhh what a shot it can create.   At a recent shoot, I took this zero point comp of the front entrance.

Beauty is everywhere, with the right light and eye for composition you can capture and share it with others around you…

From a Architectural photography standpoint, there are a few fundamental rules that must be followed with every shutter click; one of those rules, which we are talking about here, is ensuring that your verticals and horizontals are exactly that, vertical and horizontal!  There are a number of ways to achieve this, the first and always most preferable is to do it in camera at the time of capture.  Alternate methods exist however are not recommended, they include using Photoshop or Lightroom during post production; a method that ultimately leads to image degradation and is not encouraged.   Spotting an image that is not vertical is easy to do and once you know what to look for, you will see EVERYWHERE!!!!

RULE #1.  It goes like this, anyone attempting to photograph architecture must have a large, sturdy tripod for which to mount their camera to.  Most genres of photography hate this rule as they are rarely required to complete other styles of photography.  They are usually heavy, cumbersome, over-sized and a pain in the butt to lug around from job to job, however they are a MUST!

RULE #2.  Every Architectural photographer must use a spirit level mounted to their camera, and it has to be re-calibrated before every shot!  From a cost perspective there are few things cheap in the photography world but this happens to be one of them; you can usually find them for around $20 and they will save you more time and energy than most products in my camera bag.  This is paramount!   As simple as that…

RULE #3.  The right lens..  I use a PC-E 24mm lens for the majority of my shots.  This lens retails for around $2,000 and is a fully manual lens that, well really, just doesn’t have much of a place in the lens world outside of architecture.  It is very expensive and requires much more work to ensure that everything is correct than a normal fully automatic lens…  HOWEVER, it allows me to tilt or shift my scene to create the perfect view and a better composition WITHOUT sacrificing my verticals and horizontals.  This expense is one that most photographers that just “dabble” in architecture will not have but it truly does make a difference and in my opinion, not an option to forgo in architecture.

Below is an example of what not using the above tools will give you.   And BTW, I spent about two minutes looking for this image.   A local Realtor took it with some type of point and shoot without using any of the above rules.  AND THE RESULTS SHOW!

Improper Example.  Shows a beautiful kitchen scene but notice how the walls look to curve upward (or inward)!  This effect is called converging verticals where by if you follow these lines to the infinite they would eventually meet…  This distorted view tends to make people quickly move onto a different image rather than paying attention to the details of the kitchen!  The brain can sense that something is not quiet correct, even if it can’t identify it, about that kitchen so the person doesn’t give pause to thoroughly view it as you would want them too.

Proper Image #1 is an image that I took recently of a home in the area.  Notice the how the frame is absent of distortion, free from converging verticals.  The verticals are true so you don’t mind looking at it a bit longer than you otherwise would.  It should be noted that the home of the kitchen I photographed below is SIGNIFICANTLY less expensive than the one above but I can tell you which one I would rather have based on these photos! 

So the “S” and “Z” curves can be among the most elegant of composition.  Some of the simplest photographs (and most famous) I have ever seen, incorporated this most basic composition.   These principals allow your eye to move freely throughout the photograph, making the space a comfortable place to look.  There have been many studies done about the human mind and how these these compositional concepts can grab and hold your attention, many times without you even being aware of it.  In fact marketing companies have these principals down to a science, incorporating them into television ads, billboards, magazine covers, etc…  All working to grab and hold your attention.

Ok, back to the point at hand.  These curves can and should be incorporated into your architecture whenever possible.   From an interior perspective, setting you camera in a location that uses the natural flow of the room to develop these is the best solution.  You can move the furniture to create it but there are liabilities anytime to move furniture and from my perspective, not worth the risk.  Train the eye to find it.  Creativity is the photographers greatest asset!

From an exterior standpoint, use the landscape or hardscape to create your curves.  Just be mindful of them when deciding your composition.  It, in the end, can make or break your photo.

Example, notice how the hardscape draws the eye into the image allowing you to move freely throughout this backyard.

Example, a simple staircase.  Not much to this image, this home didn’t have any furniture in it at all.  Finding the composition was tough but this image works.  Very simple, makes your eye move up the stairs and piques your curiosity as to what may be on the top of the stairs.

So we are realizing how important composition is to photography, lets look at some of the aspects of composition and how specifically to relate them to architectural photography.   Working our way down the list one by one from the previous post, lets start with the rule of thirds.

This can be difficult to achieve when working on an estate that will fill the image however, as I said its always there.  Typically, I am looking for a nice foreground element that I can place on the third to build the composition or following the hardscapes to “lead” the eye into the image.

The foreground element helps in a number of ways, it gives you a place to start your sharp focus and build outward using depth of field and places a composition element in the frame.  By doing this, you create a sense of depth in a two dimensional object which again allows your viewers eye to wander through the image holding their attention longer than that nanosecond baseline.      The hardscapes can be used the same way, placing them on a horizontal or vertical third, you allow a path for the viewers eye to wander the subject.

As an example, lets look at the image below.  Notice that I have used a foreground element (foliage) to frame the image placing the denser foliage on the left most vertical third and used the sidewalk (hardscape) on the lower right horizontal third as a leading line into the subject.   This gives plenty of space for your eyes to wander and holds your attention.  Truth be told I should have probably used the 45mm PC-E lens to tighten up the image but since I don’t own that lens, we work with what we have…

Coincidentally, for the doubters of the power of architectural photography, this home was actually sold to someone who found it online from Anchorage Alaska.

It can be a challenge to compose an interior or exterior of a home but as I said, with enough practice, you will find the composition, I promise.