Architecture photography lets you explore color and texture.
Buildings are a great subject for people who want to improve their photography skills. You can experiment with
all the basics of composition: lighting, perspective, framing, balance, symmetry, and more.
Learning to take architecture photos will help you capture more interesting vacation snapshots. They will also
help you take terrific pictures of your home for real estate purposes. And you'll learn to see the buildings
in your own town in a new way.
Architecture photography is not just about photographing famous monuments and soaring cathedrals. A modern
skyscraper or your own home can be an interesting photo subject as well.
A low-angle shot makes this building appear as if it is towering over the viewer.
Don't shoot all your architectural images straight on. This causes buildings to look rather flat and doesn't
fully convey their scale and dimension.
Instead, move around the building and experiment with different angles. For example, rather than shooting the
façade of a building straight on, you could capture it from one side to give a better idea of its dimension.
The morning sun brings this golden exterior to life.
Side lighting from the sun can bring out textures on walls.
Photography is all about capturing the right light. And architectural photography is a great chance to learn how
to use natural light.
The time of day can make a big difference in your photos, as different lighting brings out different moods of
a building. Side lighting, for example, casts interesting shadows that create drama.
The best time of day for photographing buildings is usually the early morning or evening, as harsh mid-day light
can wash out colors.
This road gives the viewer's eye a path to follow.
Try these tips for framing and drawing the viewer's eye to the main subject. These techniques not only showcase
your subject, but they can also give your picture added depth and interest.
A footpath leading to a building naturally draws the viewer deeper into the scene.
Fences make terrific frames for architectural subjects.
Use foreground elements-overhanging tree branches, a doorway, or an arch-to "frame" your subject. To
keep both the foreground and background in focus, or to deliberately blur one or the other for effect,
use the Aperture priority mode on your digital camera. Learn more about focusing basics, including
how to use depth of field and aperture.
Use your camera's zoom lens to get close to decorative details.
For many buildings, the beauty is in the details. Try focusing on a part of your subject, not the whole.
Photograph just one piece of the larger structure, like an elaborately patterned roof.
Zoom to capture interesting patterns.
Crop in tightly on details to create more abstract photos of buildings. Try filling your frame with a fantastic
pattern like an intricate brick design or a checkerboard of glass windows. Although the purpose is to make a work
of art rather than to show the building in a realistic way, these images help capture the character and
personality of a building.
Get more tips for taking better close-up photos.
Stepping back from a building lets you capture more realistic, and less vertically convergent, lines.
One of the challenges of photographing tall buildings is converging vertical lines. This is where you take a
picture of a tall building from close to the base, and, rather than standing straight, the lines of the structure
tend inward, making it look like the building is falling over.
Occasionally such converging verticals add excitement and interest to a picture, but sometimes they simply
look wrong.
There are some possible fixes:
Step further away from the building. You won't be able to capture the extreme vertical angle that you
could if you stood at the base of a building, but you will be able to convey the building's height.
Take the picture from halfway up a nearby building.
Converging verticals can also be corrected digitally using photo-editing software.
Adding people to the picture can help illustrate a building's purpose.
Tourists staring in awe at a monument can throw an otherwise perfectly people-free architecture shot off, but
their admiration can also be an important part of the building's story. Adding people to the picture can
help make a building seem more real and give your pictures a sense of scale.
Play with reflections: Try shooting a building mirrored in water, or two buildings reflecting each
other in their windows.
The photo shoot doesn't end with the outside of the building. Sometimes you can give even the most
oft-photographed and tired subject new appeal by stepping inside.
Many buildings are more interesting at night. Learn more about
nighttime photography.
Capture the graffiti or signage on the outside of a building.
Focus on the door and windows of a building. Often, these elements can provide wonderful framing
devices, too.
Take a photo of the same building several times a year to observe how it changes through the seasons.
Gather family and photo-loving friends and take a photo field trip in your hometown. Make a list of
buildings to photograph. Or encourage participants to photograph well-known local landmarks in a way
that makes them look entirely new.
Photograph historic sites with kids. Turn it into an active history lesson by reminding them to include
snapshots of informational plaques and signs. After, you can assemble them into a scrapbook that tells
the building's history. Learn more about
using digital photography to enhance your child's learning.
Take a free online class
in digital photography! Explore the many features of your digital camera, find tips for cropping and editing your
images, and discover new ideas for sharing your photos in creative ways.
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