Archinect - Modern Architectural Photography

21 for 21 | #1 - OPUS Hotel Orange Interior | Architectural Photography Re-Edits

2016-08-19T14:16:28-04:00

This is a post in a series of twenty-one videos and articles I’m writing to give insight into a new editing and retouching process I’ve been working on over the past few months. I’ve taken twenty-one previous images from my catalogue and have been playing with them in photoshop and lightroom, adding a new visual style to the previous edit. I’ve also decided to make some short explainer videos talking about and detailing my new creative process in regards to these older images. Our personal style always changes and evolves as we continue the creative journey, and so it has for me as well. I hope you enjoy these small insights into my current retouching look and can walk away with something, anything, be it ever-so-small, and apply it to your own photography and creative process. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qBQhTZb0m0

For this first video I thought I would start with an image I made for one of my favourite clients, the OPUS Hotel in downtown Vancouver. They are one of the ci...

How To Hire an Architectural Photographer - Part 1

2015-03-16T13:26:03-04:00

The following is part 1 of a series of posts taken from "The Architect and Designers Guide to Hiring a Photographer" which can be downloaded for free by clicking HERE.

Who is this for?

If you are an architect, designer, real estate agent or property owner who’s tried to get great architectural shots of a design project or of a new property, for your website, property listing or personal use, then you know how challenging it can be to find a good photographer. Even after you’ve hired someone to produce images for you, then comes the task of managing a photo shoot, which if you have never done before, can be a daunting task of it’s own. And let’s face it, as a design professional or busy realtor yourself, you don’t really have the time to learn all about advertising photography, art direction or how a shoot is run.

If any of this sounds like a situation you’ve been in or you’re in need of hiring a professional photographer but aren’t sure how to go about that, this guide is here to hel...

Back Plate and Hero Photography

2014-10-29T16:30:47-04:00

A Back What, Hero Who?

As an architect or designer who is hiring a photographer for the first time, you may come across these terms being thrown around by people in the industry without even knowing what they mean. Any industry has it's own jargon and terminology that can be confusing to those not in the know, so I'm going to explain these two terms to help you better understand how a photo shoot works and how to better communicate with your own photographer on set.

The "Hero" Shot

A hero or hero shot (or hero "insert anything here") is a term used in photography and video worlds that means the best of something, or the best, nicest, or final version or thing that will be shown to audiences. The opposite of the hero is a "mock-up" or a "stand-in" that we use for testing purposes, to experiment with without having to use the hero. In my field, architectural photography, hero shots are typically what companies will use for covers of magazines and trade journals. The image that looks the ...

MarkIs Yokohama - Commercial Style Architectural Photography

2014-10-17T14:00:28-04:00

If you have never been to the Minatomirai district in Yokohama Japan and you are a lover of architecture and design, I highly recommend taking the short trip from the city centre and have a walk around. It's there you'll find the new development and mall called the MarkIs.

The main entrance is flanked by two large volumes protruding horizontally from both sides, and is covered by a large steel canopy resembling the trees and landscaping in the front. Everywhere the linear rectangular design is both complemented and foiled by contrasting vertically oriented greenery, in my mind a very well done interpretation of the Japanese design aesthetic.

I was drawn to photograph this as a personal project and I present the image to you here of the main facade in a commercial advertising fashion. I chose the composition to accent the overhead structure, the trees and the scale of the building itself, and shooting at dusk always creates a beautiful mix of interior and ambient light to enhance the...

Retouching the Washington Hotel

2013-11-18T03:06:40-05:00

Retouching, Before and After

Retouching and post-production on images can be quite a task, but it’s a very satisfying feeling to work on an image and finish with a more beautiful product than when you started. After just finishing some client retouching work this week, I decided to revisit an older image of mine and rework the original edit.

Washington Hotel Yokohama

As you can see above in the side-by-side comparison, there were some big changes made, including removing the building that’s situated behind the hotel itself and increasing the saturation of the sky. (On a side-note, that’s actually the original sky, not a different one. All I did was increase the saturation and colours to show what was hidden in the file already)

The goal for me with any post-processing is to convey to the client/viewers my “sense” or “feeling” of the scene, not just to document the building. Of course there’s a need for both types of shots, but for this one I chose to create a more ad...

Vancouver Olympic Village

2013-11-15T06:54:57-05:00

A New Development

For many people the 2010 Winter Olympics were about sportsmanship and competition, athletes competing at the highest level for their respective counties. For those of us living in Vancouver at the time leading up to winter 2010, it was also about rapid development of infrastructure, with buildings going up constantly, and the Olympic Village is a great example of that growth.

1181 Athletes Way, Vancouver BC, Arthur Erickson, architect, 2009
You can see this image in my printed portfolio video here and also on my website, so click-through to have a look. I chose black and white to enhance the overall shape of the taper, and also added the mountains into the composition to give context. The 2:1 ratio crop gives focus to the shot, sort of dragging the eye across a wider field of view to stop at various points of interest along the image.

Designed by renowned architect Arthur Erickson and partners, the tapering design is inspired by the hull of ships, and the ...

Data Backup for Architects and Designers

2013-11-08T06:20:27-05:00

Data Backup for Architects and Creatives

As architects, graphic designers, photographers or anyone else doing creative work on a computer, we know that our data can be our livelihood, and keeping those files safe should be a top priority when running a design firm or small business.

Here is my take on some simple backup strategies that you can implement in your architectural practice today to help eliminate accidental data loss from occurring, or if it does how to integrate simple systems that allow you to recover your data as quickly as possible. Some topics I cover below include:

Using systems to automate your backup

What to backup and why

Why your system should be simple and as hands-off as possible

Basic 3-2-1 backup philosophy

Local and offsite

Backup services and cloud storage

Putting together your own system

Links and resources

If any of that sounds scary or difficult, don’t worry because it’s really not. Have a look below to get started and never los...

5 Social Networks You've Never Heard Of

2013-09-24T05:03:16-04:00

Social Network Specificity

How can there possibly be five networks you don’t know about or aren’t using? It may simply be that these networks are so niche specific, you would have no reason to know of their existence. With so many users and so much specific content targeted at specialised audiences globally, there are social networks that cater to almost every interest, hobby or profession you can think of. For me, I’m talking about architecture, urban planning and design. Here are five social networks that I use regularly (and they’re all free), dedicated to those fields.

5 Architecture and Design Focused Social Networking Sites:

Archinect - One of the first sites I discovered that connects design students, architectural firms and schools together all under one roof. The layout is good, but not great. Most of the content is a healthy mix of images and text, with a layout that favours long-form written articles. Membership is international to a degree, but most members...

Portfolio Video

2013-09-16T07:51:56-04:00

Here is a quick video of a new smaller sized printed portfolio featuring a selection of my architectural work. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The cover material is thick and heavy along with the paper used. And the overall dimensions of the book work well with the images I've included.

Enjoy

MarkIs Yokohama: Hero Shots and Details

2013-09-03T08:31:40-04:00

The "Hero" Shot and Supporting Images

When working for architectural clients there are usually two types of images they're looking for. A main advertising style photograph, often called the "hero", and the more detail focussed shots, showcasing interesting design features, often less dramatic than the hero but just as important. Mostly the hero photos are displayed by themselves, perhaps on magazine covers or websites. Other supporting detail shots can be put together as montages or with added branding, used as printed pamphlets or promo packages. Todays images feature examples of both. Let's get started.

The Hero: MarkIs Main Entrance and Canopy

Advertising style architectural images are traditionally shot at either dawn or dusk to get that deep blue colour in the sky, and to also make use of any exterior or interior lighting on the building itself. Hero shots are usually very "graphic" in nature (at least mine are) with strong lines and accented angles. Here are some of...

Yokohama Architectural Evening

2013-08-13T03:04:27-04:00

Yokohama Architecture Evening

Over the past few weeks I’ve been doing a lot of work on my landscape imagery, refining shooting technique and post processing etc… That left little time for my other photographic obsession: architectural imagery. Buildings, urban development and all that. I really love it, heck that’s what my website is actually all about. To be honest, I think the reason I stepped back from architecture work for a while is that I felt there was nothing to shoot in Yokohama. Of course there’s subject matter everywhere around us, I’ve just been feeling sightly un-inspired as of late.

I forced myself out the door the other day and headed into the city around dusk to work on some architectural imagery. I shot around Minatomirai for a few hours and came away with the images you see here. After working on these for a while, I found myself smiling at the screen, happy with my results as I began to feel my creativity returning. This is why I do what I do :-)

This is...

Handheld in Omotesando

2013-08-05T14:25:00-04:00

Sometimes There’s “No Time” for a Tripod

I’ve been toying with the idea of shooting architecture handheld, aka ridin’ drrty. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom as everyone knows that you need a tripod for architecture and landscape work, lest you end up with the dreaded camera shake. While I usually do lock-down my camera on my tripod sometimes I just can’t. It’s not out of laziness but more out of necessity.

I challenged myself last month to go shooting in Omotesando, a neighbourhood with crazy amounts of great architecture, without my tripod. I also wanted to see how a more limber setup would affect the opportunities I might encounter. I gotta say I’m very pleased with the results. Here are some reasons why it’s good to ditch the tripod occasionally and do some ridin’ drrty.

Location Scouting
Treat the outing as a location scouting opportunity. The mobility you get from not being tied-down to a huge tripod is great for location scouting. For client work I li...