The definitive Architectural Photography TUTORIAL
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 มิ.ย. 2024
- Today’s video location What3words share.pats.drill
To find out more about The Grain Store, check out their website below.
www.thegrainstorelewes.com
Today's video is a comprehensive tutorial on how to photograph interior and exterior architecture for commercial purposes. As a qualified Architect, and having photographed buildings for the last 15 years, I thought I would share my tips and tricks to get excellent results every time.
In this tutorial I discuss the gear, techniques, settings, how to work with natural light and how to manage the shoot.
If you would like to see more of my work then check out my website:
Www.benharveyphotography.co.uk
The gear I use to make my content (although this is always changing!)
Sony A7iv + 20mm 1.8G - My main TH-cam camera for shooting out on location.
Canon EOS R + 16mm F2.8 + Zhuyin Crane M3 - I use this for a combination of stills and video B-roll
Sony A7iii - this is my primary stills camera that works with native Sony lenses and all my Canon EF lenses on the Sigma MC-11 adaptor
Canon 5D3 - I use this camera when I use my EF glass and there is no benefit in adapting
DJI Mavic Pro 2 - My first drone, and I can’t see me replacing it. It’s amazing for both stills and video
Go Pro Hero 8 - for adverse weather conditions that my other cameras might not survive!
Insta360 - X3 & One inch edition - for 360 degree video and BTS content
Microphones - DJI Wireless Mic, Rode Wireless Go, Rode Lav Go, Rode Video Pro+, Rode Video Micro
Photo Tripods - Sirui ST-124 with Sirui ballhead, Peak Design travel tripod
Video Tripods - Benro + spikes, Switchpod, K&F travel tripod + Gorillapod
Monopod - Sirui P-325FL
Camera bags - Manfrotto, Lowepro, Peak Design, K&F and Crumpler
Photo Filters - Nisi V7 + Nisi filters, H&Y magnetic filter system
Video filters - Freewell magnetic NDs, H&Y Revoring, Hoya Variable ND
All of my cameras have Arca Swiss plates to connect with the Peak Design Capture Clip and compatible tripods.
Video editing software - Adobe Premiere Pro
Video editing on the iPad Pro - LumaFusion
Photo editing - Adobe Lightroom, photoshop, Artisan Pro X, Silver Efex, Color Efex
Music: Epidemic Sound
Music: www.davidcuttermusic.com / @dcuttermusic
Video content:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - A little bit about me
01:23 - Today's location
02:24 - Camera gear
04:20 - Accessories & lighting
04:58 - White balance
06:04 - Choice of focal length
07:14 - Things to avoid
08:16 - The rules
09:15 - Focusing and exposing
09:48 - When you first arrive
12:09 - Dealing with harsh light
13:04 - Shooting exteriors
14:40 - Interior lights & contrast
15:26 - Tilt shift lenses
16:20 - Single point and 2 point perspectives
17:53 - Composition techniques
18:26 - My process
17:42 - Removing distractions
20:00 - Another helpful tip
20:22 - Summary
Thank you, Ben! I've been following you for quite a while and always come away with more knowledge than I had before. I've been doing real estate photography for years and am happy that I'm already doing a lot of the things you mentioned. I would like to elevate my game and take on more of a higher-end architectural photography roll. Your tips are wonderfully explained and make perfect sense. Thank you for taking the time and effort to make these videos!
Thank you Ron, I am glad to hear that you are successfully shooting real estate and that I managed to teach you something in this short video.
Nice work Ben! You presented a lot of information that’s extremely beneficial and helpful to anyone photographing architecture. Well done.
Thank you Clark, it should help others out who are interested in the subject. There aren’t as many tutorials online as you might think?
You always produce great videos, and this was another one!
Thank you. I put a lot of effort into my tutorials - glad you found some value in this one.
Very informative! Thanks!
Very helpful tutorial ❤
Nice one Ben, well put together and very informative.
Cheers Paul, glad you found it helpful. It’s good that we can teach each other stuff!
Great stuff mate! Your architectural work is stunning and it's wonderful to see how you go about the process. Cheers!
Thanks Kevin, I appreciate the kind words from another artist. Your fine art work has been an inspiration to me, and I have a few pieces in the making. I have finally found some time (with the rain here in the UK) to tackle some of my editing!
@@benharveyphotography Very kind of you bro. Looking forward to seeing the new images you are working on.
Great video, Ben.
Architect and Photographer, a great combination and should give you total understanding of the process.
Tilt-Shift is also handy to get rid of your reflections too, so I’m told, I haven’t tried it yet.
I look forward to the next video. 👍🇦🇺
You can indeed set a camera up next to a mirror for example and shift the lens to give the appearance that you are straight on with the mirror. It therefore gives the illusion that you have cloned out the camera in the photo. I haven’t found a use case for the technique yet though!
Hello Ben, I'm not an estate agent or an architect however I found your presentation very engaging. So much so that I have subscribed. Good work. And thank you. Adam.
Thank you Adam, if this is the first video of mine that you have watched, and you like architectural photography then do check out my fine art tutorial. It’s an oldie but it is my most popular video. Thanks for subscribing :-)
Thanks~ splendid !📢
Thank you!
Very interesting. It's not a type a photography that we hear frequently about. Thanks !
Thank you, and agreed, there aren’t many tutorials on the subject.
Interesting video Ben and a good eye opener into what to think about in terms of a photography assignment. I just picked up the 17mm TS-E a couple of weeks ago and still getting to grips with it as its a bit different to the 24mm. Have a trip to Paris coming up and it will be in the bag so will spend this week ironing out the last few idiosyncrasies
Thanks Jim, I saw you mention the 17mm in one of your posts. If I recall it has a projecting front element - have you found a way of using filters with it or you use a different tool when you need filters? I wouldn’t use the 17mm for interiors much, but I can see it being really helpful in urban environments when shooting high rise buildings with little working space around them. Enjoy Paris….not jealous at all! 😁
@@benharveyphotography Think it will be the 150mm filters from Nisi as I can get an adaptor to deal with the bulbous element and it can take a polariser too so will see how that goes. Lot more flaring in the 17mm compared to the 24mm
I like to use "flambient" lighting. The main exposure is the flash image(s) and the ambient light exposure is a means of fixing what could potentially be a problem with shadow colour casts from the flash. As I'm only using the ambient light to add luminosity, I use the luminosity blend mode in PS (negating colour casts). I then blend the images together by unmasking areas in the ambient light exposure to fix the flash exposure problems.
I read that as flamboyant at first! 😂 lighting interiors with flash is an art and I cannot say that I have mastered it. When I use flash I try to replicate natural light rather than ‘shape’ the room. My clients don’t generally let me have much time. I have done exposure blending using Lumenzia, as well as photoshop and various other programmes - but I try to keep the workflow as simple as possible and if I can get the exposure right in camera I will try to do that. I didn’t tackle artificial lighting in this video on purpose, there is a lot to unpack! I hope you enjoyed the video.
Very informative video Ben. Thanks for sharing your perspectives on architectural photography. Where is the link to your artificial lighting tutorial you mentioned? I could not find it. Thanks!
Hello, glad you found the video helpful. Well spotted, I think I forgot to link the video. See link here. th-cam.com/video/bADrvAdTI0g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=y_GHgwDbEG-iher_
What a beautiful property. It is great to get another look at it in such detail! You mentioned tilt/shit, I'm waiting for my G9II to arrive, and it occurred to me that maybe Panasonic should put tilt/shift on the sensor. What do you think? It's the same body as their full-frame sensor. I'd think there should be room to shift it up to at least where the FF sensor sits. It also seems like tilting at the sensor would be very effective. Every lens a tilt/shift! Now, there is a MFT niche. Anyway, cheers!
Hi Brian, its an interesting theory, a shifting sensor that is not just for stabilisation but I don’t think the composition would change if the lens didn’t move. My head hurts! I am not sure if Panasonic make tilt shift lenses, if not then you might have to find a way of adapting one from Canon or third party manufacturers.
Really nice video Ben. I've been doing some architectural photography of, well, my own house so you video is timely. Ours is a midcentury modern with a wall of glass facing NW and with the back wall, which comprises the living room, which is narrow and poorly lit. I general bracket about 5 exposure and do an HDR only on the exposures that seem to properly capture the highlights and shadows that I want detail from. I couldn't quite tell, as a matter of course do you bracket an interior scene? We also have a lot of framed pictures which have irritating reflections. A polarizer will take care of a bit of it but, physics being what it is a good bit will be left. How do you handle it? Finally, I thought the only thing missing from you video was a human component-I assume Chloe was unavailable🤣.
Thanks, glad I timed the video just right! I have on occasion got in the frame and set a 1/2 second exposure to add a little bit of movement/energy to the scene - but since I always dress in black it will look a bit samey if I do it all the time. Chloe was actually there when I was filming part 2 of this video, which is about video walk through’s. Regarding bracketing, I try to get it right all in camera if I can. But where that is not possible, I will shoot a set of bracketed images two stops apart which usually gets everything the in histogram. I am always making sure that the view out of the window is still bright enough to be believable, as I mentioned I am trying to achieve natural looking results. I am OK with small areas of highlights being clipped, light fittings etc but I typically expose to the right to get the image as bright as possible. If the reflections in the picture frames are small spot lights I might clone them out in PS, or see if I can tweak my composition to avoid them. I don’t use polarisers for interiors, never tried it though?
Great post! Just discovered your channel! excellent!! Question: what program were you using while explaining the shots...? 🤔 (at 16:40 more or les...) Thanks! Cheers!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video. The software i was using on my iPad to scribble over the video is called Autodesk sketchbook. It is free, it is designed to be used with a stylus or Apple Pencil and it is really good for digital sketching. It allows you to screen record and do Timelapse’s of your sketch, which is what I did for this video.
@@benharveyphotography thank you!
Dear Ben, can we have a fine art architecture editing tutorial in color mode rather than monochromatic? Would be really great if you can!
I can’t recall the last time I made a colour fine art image of architecture! I much prefer black and white for that genre - if you like colour though you should check out Joel’s tutorials. They are quite old now but I covered it in this video th-cam.com/video/a2ZAc5jfTiU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=s8ObqAFGTASf6MYW
Another excellent video Ben. In theory, I know most of the technical aspects of this kind of photography, but as far as I can remember, apart from shooting some interiors for my Photography Diploma (many years ago) I don't think I have actually shot anything you could classify as Architectural Photography. Taking photographs in rooms or outside buildings with people as the subject doesn't count. Another skill to hone over the Autumn and winter months. However, I think The Grain Store would make a superb location for a model shoot too. I wonder if the owner would be open to renting it out for a day of model shooting with a few photographers splitting the costs? Once again, thanks for the inspiration, Ben.
Hi Chris, the owner Annie and her team are 100% pro using the space for photography workshops and photoshoots. Get in touch with her on stay@thegrainstorelewes.com
They also have an Instagram page with all my photos on :-)
@@benharveyphotography Will do shortly Ben. I need to speak to a few people first. Thanks for the info.
hi ben, I dont recall that canon TS 24 len has a manual aperture ring on it therefore can you adjust aperture from a sony camera body via Sigma MC11 adapter ?
Hello Tylor, the MC-11 allow control over the aperture from the camera and it transfer exif data as if it was a native adaptor. If you are putting canon autofocus lenses on a Sony then the adaptor provides autofocus for stills, which is OK but nowhere near as good as a native lens. The video continuous autofocus is very bad on the MC-11 so don’t use it for that.
Thanks Ben. I’m a new sub
Also, when you turn off lights, you get to see the textures in the room. White/bright covers often get blown out just as much as windows. I learned to have one source of light: sufficient natural light, or the light that I supply. Real estate photography seems to emphasize turning the lights on. Interior design photography seems to emphasize turning them off.
However, my question would be, is the term "architectural" interchangeable with "design?" I've been reserving the former for structures, mainly exterior, focusing on the engineering.
Hello. I think I understand the question, whether interior architecture and interior design are interchangeable? Architecture and interior design are intertwined, but are a separate discipline on more intricate or complex jobs. Many architects, including myself, design the exterior and interior of a project, some client like to have a strong influence upon the appearance of the interior spaces. Some client prefer to appoint a separate interior designer. If the project is high end then you would have a specialist lighting consultant also, to tackle exactly what you said in your comment. Recessed spot lights are the default and most boring way of lighting a space. But ideally you have various light levels highlighting features and creating more intimate spaces such as a snug with appropriate mood lighting. A long answer I know, but hopefully that makes sense.
@@benharveyphotography Thank you so very much! Reading this from an architect makes all the difference.
Thorough description on many facets of photography. Thank you. But, where’s the link for artificial lighting?
Many people post interior flash methods with a speed light and they walk around every dark corner firing the flash. It eliminates the dark areas but also cancels shadows, making the room look one dimensional and fake. Out of hundreds of TH-cam posts I’ve seen only two that recommend firing flash in the same direction as the light entering the window. Your thoughts?
Hello, I think I forgot to post the link during the video, but I have pasted it here for you. th-cam.com/video/bADrvAdTI0g/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qjt22-IA-69IaWMT I have seen some tutorials of a similar fashion where the photographer will ‘pop’ flash in various places around the room and then composite them all together to make one hyper real image that looks like a perfect CGI. They look great, but it is not for me, I am trying to achieve a natural look. I do use artificial lighting, but predominantly with a large softbox to mimic window light. The only time I find myself using a bare flash is in a bathroom where a softbox wouldn’t fit, and i bounce the flash off the wall behind me. I only use flash to ‘lift’ the shadows, not remove them as the scene becomes flat as you say.
Not sure about definitive...but well done anyway.
Can we all please stop using term "Architectural Photography" to describe interior photography?
I don't see benefit in separating out the discipline of photographing the interior and exterior, as they are always captured by the same photographer and ideally at the same time. I wouldn't ever market myself as an interior photographer either, it suggests that you wouldn't photograph exteriors. This tutorial is about photographing architecture, whether that is the inside or the outside of the buildings, I wouldn't get bogged down with the terminology as long as the images are high quality and you provide a professional service.