Architectural Photography – Tips, Insights and How Architects Can Use It

What is Architectural Photography & Why is it Important?

Architectural photography is the study and photography of buildings and structures. It can be enjoyed as a hobby but also as a profession that provides key insights into how architecture can develop and progress. Photographing buildings helps provide guidance about how buildings are seen, interpreted and interacted with from around the world. It’s important that architects and designers see this as an opportunity to delve into what makes a building aesthetically popular.

Architectural photography can be utilised by those in construction to create buildings and structures that understand how a building can shape a location’s character. This is a skill that is useful for anyone in architecture or construction to practice.

Asking yourself questions like “how does this building look in different seasons?”, or “how does the shape of this building influence the local area?” are questions a photo will help you answer. Being able to answer questions like these will ensure any structures and buildings you create are met with the highest appraisals.

At NORclad we appreciate the need for creating buildings that don’t just serve a function but impress and wow people who see it. That’s why we ensure we do as much as we can to help people get the most out of our timber cladding. Timber is just one material that you could use but we know that if it’s used well, it can transform a building. Architectural photography of timber buildings from around the world help us work closely with clients and ensure they see the full potential of their cladding.

So what kind of things do you need to think about for architectural photography?

Architecture Photography Tips

One of the main tips for creating successful architectural photos is having the right equipment. In this instance, your camera phone just won’t cut it I’m afraid. You’ll want to invest in a lens that can really capture details from a distance and ensure everything the architect wanted to illustrate is presented in the photo.

Having said this, don’t feel restricted to using the same camera and style every other photographer uses. Some of the best architectural photographers were the first to experiment with drone cameras or 360-degree cameras. This helps separate your photos from others and can even help shed new light on a building.

Your positioning is also very important. This will influence what parts of the building the photo will show. In some instances, you may find getting into unusual positions (e.g. low down, high up or anything in between) helps show the building in a different character.

Don’t get distracted by trying to use crazy filters or abstracting elements of the photo. This delves more into the realm of art and isn’t likely to help an architect understand how their building is interpreted and perceived.

You may want to shoot many pictures of the same building from lots of angles and styles. This may help provide a detailed review of how every element of the building looks individually as well as how they all piece together. This can often expose any design faults regardless of how small they are.

Another tip is understanding how people interact with the building or structure. If you are intending to create a structure for a city and hope it will be enjoyed by tourists, then photographing how tourists interact with current structures can help you understand what makes a popular structure. For example, in the world of the “selfie”, creating a structure that provides the perfect backdrop to a selfie could be perceived as more popular than a larger structure that won’t fit into a camera phone shot. Approaching architectural photography like this ensures you are providing as much value and guidance for architects. Architectural photographs that ask as many questions as they answer will be the ones that provide the most value to the industry.

Exterior Architecture Photography

Exterior architectural photography is our favourite type here at NORclad. It’s a chance to capture the beauty of the external building. This emphasises the shape, colours and materials used to shell the building.

This is where using a material like timber cladding can create such beautiful buildings and photos. Timber cladding can transform a plain external wall into an intricate, detailed masterpiece.

A big part of exterior architectural photography is capturing the building in relation to the local environment. The weather, positioning of the sun, and season are all going to drastically impact the photo. This is where you want to ensure the conditions are perfect for your photo. This means being very patience. The very best exterior architectural photos can literally take months to prepare for.

Interior Architecture Photography

Interior architectural photographs are focused on the inside of buildings and structures. This helps tie together the shape of rooms and spaces and how they can be decorated. The internal decoration of a building is likely to play an important role in shaping the overall character of the building. Photos of the inside of buildings help show how spaces can be utilised. Seeing similar spaces set up in certain ways can help other architects and designers understand what might work and what might look out of place in their building.

Interior photography also plays a very big part in real estate. When people are looking to sell a house they want pictures that best show the rooms.

The addition of people can also heavily impact how a room looks. People help add in a perceived scale. It can also change the character of the photo and make it more personal.

Black and White Architecture Photography

Although taking black and white photos may seem like a step back in terms of all the possibilities of colour photos, it is often the simplest of photos that can provide the biggest impact.

To create a successful black and white photo the shapes and lines must be spot on. You can’t hide behind colourful imagery so your photo structure must be perfect.

Need Some Inspiration?

If you’re looking to embark on a new design or construction project and would like to see how NORclad has used architectural photography to help us produce world-class buildings, then get in contact today. We’re always here to help and we’d love to share our design tips and recommendations so you get the most out of your new building.