‘New York Institute of PhotographyPhoto Credits: Cover, Pages 14 and 15: Larry Tomaccio BS: TomHollyman: Photo Recearchers B.Tand 28: Louis Goldman: Photo Researchers P 16'and 24! Gayle Gleason. P.iTand 18: ©Peter B. Kaplan Revised 1996 Copyright ©1979 New York Institute of Photography New York, New York All Rights Reserved Printed in the US.A.You And The Architect. ‘The architect is an artist who “paints” with brick, steel, wood, and glass. He is an artist whose canvas is space, and whose designs involve structure, shape, and volume. He is an artist whose work of art must serve a function — as a home, an office, a factory, a church, an arena. Part engineer, part businessman, he is an artist who must design with stress- vectors and dollar-budgets in mind as well as T-square and slide rule in hand. ‘The architectural photographer reproduces the architect's three-dimensional creation on a two-dimensional sheet of photographic paper. He must be sensitive to the esthetics of the structure, how it serves its function, and how it relates to its environment. He must not only strive to record the outward appearance and proportions of the building in proper perspective, he must also strive to capture the mood ‘and presence that the architect intended for the structure in its surroundings, He must have a feeling for the architect, as an artist and sensitively reproduce his creation. ‘To be successful in architectural photography, you should love architecture and be attuned to its nuances and details. While you don't have to actually be trained in architecture, you should be familiar with the basic eoncepts and termi- nology of the field as well as the history of the major styles Interestingly, Ezra Stoller, one of America’s foremost archi- tectural photographers, was himself originally an architect. On the other hand, many highly successful architectural photographers picked up their knowledge of the field by treading books on their own. The important point is that, just ‘as a g00d sparts photographer should understand the sports, he covers, the architectural photographer should understand the general concepts of architecture. ‘Types Of Architectural Photographs. Architectural photographs fall into a number of different categories, depending upon their intended function: Publication Photographs. First of all, the architect may desire to obtain publication of pictures of his buildings in architectural magazines, Being published is extremely important to him because architects must restrict their advertising according to professional standards, They depend largely upon prestige and publicity to attract clients. These photographs are, therefore, vital to the architect's success. ‘The objective of such pictures is to portray the architects style and ability. The viewpoints selected and the emphasis given to specific features help to place the ability of the architect in the best light. The size of a project, its fune- tional nature, and the creative ability that the architect has shown in beautifying the structure within its functional, design are some of the points he wants to have emphasized, ‘To get an idea of the type of photography used in publica tions, visit your library and study recent issues of magazines such as Architectural Record, Architectural Digest, and Progressive Architecture, plus general-circulation periodicals such as House Beautiful. Don't overlook European and Latin American periodicals, too; many are magnificently printed and will provide additional insight. As you will see in all these magazines, good architectural photography ean be breathtakingly beautiful. Source Pictures. Architects frequently use pictures of architecture in other parts of the nation and the world as a source of ideas. They keep files of pictures of structures new and ald, and con: stantly refer to them for data upon which to base their own new designs. All this requires that the photographs be pro: duced so that the architect can make accurate measurements from them; they are sharp in focus and clear so as to reveal tail; and that the lighting is such that the shadows reveal the depth of recesses without hiding the detail within As you know, the art of indicating the three-dimensional proportions of structures in two-dimensional pictures is, termed perspective, The camera can yield an optical perspec- tive that is geometrically accurate. This makes photographs invaluable as sources of data for the architect who can obtain accurate measurements from them. In the single operation of exposure, much important data is permanently recortled without the need for laborious measurements and costly drawings. In making source photographs, the photographer must un- derstand the proper employment of the camera to maintain geometrical perspective. He should also include a scale or data concerning a few known measurements to act as a standard for making later measurements. In this type of work, the accent is, of course, on mechanical accuracy, Nevertheless, the architect is equally interested in the artistic success or weakness of the existing design. This should, therefore, also be revealed in the photographs, Architecture | Page 3Display Pictures. Just as a model carries photographs of herself in a portfolio, the architect proudly displays pictures of his work for all the world to see. His office wall is decorated with dramatic photographs, He has a file full of them. He, like the model, even has a portable portfolio of pictures. In effect, since the client can’t come to see all of the architect’s buildings, the ‘buildings are brought to the client. In addition, these types of pictures are often submitted by architects for display in exhibits and for entry in contests. ‘The watchword for such pictures is drama, The architect ‘wants the client oF his fellow architects to see his work in a ‘dramatic presentation that emphasizes the flow of line, the use of space, the interplay of textures, the play of light, the rendering of detail. No architect wants to see his work as an unexciting pale object that fades into the background. No matter how humble the structure, be it a gazebo or a tool- shed, the architect views it as his monument. And he expects you, the photographer, to capture this monumental essence ‘on film, Actually, this gives you greater leeway for interpretation in Gisplay pictures. You can use your imagination more freely in selecting interesting angles, lighting, and points of view. ‘You can enhance the mood by the rich dark interplay of light-and-shadow that you print to a deep lusty tone. try to avoid gimmicky shots that distort the actual dimen- sions or perspective. Photo Albums, ‘There is also a market for pictures that tell the story of a construction project from start to finish. Sometimes referred to as process shots, stich picture-stories often start by show= ing the architect conferring with the client over blueprints, and proceed from the groundbreaking, through construction, to the housewarming party. Who would want such an album? Almost every new home owner would be proud to have such an album to show to friends and to record the process, The building of a new home is usually the single most expensive purchase in a family's lifetime. A photo album of the event becomes a prized memento. In addition, the architect, the builder, the general contractor, and the subcontractors may each be interested for their own, publicity and sample purposes. ‘To secure this remunerative work, you must work closely with the architect. Unless the architect really enjoys working with you and has full confidence in your photography and your ability to get along with his client, he cannot really take the chance of having you around the construction site all the time. One way to break into this market is to offer to ‘work on speculation the first time — if you can handle the special demands required when photographing during con- struction. If you produce good results, the recognition you derive from your first project should enable you to find more work in this area. Page 4 | New York Institute of Photography Real Estate Pictures. ‘More and more, real estate brokers rely on pictures of avail- able homes to entice potential homebuyers. Such pictures are posted on their office walls, stored in files, and sometimes placed in advertisements. In most brokerage offices you'll find that the pictures are simply Polaroid or point-and-shoot snapshots in which one house looks pretty much like the next — all of them drab. Some brokers, however, aware of the intense competition in their field, want to entice their cus- tomers and are willing to make a modest investment in displaying exciting full-color 8x10 or larger photographs, They offer a potential market for your services, If you're interested in this type of market, your 35mm or 2-1/4 camera should be sufficient. Visit local real estate brokers, show them samples, and offer your services on a reasonable basis. Point out that good real estate photos can help the broker entice serious customers to visit properties that the potential buyer might otherwise consider too distant to justify making the trip. Similarly, good photos ‘ean be used to help focus the interests of people just starting to shop for a home, while saving the realtor unnecessary trips with customers who are “just looking.” For the freelance photographer, home photography offers a similarly remunerative sideline. Every homeowner in a good neighborhood is a potential customer because the typical homeowner is usually proud of his abode, be it ever so humble, You can offer your services to photograph his or her house and provide a full-color 11x14 or larger picture, matted and framed, all for a modest fee. To’ promote such business you can try going door to door. Bring with you a portfolio displaying the high quality of your work. Since the breadwinner may not be home during the day, you may have to schedule a return meeting in the evening. Easier on your feet than door-to-door canvassing is advertising. You can promote your services through a leaflet cent by mail or distributed door to door, or through a simple ad in a local newspaper, (One enterprising NYI graduate used the following technique with great success. He went into partnership with a friend who owned a small airplane. On sunny weekends, when both of them were free, they would fly over one of the wealthier suburbs in his area, and he would photograph the grander homes, carefully identifying them in a log. He used his regular 35mm SLR with a long lens and a polarizing filter to cout haze. He then sent a letter to each of the homeowners explaining that he was a flying photographer, and that he hhad taken an interesting aerial view of the homeowner's property and was enclosing a proof. The proof was a small print overstamped with the word “Proof.” He offered an 11x14 print, matted, for $100. Result: A lively source of extra income for him and his pilot buddy. Most people had never seen an aerial view of their homes. They were intrigued. ‘And they bought, ‘The point then is that architectural photography offers many avenues for potential work and satisfaction. In this lesson we will deal with the major techniques and how to develop them.‘The photographer who specializes in architecture usually favors a view camera, especially for publication and display pictures. The reason is simple. When photographing a building, the photographer wants to be able to maintain proper perspec- tive. Vertical lines must remain vertical. Horizontal lines must appear natural to the viewer. In a moment we'll discuss per spective more fully. For now, let us simply remind you of what you learned in the last lesson: A view camera enables you to control perspective more fully than any 35mm or 2-1/4 camera. ‘The view camera offers you the ability to use the rises, falls, shifts, tilts, and swings discussed in the View Camera lesson. Specifically, a good view camera allows you to raise the lens some distance above normal center or to lower it an equal amount. It is helpful if the back can be raised too since this, doubles the degree of off-centering that ean be obtained. Note that while virtually all view cameras permit you to raise the lens, not all permit you to lower the lens. As you know, when you raise the lens you bring more of the top of a structure into your picture frame and eliminate some of the fore: ground, This is useful when photographing a tall building: from ground level. Lowering the lens reverses the process ~ it eliminates what was seen at the top of the frame and increases what is seen at the bottom. When would you want to lower the lens in architectural photography? When you are shooting from a point above the subject. By lowering the lens you can eliminate excessive sky and you can bring the bottom of the subject up into the frame. Accordingly, for maximum versatility, you should try to obtain a camera that has a front standard that permits lowering as well as raising the lens (plus left and right shifts) and also has a back standard that also permits rises and falls and shifts. ‘There are some architectural photographers who have been successful using 35mm SLRs equipped with PC lenses. A PC lens is a lens that can be shifted up or down and side to side, Such lenses are currently available from several major camera manufacturers ... including Nikon, Canon, Pentax, and Bronica. They offer the 35mm photographer some control over perspective distortion, but not neatly the amount of control possible with a view camera, Another reason many architectural photographers favor the ‘view camera is the large negative which produces a richly detailed print. Since the reproduction of textural detail is an objective, the large-size negative is preferred by many. Lenses We have previously referred to lens coverage. You leamed that all lenses transmit a circular image and that the circle must be large enough to provide a sharply focused image that covers the rectangular area of the frame of film, Because you are going to shift the lens up or down, you need ‘lens with greater-than-usual covering power; otherwise, the film rectangle will fall outside the circle of coverage when the lens is shifted. Accordingly, for architectural work with a view camera, you want a lens that gives sharp definition ‘and uniform illumination over an area whose diameter is from 50 percent to 100 percent greater than the diagonal of your film, For example, 4x5 film has a diagonal of about 6-1/2 inches, so you want lenses with covering power of about 10 inches to 13 inches. 5x7 film has a diagonal of nearly 9 inches, so you want lenses with covering power of about 14 to 18 inches. 8x10 film has a diagonal of nearly 13 inches, so you want lenses with covering power of about 20 to 26 inches. Do not confuse covering power with focal length. They are two different measurements of a lens’ characteristics. When buying @ lens for a 35mm or 2-1/4 camera, you are not concemed with covering power since the lens (other than a PC) will not be shifted — all modern 35mm lens designs offer enough covering power to cover the film rectangle ‘when the lens is fixed in its immovable central position. Only with a view camera or 85mm PC lens does covering power become a factor because you will be shifting the position of the lens off center. For architectural work you will want lenses of varying focal lengths. If you are using 4x5 film, the typical arsenal of lenses might include the following ‘An extrome wide-angle lens — focal length about 3 inches. ‘A moderate wide-angle lens — focal length about 4 inches. ‘A normal lens ~ focal length around 6 inches. ‘A long focus lens ~ focal length around 12 inches. ‘With such an array of lenses, you can handle almost any architectural problem. When purchasing such lenses for a 4x5 camera, remember also to specify the covering power you want (10 to 13 inches) as a second characteristic of each lens. Naturally, the focal lengths of lenses for different sizes of {film will Vary. As you should recall, the “normal” lens is a Jens with a focal length approximately equal to the diagonal of the film, (A 35mm frame of film has a diagonal of about ‘50mm, so a 50mm lens is considered “normal.”) For larger size films, the range of lens characteristics is approximately as follows, measured in inches: [as BT ‘iO Diagonat of Film 6.5 inches | 9 inches | 13n Recommended | Covering Power: | 10to 13in. | 14 to 18 in. | 2010 26in. | Focal Length Extrome Wide Angle: | a-4in, | 4-51n, 61in, Moderate Wide Angle: | 4-5in, | 6-Bin, S11 in Normal: | 6-7in, | 8-10in, | 12-14 in Long Lenses: | 10 or more | 13 or more | 18 or more 1Perspective. In architectural photography we are most interested in what is called linear perspective — that is, in the recreation of hori zontal and vertical lines in the pieture so that they produce fan apparent feeling of depth. In effeet, linear perspective ‘means that objects nearer the viewer will appear proportion: ately larger than similar-sized objects farther away. This is how the human eye pereeives such objects. This is how the camera should reproduce them. We have already given you the classic example of railroad tracks, which appear to converge in the distance. The precise angle at which the tracks con- verge depends upon your line of sight. If you stand directly between the tracks, Tooking down them, the tracks will appear to com verge in a straight line directly in front of you. See EEE This straight line is your line of sight — in other words, the line down which ‘you sight If you were to stand to the left of the tracks, looking straight alongside them, the tracks would still appear to converge in the distance, but the angle of the tracks would change relative to your line of sight. b g Finally, observe what hap- pens if you rotate your body 0 that you are looking across the tracks at an angle such as shown here. The tracks still appear to cov verge, but they converge in a direction away from your line of sight. Page 6 | New York Institute of Photography ishing Points. ‘The point at which parallel lines appear to meet in the dis: tance is called the vanishing point, Take our first example of standing between railroad tracks, looking straight down them. The point at which the tracks appear to meet is the vanishing point, Realize that all lines that are parallel to the rullroad tracks will also meet at the same vanishing point, For example, if there is a row of telephone poles alongside the tracks, a line drawn through the tops of all the poles would continue to the same vanishing point, Note that our Line of sight also meets the railroad tracks at this vanishing point in both examples. This is not always the case. It is true here only because our line of sight is paraifet to the tracks, As we have just stated, aif lines parallel to one another appear to converge at the same vanishing point, Conversely, any lines that are not parallel will not meet at the same vanishing point. Let's use as an example two sets of railroad tracks that cross each other at an angle. Each set of tracks will have its own vanishing point. In real life we usually view the world from a standing position, From this position we see the horizon splitting our field of view in the distanee, and we also see parallel lines such as our railroad tracks appearing to meet at the horizon, Accordingly, if the horizon is visible from our point of view, it will pass through all vanishing points of all sets of ground-level parallel Lines. (There is one exception. Lines that are parallel to the horizon will move across our field of view from left to right and will remain parallel to the horizon.) ‘The reason the horizon appears to pass through all vanishing points is that when we stand erect, we are looking along a level “surface” that stretches from our eyes to the far horizon. Give or take a few feet, the horizon is at the level of our eyes and, for our purposes, we will term it at the line of eye level ye level is of paramount importance in architectural pho- tography. Whether conscious of the fact or not we recognize the level from which a photograph has been taken. If it corresponds to a normal position of the eve, seated or stand- ing, we are satisfied; but if itis not normal, we feel a strain when viewing the pieture. It does not appear natural. Asa general rule, the lens of the camera should be at normal eye Jevel which might be fixed for a person standing; but the seated level is often equally satisfactory. There may be occasions when, for some specific effect, itis desirable to ‘use a higher or lower lens level. Before doing so, be sure t your reasons are convincing,Perspective And Architecture Now, let's relate all these facts of linear perspective to archi tecture. When photographing a building, we are concemed with the parallel sets of lines on each face of the building Observe this example, Note that there are two basic sets of horizontal parallel lines — the roof-and-ground lines on the front of the building and the roof-and-ground lines on the side of the building. Each set converges at its own vanishing, point along the horizon. Since our picture has finite borders, the vanishing points may fall inside or outside the borders of the picture In the example shown above, th ts fall out. side the frame of the picture. By changing our angle of view. ishing point inside the picture. To do this, front of the building so we will move to a point more to th As a result, the lines that we only catch a glimpse of the side to converge more rapidly, and the vanishi on the side appea point is moved into the frame, x For use in source pictures, architects prefer that the vanish: ing points be not more than a foot or two outside the edge of the picture. This is because they may want to reconstruct the vanishing points on a drawing board. Once they have established the vanishing points, by a system of drafting, they can make detailed measurements from which they can reconstruct the design and dimensions of the building. For publication and display pictures, you want to create some tension and drama in the building lines. If you position yourself halfway between two intersecting faces of a building, you produce a picture where the vanishing points are equi- distant from the center. This is usually a static image, and not satisfactory in its mood. To avoid this, move more to one side or the other until one face predominates with its vanishing point @ foot or two outside the frame, while the vanishing point of the other face moves into the frame, as in the lower drawing. } ayes Ch Onc or eR tt ta) orm nati LU mit ie ( UT gy nel U0 a oe Me mn Vertical Lines. Up to this point we have said nothing about vertical lines. In all architectural pictures, vertical lines are shown as perpen dicular to the base, We live an erect life. We view the world either standing or sitting erect. We judge the upward or downward slope of a road, hill or other object by its rela tionship with normally vertical things, or by the degree to which we must raise or lower our eyes in order to sight along. that slope. Therefore, if we show the verticals of a building as converging toward the top, the impression given is that the building is falling over backward - due to perspective distor tion, {As you learned in Lesson Two, perspective distortion occurs in our photographs if the camera is tilted upward and back in an effort to include the full height of the structure, We have seen too many such pictures. To retain the vertical lines parallel to the sides of the pieture, it is necessary for you to hheop the back of the camera vertical. Architecture | Page 7Using The View Camera. Let's see how the view camera can be adjusted to handle the perspective problems of architectural photography. This sequence of photographs was made to illustrate the steps for setting up a corrected view-camera shot. ‘The building is the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains, New York, which features a very distinctive facade with window units of two different sizes. The possible locations for camera placement were limited by the County Clerk's Office Building that is located opposite the Courthouse. Our NYI photographer — Dean Chuck DeLaney — scouted the location after getting the assignment, and planned to return to photograph it on the next clear day, After waiting through five dreary day’s for clear weather, Chuck finally awoke early on a beautiful clear summer moming and quickly drove to the location. While setting up tripod and camera, to Chuck's annoyance a truck delivering steel to a nearby construction project stopped right in front of the Courthouse that he was about to photograph. Chuck’s annoyance turned to dismay when the truck driver informed him the truck had broken down One of the rules of architectural photography, particularly with a view camera, is that the pace is relatively slow and patience is required. Chuck patiently waited while the trucker fiddled under the hood. After two hours — while Chuck observed the “perfect sun” arrive and start to depart — the trucker informed him that it was a break in the drive shaft and that a replacement part for the unit was being put Page 8 | New York Institute of Photography mal eal ol mal el fon the next truck coming from the company’s steel depot 200 miles away. The broken truck would be there for the entire day! While the corrective features of the modern view camera are substantial — later examples will show how some ob- structions can be removed from the line of view — no view camera can budge a six-axle truck with a broken driveshaft ‘The point of this story is that architectural photography can be frustrating at times. You have to work with cond tions as they are, These three shots show the steps that the frustrated photographer used to make a corrected view camera shot with the truck in place. In the first shot, the came is pointed upward at the build: ing. Chuck placed the camera opposite the Courthouse, right in front of the County Clerk’s Office, leaving just enough Tom for people to get in and out of a revolving door. AS you can see, the appearance of the building is very distorted: The building appears to be leaning backward and the sides converge. Since the Courthouse is set on a slight angle, there isalso an exaggerated point on the top left side of the build ing. (‘This is called a “ship's prow” effect, and we will discuss this problem shortly.) With a regular 35mm camera, this is the only shot that could be taken from this position. Since the County Clerk’s Office is only four stories tall, the photographer using a 35mm would have the best chance of getting a more correct view of the Courthouse by shooting from the rooftop of the County C1‘The dark shape on the top right comer of Picture 1 is an overhanging ledge of the County Clerk's Office. The camera sees this corner because it is looking upward with a wide angle of view. Picture 2 shows the convergence problem corrected. Both the front standard and the back standard of the camera have been tilted upright so that they are now both parallel to the face of the Courthouse. As a result there is no convergence in the vertical lines of the facade. This correction has also thrown out of view the ledge that was in the top right corner, ‘The building is also somewhat larger in the frame. There's only one problem left, The “ship's prow” of the sharp angle of the top left corner. Picture 3 corrects the ship's prow by swinging the front and, back standards slightly back on the right side to reduce the apparent sharp angle, The result is a more natural appearance to this top left corner. We'll discuss this correction more fully in a moment. ‘This series of pictures demonstrates the kind of corrected architectural shots that can be accomplished using the view ‘camera, ‘They also immortalize the steel truck, which may still be there as far as we know. Ship’s Prow Effect As we just noted, when shooting exterior corner views of buildings, you will sometimes encounter extreme convergence of two faces of the building —a sharp angle at the corner resembling the prow of a ship viewed from the waterline, We see this effect in the picture on the left, First, let’s see why this ship's prow effect occurred here. The photographer chose to place the camera close to the building at a very low position to emphasize the parking area under- neath the structure. The lens standards are straight up-and: down — that is, their vertical axes are parallel to the vertical sides of the building. This is fine to avoid the “falling back- ward” distortion we have previously discussed. (If anything, there is a slight overcorrection here. The building appears to be “leaning forward” a tiny bit.) ‘The ship's prow effect occurs here because of the direction in which the lens is pointing. It is pointing toward the corner. Each face of the building forms an angle with the front standard, Because the camera is very close to the building, ‘we produce a perspective distortion similar to the “dog's nose” problem we discussed way back in Lesson 2. As the sides of the building recede from us, they fall off in size very rapidly. Result: The near corner — like the dog’s nose — ge. seems disproportionately How can we eliminate this ship’s prow effect without moving the camera? By swinging the standards until they are parallel, to one face or the other. In the right-hand picture we see what happens when we swing the standards to be parallel to the left face of the building. The top edge and the bottom edge of this left face are now parallel rather than converging. This view provides a perspective that is more natural to the eye. Instead of a sharp “ship's prow” there is a “natural” Understand that we are not saying that a ship’s prow effect is always bad. It sometimes can be used to produce a dramatic effect. Were this a picture of a modem religious building, the left-hand picture might be preferable because of its feeling of reaching heavenward. But in most architectural work, the corrected view on the right is preferable. Architecture | Page 9LEE ttt . | (| HATER ATTA TAHA TAA ATTA TAT RTT TTT TANNA TTT TTT TY Case Study No. 1. Let’s explore some other aspects of architectural photog: raphy using a series of pictures taken by Ben Schnall, an experienced and respected pro, of the Armstrong Rubber office building in upstate New York. At the beginning of this lesson we noted that the architec: ‘tural photographer should know as much as possible about the nature of architectural and engineering design that can make different structures distinctive. This building offers a good example. With the rise of steel reinforced concrete as ‘a building material in the 1990's, it became possible to build structures such as this one, where the walls do not hold up the building but rather function as a protective skin. The strength of the building comes from the central core of steel uprights cast in conerete, This same core contains the ele vators, water, plumbing, electrical, and heating elements required for running the building. In this modern design you ‘can see that there is a large space between the first two stories of the building and the rest of the structure. Through this space only three main core units and eight smaller pillars support the entire upper structure. Ben Schnall wanted to emphasize the daring nature of this design. He also recognized that the building had another important design clement, this one being a matter of detail- ing. Schnall recognized the importance of the angled surfaces below each window and the symmetrical repetition of all window detail. He wanted to dramatize these details, too. LLet’s look at each picture and soe how he accomplished these objectives. Page 10 | New York Institute of Photography ———— In the head-on frontal view, he has certainly dramatized the window detail. By choosing a day when the sun was intense, and by choosing a time of day when the angle of the sun produced a hard shadow on each window, he was able to emphasize the detail. By selecting a position dead eenter in front of the building, he has emphasized the pure symmetry of the design. ‘To emphasize the suspended design element, he has chosen 1 position that enables us to see through the open spaces between the bottom and top structures ‘Schnall used an orange filter to darken the sky and make it into a contrasting background for the glaring white precast concrete. Further, he burned in the sky in the darkroom. (If you look closely, you'll see that the upper structure of the building is also burned in conipared to the lower structure.) ‘And he printed on a #4 paper to increase contrast. ‘Schnall used a 5x7 view camera, Note how he has organized the perspective so that all vertical lines are absolutely vertical He achieved this, as you know, by adjusting the front and. ‘back tilts to eliminate convergence of the vertical lines as the camera is pointed up. ‘The result is a picture that almost looks like an artist’s draw- ing. This effect is a result of the intense contrast of black versus white with almost no detail in between. It is also a result of the somewhat static position of the camera that shows only one face of the building but reveals little about its depth and mass.‘The side view offers a different feeling, First, it was exposed to reveal detail in the texture of the concrete and in the shadows. Secondly, this picture was organized to dramatize the looming mass of the suspended upper structure. To achieve this result, Schnall did the following, He moved in close so that the mass of the upper structure dominates the frame. Note that he has cropped out the left side of the lower structure. Why did he do this? Because to include the full lower structure, he would have had to move back, reduce the bulk of the upper structure relative to the base, and throw the upper structure off center with relation to the base. All this would have defeated the drama he sought to achieve, ‘One further point, by positioning himself directly in the center of the supporting core, he has eliminated from view all the other supports. This picture cries out, “Look at me! ’m balancing all this mass on just one central support.” Compare this view to the front view where you ean identify 11 separate supports. Schnall has, in effect, followed the three basic guidelines you leamed way back in Lesson One: 1. A picture has a theme. It is the massive suspended struc- ture supported by a narrow column, 2, Focus attention. By coming in close and centering this ‘mass, it has been made the dominant subject, 3, Simplify. By centering the support column, Sehnall has eliminated all the other supports that would compete for attention and contradict the theme. ‘The 3/4-view offers a different perspective. This is the only cone of the three pictures where we see the bulk of the build- ing in perspective. He was faced with a problem on the left however—the parked car was distracting. So he moved his camera till he obscured the car as much as possible. ‘The only new problem he had to handle from this angle was the “ship's prow” effect we just discussed: namely, he wanted to avoid too pointy an appearance to the near top corner of the building. By adjusting the back swing, as we have pre- viously described, he was able to achieve this satisfactory perspective, ‘To emphasize the symmetrical detail on the front without istraction, Schnall chose to underexpose the shadows. This resulted in high contrast between the brightly lit concrete and the darkened shadows. It also left the side of the building in total shadow, revealing the mass of the building without exposing any bright competing detail. Each of these three pictures has achieved its objective in a satisfactory way. Schnall was not faced with any problems about camera placement because the building is surrounded by open fields. This is not always the case when shooting in a densely crowded urban area. It is often not the case even in suburban or rural settings because, though there may not be ther buildings nearby, there are often unsightly obstructions such as telephone poles and parking lots. We'll discuss how to handle these problem obstructions in some of our other examples, Architecture | Page 11Case Study No. 2. Ben Schnall was faced with a different set of problems in photographing this building by the same architect. Schnall examined this building and decided that the theme of the picture should be the curved surface and the dramatic pillars on which the front of the structure rested. How could he focus attention on the theme — the curved front surface? Had he positioned himself dead center in, front of the building, the sense of curvature would have been lost. The same is true of a side view. So Schnall decided to place himself off-center inside the circle, and let it wrap around the viewer. To emphasize this wrap-around quality, he decided to position the image of the near lighting fixture ‘as a dominant central point around which the building curves. To position the fixture precisely, he raised the front, standard until the fixture stood out boldly against the Page 12 | New York Institute of Photography shadowed portion of the building behind it. The long shadow of the light pole has been placed so that it reaches out like a narrow finger, linking this central feature to the building around it, ‘The curvature of the building is further emphasized by the neat row of small stone pyramids that repeat the curvature of the building. This theme is repeated again in the arcade down which we look in the lower right. The shadowed arcade curves and disappears from view, reappearing between the brightly lighted pillars in the center of the building. Finally, Schnall has simplified by including only those details that are essential to the theme. There are no automobiles, bieyeles, trash cans, or even people to distract our attention, What we see is the mass, form, and detail of the building, ure and simple.Case Study No. 3. Not every building designed by an architect becomes one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Many new buildings con- structed in suburban areas are low-lying industrial facilities built by expanding companies. These buildings can be diffi- cult for the photographer to cover in a dramatic way. Look at the building in this shot. The photographer has wisely chosen to shoot the front views at a time when the cloud pattern will add some drama to the image. An orange filter assures that both sky and lawn appear dark to offset the building, which is made of cinderblock painted a light beige color. ‘The picture could have been taken with a 35mm camera ‘mounted with a wide angle lens, but a 4x5 view camera was used. At this distance, there is little distortion problem pho- tographing such a low building. ‘The choice to shoot the building from the left of center seems awkward at first glance, The entrance is on the right, but the photographer had to avoid the parking lot that is right in front of the entrance. This angle also enables the photograph to show the access road that links this building to another building complex owned by the same company farther down the road. From an artistic point of view, the road is distracting, It has a messy surface, uneven edges, and aumerous puddles. Also, its inclusion brings into view the unattractive string of telephone poles. ‘To emphasize the building, the photograph can be cropped as you see in the above illustration. Here the removal of the roadway, the telephone poles, and a portion of the fore- ground lawn gives a nicely balanced image that gives the building a more interesting and pleasing appearance. The 4x5 negative guarantees that the image of the cropped photo is still sharp and distinct. The beautiful sky and towering ‘wees lend a natural and dramatic setting for the building that enhances its appearance. ‘The rear view of the complex is one that only the company’s ‘owner will love, The loading dock and storage area of this building may make a very necessary shot in a brochure de- signed to promote the transportation advantages that the ‘company offers over its competitors. Obviously this is a required photograph that does not hold much potential for exciting treatment by the photographer. ‘This picture could be helped if we crop out almost the entire asphalt area in the foreground. Try this, Cover up the fore ground to within one-quarter inch of the truck. Photograph- ically, this is more pleasing. But if the company wants to demonstrate the huge area of its loading yard, you may have to include the patched asphalt regardless of esthetics. Shot during the same visit as the front view, the photographer still uses the clouds in the sky as a major visual element. For both these shots, although the sky was filled with clouds in all directions, the photographer waited with his camera set up until the sun broke through the clouds, Then he made the exposu Architecture Page 13