Last Updated 24/Sep/2009
Review: Architectural Photography
Iain Laskey looks at another book from the rockynook, this time aimed at architectural photographers
| Product | Architectural Photography |
|---|---|
| Company | rockynook |
| Web | www.rockynook.com |
| Price | £34.50 |
| We like | Wide ranging, lots of images, solid concepts. |
| We don't like | Not enough on non Adobe options |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
Architectural Photography by Adrian Schulz was a pleasant surprise in as much as it covers a lot more ground that the title might suggest.
It starts off with a brief history of architectural photography with some fascination example images from as early as 1827. The different types of architectural photography are also listed before moving into a comparison of analog versus digital. This section also discusses some of the equipment issues - sensor sizes and the problems of crop factors affecting a lens's useful range for architectural shots. Longer discussions are helpfully followed by a concise conclusion. The chapter finishes off with notes on the more essential pieces of kit including, unusually, lensbabies which we'd not have considered for this type of role.
Chapter 3 takes up the bulk of the book and covers shooting techniques starting with awareness of lighting and lines. This section has plenty of example shots to illustrate the concepts and techniques. We particularly liked examples that showed the same subject but photographed in different ways to show how different interpretations might work. As would be expected, shift lenses get some coverage here too with good explanations and sample photos. Another thought provoking section showed how different focal lengths can be used to flatten an image or accentuate the depiction of depth providing a very different feel to a building's shape or position.
Other areas touched upon in this chapter include histograms, exposure, bracketing for HDR and DRI images, filters and the creative use of shadows. This section finishes off with a thoughtful commentary on the subject by Marcus Bredt, another architectural photographer.
Chapter 4 moves on to post processing and starts with the value of RAW and good workflow. The RAW converter used here is Adobe's ACR which is fine but we'd have liked more on the other options available. Next up are various image corrections including perspective correction, selective darkening/brightening and contrast/brightness correction. Also included is creating panoramas including workflows for rectilinear and shift panoramas using Photoshop. The chapter finishes off with a brief look at HDR/DRI images and finally conversion to black and white. For those who are interested in more detail about HDR, it's worth noting an advert for rockynook's own book on the subject is at the end of this book.
Conclusion
We liked Architectural Photography. The explanations are good, the author's passion comes through and the coverage is both thorough and wide ranging. Our only complaint is we'd have liked more on non Adobe options when discussion workflows and the like. The sample images are both copious and inspiring and for us, quite interesting as they are mainly of German architecture and so fairly unfamiliar to us. There are also plenty of non photographic diagrams to help illustrate concepts, which helps too. For any photographer who is interested in moving into this area, this would be a good purchase.
