Darren Bradley
Well-Known Member
I've already talked about this a bit in earlier sections, but I'll go into a bit more detail now.
Before getting into the gear, I'll do the standard speech about how IT IS POSSIBLE to do architectural photography with any camera and lens, yadda yadda yadda. A cropped sensor DSLR - or even a point & shoot - will suffice if that's what you've got.
For several years, I used a Nikon D90 with the following lenses for all of my shooting:
I didn't have a tilt-shift lens or even any software to correct perspective or distortion (I didn't even own Lightroom or anything like it at the time, and posted everything pretty much straight out of the camera). But I got the results I wanted by making sure to hold my camera level, and cropping out the edges that were distorted.
And here's a shot I took with my iPhone a few weeks ago, again pretty much straight from the camera:
You'll also see that I listed several lenses - not JUST a wide angle. I do use telephoto lenses and mid-range primes when shooting architecture, as well. As I've said, wide angles tend to distort a fair amount, and they also push everything back. So small rooms can appear enormous - cavernous, even! (Real estate agents like this lens). mid-range focal lengths tend to offer the closest to a distortion-free image. And telephotos compress everything, which can be useful even in architecture.
For example, here's a street scene in Seoul that I shot with the D90 at 10mm:
I have lots of shots like this and I wasn't satisfied with any of them. Why not? Because they didn't accurately capture the claustrophobic, chaotic feeling of being there, with the crowds of people and the signs absolutely everywhere. The problem was the wide angle was pushing everything back, and spacing it out. So instead of a crowded narrow pedestrian street, it appeared as a wide, spacious boulevard. The answer was to switch to my telephoto. Here's a shot of the same area with the D90 at 116mm.
Notice how the signs and people now appear crowded together, and the alleyway appears narrower.
Remember that there is no such thing as a completely objective image, and every choice you make - included what lens you use to shoot your subject - will have an influence on how it's perceived.
OK, now let's cut to the main event. If you're planning to shoot buildings professionally or in any way as a serious amateur/hobbyist, you need the following kit, at a minimum:
The Basic Set-Up
Canon 5DMkII Camera Body (full frame!)
Yes, the Nikon D700 is a wonderful camera, too. And if you were planning to shoot models or photojournalism, I'd probably tell you to go buy it, instead. Its high ISO capabilities are probably better than the 5DMkII, and the autofocus is much, much better. But I'm not recommending it here because for architectural photography doesn't use any of that. TS lenses are manual focus, anyway, and you'll be shooting at native ISO most of the time. Where Nikon stumbles is on pixels. Now any Nikon user will probably tell you that megapixels don't matter. And 12mpix is just as good as 22mpix. And in most cases, they are absolutely right. But unfortunately, this is NOT one of those cases. You'll be doing a fair amount of cropping when shooting buildings, and you'll need all the pixels you can get to capture as much detail as possible in those structures. What's more, Nikon's tilt-shift offerings (called Perspective Control in Nikkorese) are fewer in number and older in technology than Canon's offerings. So in this case, you really need a Canon (sorry, Nikonians!)
24mm TS-E lens
This is really the workhorse of most architectural photographers and I'd recommend it over the 17mm (which I own) because of its versatility (easier to travel with and pack, and you can fit filters and hoods on it, unlike the 17mm. If you can afford both, great. The 24mm is best adapted for outdoor shots, and the the 17mm for indoors.
Sturdy tripod
Geared tripod head
Ball heads are all the rage these days and they're very practical, under most circumstances. But this is another case where you need to go "old school" for best results. A nice geared tripod head will enable you to adjust each axis separately, which is critical to getting the shot perfectly lined up. With a ball head, you have too many variables and it's just a pain to get them all perfect at once.
Remote shutter release
I just use a wireless version most of the time, because it's easier. But the wired kind are fine, too. If you don't have one or forget to bring one with you (as I do a lot), use the delayed shutter release on your camera options to ensure a sharp, shake-free shot (more on techniques later).
Flash and remote, wireless triggers
A flash or two is necessary for indoor shots, and sometimes useful for outdoor shots with lots of shadows. I use the wireless triggers to light up other parts of the room without having to worry about line of sight.
Hot shoe-mounted spirit level
This little 5-dollar plastic cube is a an essential part of your kit. Tripods will typically have these integrated into them, as well, but I find those to be pretty useless. However, a spirit level mounted on your hotshoe will save you a lot of trouble trying to line up your shots correctly.
Of course, this doesn't include a computer with a nice photoprocessing program on it like DxO or Lightroom, at the very least. I'd also recommend using external drives to store everything - those large RAW files will quickly saturate your computer's hard drives! But that's the same in any photography...
The Not-So-Basic Set-up for those with unlimited budgets
Using 35mm cameras and tilt-shift lenses to shoot architecture is a relatively new phenomenon. Old timers like Julius Shulman originally used large-format view cameras for most photos, and some still do.
This is still probably the best way to get the most control out of your camera to master depth of field and control perspective. But it's heavy and not very mobile. And costs and time for developing large format negatives and printing film are not great, unless you're really into that sort of thing.
It is now possible to get digital backs in medium and large formats. PhaseOne and others make them, and Companies like Sinar an ALPA make beautiful cameras focused on this area , which they will happily sell you in exchange for your first born child. Sinar even makes a large-format model exclusively for architectural photography, called Artec. Once you get over the cost, the other downside for these is that you have to shoot tethered to a laptop and some sort of external hard drive to store the data, because your CF card won't cut it.
Is there an advantage for shooting in large format vs. a 35mm equivalent DSLR? Absolutely! Those giant sensors are able to capture stunning, heart-stopping detail of their subjects, which can be very useful for architects and builders. So there is a rationale. But under most conditions, a good DSLR is good enough. So that's why even those who otherwise used large format film cameras before are increasingly switching to full frame DSLRs like the 5D.
Back to Part II - What makes an Architectural Photog?
Part IV - Basic Techniques
Before getting into the gear, I'll do the standard speech about how IT IS POSSIBLE to do architectural photography with any camera and lens, yadda yadda yadda. A cropped sensor DSLR - or even a point & shoot - will suffice if that's what you've got.
For several years, I used a Nikon D90 with the following lenses for all of my shooting:
- Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S DX Nikkor (this one, I rarely took off my camera)
- Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom Nikkor Lens
- Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor
I didn't have a tilt-shift lens or even any software to correct perspective or distortion (I didn't even own Lightroom or anything like it at the time, and posted everything pretty much straight out of the camera). But I got the results I wanted by making sure to hold my camera level, and cropping out the edges that were distorted.
And here's a shot I took with my iPhone a few weeks ago, again pretty much straight from the camera:
You'll also see that I listed several lenses - not JUST a wide angle. I do use telephoto lenses and mid-range primes when shooting architecture, as well. As I've said, wide angles tend to distort a fair amount, and they also push everything back. So small rooms can appear enormous - cavernous, even! (Real estate agents like this lens). mid-range focal lengths tend to offer the closest to a distortion-free image. And telephotos compress everything, which can be useful even in architecture.
For example, here's a street scene in Seoul that I shot with the D90 at 10mm:
I have lots of shots like this and I wasn't satisfied with any of them. Why not? Because they didn't accurately capture the claustrophobic, chaotic feeling of being there, with the crowds of people and the signs absolutely everywhere. The problem was the wide angle was pushing everything back, and spacing it out. So instead of a crowded narrow pedestrian street, it appeared as a wide, spacious boulevard. The answer was to switch to my telephoto. Here's a shot of the same area with the D90 at 116mm.
Notice how the signs and people now appear crowded together, and the alleyway appears narrower.
Remember that there is no such thing as a completely objective image, and every choice you make - included what lens you use to shoot your subject - will have an influence on how it's perceived.
OK, now let's cut to the main event. If you're planning to shoot buildings professionally or in any way as a serious amateur/hobbyist, you need the following kit, at a minimum:
The Basic Set-Up
Canon 5DMkII Camera Body (full frame!)
Yes, the Nikon D700 is a wonderful camera, too. And if you were planning to shoot models or photojournalism, I'd probably tell you to go buy it, instead. Its high ISO capabilities are probably better than the 5DMkII, and the autofocus is much, much better. But I'm not recommending it here because for architectural photography doesn't use any of that. TS lenses are manual focus, anyway, and you'll be shooting at native ISO most of the time. Where Nikon stumbles is on pixels. Now any Nikon user will probably tell you that megapixels don't matter. And 12mpix is just as good as 22mpix. And in most cases, they are absolutely right. But unfortunately, this is NOT one of those cases. You'll be doing a fair amount of cropping when shooting buildings, and you'll need all the pixels you can get to capture as much detail as possible in those structures. What's more, Nikon's tilt-shift offerings (called Perspective Control in Nikkorese) are fewer in number and older in technology than Canon's offerings. So in this case, you really need a Canon (sorry, Nikonians!)
24mm TS-E lens
This is really the workhorse of most architectural photographers and I'd recommend it over the 17mm (which I own) because of its versatility (easier to travel with and pack, and you can fit filters and hoods on it, unlike the 17mm. If you can afford both, great. The 24mm is best adapted for outdoor shots, and the the 17mm for indoors.
Sturdy tripod
Geared tripod head
Ball heads are all the rage these days and they're very practical, under most circumstances. But this is another case where you need to go "old school" for best results. A nice geared tripod head will enable you to adjust each axis separately, which is critical to getting the shot perfectly lined up. With a ball head, you have too many variables and it's just a pain to get them all perfect at once.
Remote shutter release
I just use a wireless version most of the time, because it's easier. But the wired kind are fine, too. If you don't have one or forget to bring one with you (as I do a lot), use the delayed shutter release on your camera options to ensure a sharp, shake-free shot (more on techniques later).
Flash and remote, wireless triggers
A flash or two is necessary for indoor shots, and sometimes useful for outdoor shots with lots of shadows. I use the wireless triggers to light up other parts of the room without having to worry about line of sight.
Hot shoe-mounted spirit level
This little 5-dollar plastic cube is a an essential part of your kit. Tripods will typically have these integrated into them, as well, but I find those to be pretty useless. However, a spirit level mounted on your hotshoe will save you a lot of trouble trying to line up your shots correctly.
Of course, this doesn't include a computer with a nice photoprocessing program on it like DxO or Lightroom, at the very least. I'd also recommend using external drives to store everything - those large RAW files will quickly saturate your computer's hard drives! But that's the same in any photography...
The Not-So-Basic Set-up for those with unlimited budgets
Using 35mm cameras and tilt-shift lenses to shoot architecture is a relatively new phenomenon. Old timers like Julius Shulman originally used large-format view cameras for most photos, and some still do.
This is still probably the best way to get the most control out of your camera to master depth of field and control perspective. But it's heavy and not very mobile. And costs and time for developing large format negatives and printing film are not great, unless you're really into that sort of thing.
It is now possible to get digital backs in medium and large formats. PhaseOne and others make them, and Companies like Sinar an ALPA make beautiful cameras focused on this area , which they will happily sell you in exchange for your first born child. Sinar even makes a large-format model exclusively for architectural photography, called Artec. Once you get over the cost, the other downside for these is that you have to shoot tethered to a laptop and some sort of external hard drive to store the data, because your CF card won't cut it.
Is there an advantage for shooting in large format vs. a 35mm equivalent DSLR? Absolutely! Those giant sensors are able to capture stunning, heart-stopping detail of their subjects, which can be very useful for architects and builders. So there is a rationale. But under most conditions, a good DSLR is good enough. So that's why even those who otherwise used large format film cameras before are increasingly switching to full frame DSLRs like the 5D.
Back to Part II - What makes an Architectural Photog?
Part IV - Basic Techniques
Last edited:
