How to Find the Best Architectural Photographers

If you are searching around, trying to find good architectural photographers for hire and you have come upon this page, I have some good news for you. You can pretty much stop your search, you have found exactly what you are looking for. Well, maybe. Just in case I am not exactly what you are looking for, here is how you can train yourself to spot a winner and maybe who to avoid.

In all seriousness though it can be difficult to tell the difference between photographers, especially when looking at a bunch of different online portfolios. When I first started looking at other websites I was really wowed by almost everything. Over time I have gotten better at quickly looking at a portfolio and determining how skillful the image maker is by following a few simple steps. So, the first point is to know what you are looking for or to describe what would be the best possible results you can expect. I think that would be for everything in the picture to look it’s best, yet to still feel natural enough to be believable. There are many factors that add up to making a good picture, it is my goal to point out a few of the more important ones to help you in your quest. If you want to be an educated consumer all it takes is knowing what to look and to see how each photographer tackles the challenges faced in a typical architectural shoot.

A good place to start your observations is the windows. Windows are traditionally a difficult problem for architectural photographers. This is because the dynamic range in most architectural images is too great to be captured easily in one image. What this means is often the windows are bright white and all of the detail outside and in the muntins and mullions are wiped out in a bright haze that surrounds the windows. A careful look at the windows will reveal if the photographer is able to handle this issue. In a well done image all of the architectural detail in the window frame should be intact. Plus there should be no glare or haze surrounding the window. Sometimes the outside vegetation or architecture is visible if the view is nice and sometimes the windows are allowed to go white if the view doesn’t help the image, the important factor is that none of the detail of the design should be lost.

This is a blown-out window. The information outside the window is gone but more importantly the window architecture is missing in spots and there is considerable haze all around the window.

Another area of difficulty for photographers is color casts. A color cast is created when different colors of light are present in the same photograph. Something to look for is to make sure the color of the light is consistent throughout the shot. Handled poorly it can be an ugly mix of yellow interior lights and blue window light clashing and ruining the image. The ideal architectural photograph will feel clean and well lit and the color will be flattering to the furnishings in the room. Keep in mind that some variety of light color can be a good thing and suggest the warmth or comfort of an interior. But, too much and it sucks the life out of all of the colors. If the light is mixed consider how attractive the results, this can really be a matter of taste.

The "natural" quality of a photo can be spotted by a close look at the textures in the room or again at the windows. One of the options for correcting the many different issues that an architectural specialist runs into is to combine exposures using tone mapping or exposure fusion, in some cases these techniques can yield great results, but in others it can be downright ugly and unnatural looking. If this technique is poorly done, the image has a surreal contrasty look and the colors get strange and intense. The technique is great for bringing out detail but it brings out detail everywhere, even when it is not wanted. Textiles and textures take on a grimy, crunchy quality. An easy place to spot bad tone mapping is to look at the walls, they should look fresh and white not grey. Another side effect can be halos, which are contrast that is applied to the entire image except the transitions, you can see them especially well around the windows. Ideally you shouldn’t see any artifacts of this technique. 5 to 10 years ago this “high dynamic range” technique was all the rage and it looked cool. Nowadays it looks dated and unnatural, if you want to use images in your portfolio for years to come, the less of this technique the better.

An especially ugly HDR image, you can see that it fixes the issue with the window but everything looks grimy. Another issue is that the colors are exaggerated in an unnatural way. This image is decidedly cheaper looking than the first image done with supplemental lighting.

Shadows are another place to look to determine if a photographer is an ideal fit for you. Are the shadows too crisp? Do they dominate the look of the shot, this can be a side effect of bad tone-mapping or HDR. A natural look is what is best here, the room should look a lot like it looks in real life, or maybe a tiny bit better. Some architectural photographers bring extra light to bring out details and soften harsh shadows, or block some windows to keep the light directional and avoid flat dull light. 

Sometimes it can be useful to look for the worst image in the portfolio. In a portfolio, the best quality work has been picked to represent the photographer. So if a work is less than perfect it might show that your results with that photographer might be similar. 

I hope I have provided you with some insights on how to look at architectural photographers for hire and see the differences in their work. It can be difficult to see the differences if you don’t know what to look for. There is a very vast range of quality in photographic imagery, hopefully knowing to look for a few subtle things will help you make a informed decision that can have a huge in the quality of imagery you get to document your work. If you are located in the Philadelphia area you might face additional challenges finding a great photographer, I have produced a guide to help you through some of the challenges you may face hiring an architectural photographer in Philadelphia. To illustrate the vast expanse in quality between good and bad architectural photography I have a short page of before and after images that might help illustrate many of the ideas I have presented here. I also created a head to head challenge between several types of image processing from HDR to Lightroom to lighting that you might find informative. All of the most common techniques for coping with dynamic range are represented there. Thanks for reading about how to find an architectural photographer. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments, I am glad to help. Also, if you are an architect, designer , builder or decorator with a project that you need to document, I would love to hear about it. Contact me for a free quote. If you would like to see more of my work please drop by my portfolio page, it is full of interior design, and architectural photography as well as one of my other passions, food photography.

The Difference Between Architectural Photography and Real Estate Photography

What seems like a good deal might not always be. There are various ways to skin a cat as the saying goes. And, there are various way of photographing architecture as well. I tend to think of the two prominent methods as architectural photography and real estate photography. If you are looking to hire a photographer to document your project or building it can be important to know the difference between the two.

I fall into the architectural photography camp for a number of reasons. The first and probably most important distinction is that it takes an architectural photographer longer to do their job. This is because in photography, with the exception of an occasional lucky shot, the final image is a result of effort behind the scenes. The architectural photographer has to be very thorough, they might take an image, study it, figure out a handful of ways to improve it, like fine adjustments in camera placement, moving furniture, fluffing pillows, organizing and minimizing items in the picture all to get the best image possible. Secondly, the equipment an architectural photographer uses is more complicated. Architectural photographers use special lenses to correct perspective and maximize the image quality possible with modern cameras. Architectural photographers might also work tethered to a computer so they can see the image they are working on in fine detail to be sure everything is in its place. Lastly an architectural photographer is equipped to get the shot no matter what, if the lighting is unflattering they are able to use supplementary lighting that they bring to the shoot to match the interior and exterior light, minimizing haze, glare and color balance issues with mixed light. All of these things take time, but ultimately show in the quality of the final image. All of this effort means the pricing is higher for architectural photography than real estate photography, but since there are more parties interested in the photos there are useful ways to save money when hiring an architectural photographer.

The equipment that the architectural photographer brings to a shoot usually comes on a rolling cart because there is so much of it, it includes back up cameras, a computer, an assortment of lenses, lighting, stands, umbrellas, tripods and diffusion. The reason architectural photographers go to such great lengths is because it matters to their clients, they demand it. An architect can spend years on a project and the photos are often the most prominent way they promote their efforts to future clients. If they are going to the trouble to arrange a photo shoot they want it done perfectly.

The real estate photographer is also very skilled, but the market for each type of photographer is very different. The typical client for a real estate photographer is a realtor. The realtor pays for the photography out of their pocket without knowing if they will be reimbursed with a sale. So, from the realtors perspective, the cheaper the better. If the real estate photos work well and the property sells quickly, the images might be only used for a few weeks rather than 10 or more years that the architect will keep a project in their portfolio. So the images have limited usefulness. This keeps prices low, the images need to be just good enough to get the job done and not break the bank. This means that real estate photographers need to be very efficient to make a profit. They don’t have time to nit-pick every detail, they need to spend a few minutes per shot and move on to the next. They usually don’t use special lenses or work tethered to a computer, there isn’t time. They also don't have time to move furniture, straighten up shelves, make sure there aren’t glare problems, fix overly bright windows or color casts. They can get amazing results, but there is no substitute for the huge amount of effort that goes into producing an image for an architect, interior designer or advertising. To see the different techniques and their results, look at this comparison of lighting interiors vs. exposure fusion.

The equipment required by a real estate photographer usually fits into a shoulder bag with the exception of a tripod. There might be some exceptions but it would be rare to see a real estate photographer with a large rolling cart full of equipment. There just isn’t time to use it on a regular shoot.

Real estate photographers get to travel light, a duffel or backpack and a tripod. Here is my assist Don with the gear we needed for a simple architectural shoot. We normally need a bit more, I can see just by looking at the cart that we didn't have reflectors and skrims (large sheets of light diffusion material), maybe I am carrying them here.

When I photograph architecture I can complete somewhere between 10 - 15 different set-ups in a good long day. A real estate photographer might shoot 50 or more in the same time (conservatively). Occasionally clients will come to me looking for something more in line with real estate photography and I caution them to consider that it might seem cheaper but isn’t. And here’s why. If the real estate photographer shoots 50 images and you post all of the images to your website, realistically, no one will look at them all. People don’t have patience for that anymore. It is likely that your clients will bore after 10 images or so and go on to the next project. The 50 images from a real estate photographer may have been cheaper but when a full 10 hour day of shooting is split by 50 images, each image takes 12 minutes to make. Now, If your client looks at 10 images they are only seeing 120 minutes of effort in total. You may have paid for the whole day but only part of your money is on display. No amount of skill or crazy luck can even the scales with all 10 hours of shooting time visible in the architectural photographers work. Every cent you spend is visible in your portfolio rather than wasted on images no-one will see. It may seem smart to spend a little less less and have more photos, but as I have explained it can also be a terribly inefficient way to allocate your funds when it is essential that your work stands out from your competition.

One final note, this is not meant to belittle real estate photography. The two styles of shooting are quite different. There are some amazing photographers doing real estate. The point I am trying to make is how each specialty is shaped by their client’s needs and each is appropriate for it’s intended use. 

As always, please let me know if you have questions or comments. If you are an architect, engineer, builder or developer and you need great photography to promote your business, I would love to hear from you. I am based in Delaware but work in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and all over the Mid-Atlantic. Contact me for a free quote, or stop by my portfolio of architectural photography and take a look. Or if you need help finding the right architectural photographer for you, take a look at this recent post on how to find great architectural photography for tips on spotting top quality work.

Frozen Pizza - Food Photography Challenge

Mention that you are a food photographer and the question you hear most, by far is if the food is real. It seems a strange question but people that know anything about food photography have heard of old tricks from the film days for keeping food looking tasty under the hot lights. Tricks like using shortening instead of ice cream to keep from melting or marbles in soup to keep the big chunks of vegetables on the surface where you can see them. Though this kind of thing has mostly faded from food photography the myth survives. Largely because the difference between the product you buy rarely looks like the advertising that got your attention and your money. We have all been seduced by the colorful images of burgers at fast food restaurants only to face disappointment when we rip open the bag to the harsh reality of fast food truth. There are a few special foods that look incredible in the advertising photos and reality look like something a dog would turn it’s nose up at. The worst of these confounding confectionaries are burgers, microwave dinners and frozen pizza. That, my friends is where my Pizza Challenge begins!

So, here is the idea. Find a frozen pizza at the grocery store with gorgeous packaging. With a photo that makes the pizza look unbelievably tasty. Buy the pizza, and using nothing but the ingredients that come in the package, try and make the pizza look as delicious in my photo as it does on the box. Propping with items outside of the box is fine because it isn’t changing the actual product for sale. What is important is that this is exactly what you get when you buy this pizza, nothing extra can be added to add to the products appeal. In this case I decided to copy the props as closely as possible to pretend that for this challenge that propping was already picked by an art director, as it probably was for the packaging. To avoid any trouble I might get into by mentioning the brand or showing their packaging I have opted to leave it out. Which leaves the matter of deciding this challenge’s success or failure up to you the reader. But, with some careful investigative snooping I am sure you could catch a glimpse of the original during your next visit to the grocery store.

The necessary elements for the shoot, pizza, props and antique wood bread board.

Opening the pizza package, there are some obvious challenges right away. I am pleasantly surprised at how good everything looks. The toppings look good and colorful but are a bit random in their placement. This won’t matter much because I am planning on removing everything but the cheese and sauce. I get to work removing the toppings and when I am finished I notice that there is a discrepancy between the package and the pizza. The advertising image has plain crust on the edges and the frozen pizza in front of me has sauce right up to the edge. This will need to be fixed, so once the pizza had thawed slightly I noticed that I could easily remove the sauce from the sides, so I wiped the sides as clean as I could get them. Then I smoothed out the cheese making sure to get a nice even coat, making sure to get it close to the edge. After finishing and reviewing my shots I think I could have done a better job of getting the cheese in a broken line over the crust to give it a more “asiago” look.

All of the ingredients I pulled off of the pizza to cook separately.

As I am starting to ready the pizza for cooking I have been getting the set ready. I have a second pizza as a stand in, so I can tune in the lighting. I feel like the shiny glossy quality is the key to the success of this image so I leave the plastic on the stand in to let me see the reflections created by the light as well as how the shadows will work. I have chosen a silver beauty dish as the key light, I like the slightly contrasty light especially on pizza where all of the action is happening in a very thin layer. It makes the toppings seem monumental. Then I am bouncing a strobe off of the white ceiling for fill. The fill is bounced from down set as well as the key to maintain a direction to the light and is very faint, just enough to bump the shadows. 

Saucy sides, it didn't look like this on the package

The pizza goes into the oven and cooks, just the cheese and crust. Then in a skillet I cook the sausages and set them aside, then the pepperoni, just enough to make them shine. The peppers and olives and onions were simply washed, I looked at the packaging and they looked as though they weren’t cooked, so I followed suit. I think I could have cooked them slightly in a skillet but I cant imagine how that would have improved the way they look. After carefully watching the pizza cook, it was finally ready. I quickly placed the toppings as uniformly as I could, being careful to show the more colorful skin side of the peppers towards the camera.

Sauce issue is fixed by removing the sauce while the pizza thawed. For a big commercial shoot all of the elements would likely be provided separately. 

Finally the pizza is finished and looks great. Out goes the stand-in and in goes the hero. Then I make sure everything is lined up properly by looking at the image in my iPad. I find it invaluable to shoot tethered to a computer or iPad when shooting food. It makes it so much easier to spot issues and correct them. Then I start shooting images and really studying the results. I will see some topping that looks off, or I will not like how the props interfere or interact and make small changes as I go along. It is critical that everything keeps looking fresh and hot so I will replace the basil once it starts wilting and I will use a heat gun on the food to keep it looking warm. The original package I was looking at for inspiration was square to fit the pizza. I ended up changing my image slightly for a horizontal by adding the tomato and the pizza cutter. 

So what did I learn form my challenge? While, the original image is most certainly better than mine, it was created by a room full of people including art directors and assistants and food stylists. I think I proved that you can take a frozen pizza and by strategically making sure every element looks it’s best, make a really appealing picture that makes you want to take a bite.

Final image was shot with a canon 5Ds with a 90mm tilt shift lens. ISO 100, f14 1/20

Thanks for reading, be sure and stop by www.danieljacksonphoto.com to see more of my food photography. If you need great images to promote your food product or restaurant, I am a food photographer for hire and I would love to hear from you . 

Buttercream Basics Book: Just Hit the Shelves!

New book out this week chock-full of my food photography! The Book is called “Buttercream Basics- Learn the Art of Buttercream Decorating” by Carey Madden. It is a step-by-step book demonstrating buttercream icing decorating techniques. It is 256 pages and full of photos, 360 step-by-step images plus probably a hundred more of the finished cakes and cupcakes in all of their glory. 

Here is how the design concept worked. One "hero" shot for the first page, step-by-step images and instruction and then close-up and various angles to get a good idea of what the cake would look like. Close-ups were a fun way to get creative.

I am really proud of how it turned out, but as much as I would like to, I can’t take credit for the whole thing. In reality, without Carey Madden’s incredible talent there would have been nothing to photograph. It was a such pleasure to work with her and her assistant Leigh Polous as they came up with these incredible cakes day after day. I am also thankful for my assistant Don Bethman who came up with great visual ideas and kept things moving along on a tight schedule.

My daughter helped hold the book open in case you were wondering about my tiny hands.

It was a whole lot of work. Between making the cakes, photographing them and then doing the demonstration photos it was a bit dizzying. We found our work groove fairly fast as we shot over a period of several weeks. At the beginning of each week we would get to work photographing cakes that were made on the weekend and chilled. After looking at the cakes we would look through our collection of backgrounds, surfaces, plates, utensils and props and come up with a concept that would enhance the cake. We had in mind that there would be somewhere in the area of 40 cakes and we wanted them to stand out form one another so we had our hands full. Once we came up with a concept we would begin making the “beauty” or “hero” shots, these were the images that would run at the beginning or end of each project that showed the cake looking as appealing as possible. I would try and get several beauty shots of each cake so there were some options for the designer. Different angles, different camera heights, one image we might add some plates and silver and another we would take it away. When we had enough good pictures to be satisfied, we would quickly “break set”(take everything down) and get to work on another cake.

The author Carey and her assistant Leigh were real artists. They came up with so many beautiful designs.

Since the cakes could sometimes be fairly labor intensive we would run out of cakes to photograph quickly. Then we would set up a table and lighting to do the demo photos, while Leigh would continue to prepare the next cake for it’s “beauty” shot. Photographically the idea with the demo shots was to get everything looking as perfect and consistent looking as possible so that while Carey demonstrated I could quickly shoot without missing any important steps. The step-by-step photos were fun but also a little challenging. Part of the nature of the decorating that was being demonstrated was that the smoother and more fluid the motion the better the results. However, to me it just seemed fast. So when the author would do a simple step it would be over before I even snapped the shutter. We would have to go over steps a few times because I was too slow on the draw. Even when we slowed things down, the issue is that there is only one perfect moment to shoot. For example, if you were demonstrating an s shaped curve, a shot at the start or middle of the stroke doesn't show the s shape. After the piping tip pulls away it doesn’t seem like anything is being demonstrated since all that is visible is the s curve. So, there is a very tiny window of time to catch, the moment the action is finished, right before the tip is pulled away. Otherwise we would try it again.

We did a lot of really simple propping that gave the cakes a life of their own. Thanks to Don my assistant for running out and getting the succulent for this shot. As you can imagine we did a ton of shopping for props. A bunch of stuff didn't make it in.

Watching the author work so closely was fun, she had developed an amazing amount of skill, so much so that everything looked easy and fun. Her enthusiasm for her work was so catchy I would watch and think about how I should make these cakes myself. In fact, that might make a fun post someday soon, my daughter’s birthday is coming up and that caterpillar cupcake cake is so cool…. Stay tuned to this blog….

I totally want to make this one. I don't think it is possible to have a bad time at a party if this is the cake.

To finish all of the photography we ended up going through this cycle 40 times for all of the beauty shots and another 40 times for the step-by-step demos. Every new cake meant setting up saw horses, putting a table surface on those. picking a wall color or background, hanging the background. setting lights, reflectors and flags to block unwanted light. Picking a plate or cake stand, arranging the cake and props. wheeling the huge camera stand over, shooting low, medium, overhead, tight or wide. Then taking it all down to put up the demo table in its place, then re-lighting for the demo. It all sounds a little like the movie “Groundhog Day”, but it wasn’t at all, partly because of the personalities involved and partly because we all loved what we were doing. it ended up being a relaxed(most of the time), creative, fun experience. 

So many cake stands. I spent so many hours on eBay trying to get enough variation without breaking the bank. I feel like this is a great example of really simple styling that is crisp, cute and tells a story.

Post-production was complicated partly because of the amount of step-by-step images we shot. Rather than risk a re-shoot, we made sure to get every last nuance. When we finished I printed up proof sheets for Carey and the editor to pick from that seemed about a mile thick. I went through two sets of ink for my printer by the time I was finished. The photos then were RAW processed in Lightroom and minor retouching was done in Photoshop. I retouched things like strange reflections on the metal surfaces on a few of the images and smudges here and there. In the end after so much time with the project I was a little sad to send the photos off to the designer because it meant I was finally finished.

Christmas lights made a few appearances, I love the look of the blurred out highlights. Everything looks so festive.

Now with the book in my hand it makes me smile. I may have finished retouching and sent the images a few months ago. But since then other people have been working with them and putting together the book. There were decisions made about which images to use and what context to use them in, and even how and where to crop them that gives the images a totally different feel. Thanks to Daniella Zanchetta for a great looking design that pulled the whole thing together and made everything look amazing. This whole project was really a creative collaboration and I was happy to play my small part.

Here are some step-by-step images. We would set up everything carefully and then shoot a million pictures. If we missed anything we would have to go back start over with a new cake.

Thanks so much for reading. If you think you might want to learn more about Buttercream Decorating I have a recommendation for you available here. If you need food photography for your restaurant or cookbook or business or a food photographer to help you with your project I would love to hear about it, you can reach me here for a free quote or visit www.danieljacksonphoto.com to see recent work in my food portfolio.

Anatomy of a Cake Photograph

In order to make a good food photograph there are a bunch of things that go on behind the scenes. I thought I would lift the curtain and let you in on what I did in order to photograph a cake earlier this week. As the ideas start to form I am looking for a couple of things. First, I think there should a unifying theme that tells some kind of story to draw you in. Second it should be appealing to look at, and since we are talking about food it should appeal to your appetite as well.

Before I got the actual cake in my hands I started out with a iPhone picture. It was helpful because it allowed me to start thinking of how I might approach the photo. Looking at the cake I can start to make decisions. I first start with adjectives to come up with some kind of theme. The cake is beautiful, flowery, feminine, detailed, uses flowing organic forms. The cake feels sophisticated, rather than a super punchy palette of colors it has a mellower dusty kind of palette. It feels British and reminds me of floral textiles. Then, there is the sheer volume of the flowers, this is bold and expressionistic. This cake has personality!

Wider shot, doesn't crop the plate.

The real star of the show is the cake, everything else is there to allow the eye to move around the picture and to enhance the subject. So I am looking for things that aren’t screaming for attention but gently enhance. I decided, since the color was more subdued, that there should be relatively little color in the surrounding background. For the wall I decided to use a pale color that mimicked the color theme of the cake. I tried both the dusty rose and gray blue and felt that the gray blue gave more depth. I have 4’x4’ sheets of wood painted all sorts of colors to use as walls, so changing a wall color is a simple as sliding in a new sheet of wood. For the tabletop I decided to keep the color subdued as well. The tabletop is one of many that I have at the ready and is made of reclaimed wood from an old house. I have slats of all colors and textures that I can easily throw down for totally different looks. I decided to use these particular pieces because I felt that the cake’s dusty colors and delicate flowers felt somewhat nostalgic or heirloom and that more antique surface would play nicely with that theme. 

A tight vertical image. Verticals are more common for print, horizontals for web use.

Props are a crucial part of food photography especially with cakes, since the shape is so uniform from cake to cake. The familiar pill shape of a cake can get boring very quickly, so different shapes can break up the form and keep things interesting. I feel like in this case theprops not only break up the monotony of a plain background but feel inviting as though the cake is just about to be cut and served and tea enjoyed. The demitasse cups play off of the delicate nature of the flower decorations and pick up colors in the theme. The plates and linen were actually more pure white than they are in the finished versions. I toned them slightly warmer to match the cake and cups and suggest through the styling that this is a buttercream cake. Finally the cake plate is a bit of a nod to the bold flowers. The swirly pattern is a playful reminder of icing that keeps the whole thing contemporary and playful as a counterpoint to the antique cups and surface.

A wider vertical image with no cropping of the plate. One reason it pays to have different versions is if there might be text used over the image once it is printed.

Once props are decided on then I typically look for the front of the dish, there always seems to be a best angle for a plate. Everything gets put in place, and I am ready to start shooting pictures. Since I have a bunch of time with a cake I will look at the photos on my iPad and determine if things could look any better. Often I will make a million tiny adjustments till things are just right. Then, I will try a number of angles, close, low, high, overhead, till I know I have the shot. For this cake I got 5 variations that I like, and in all I made 44 exposures. Some of the exposures had different lighting or different arrangements but in the end there were 5 clear winners.

I am really fond of this one as well. The lighting is a little crisper. For the photography nerds out there, I used a beauty dish with some bounced fill, it really gives it a nice contrast.

As you may now know, there are a bunch of considerations to make when doing food photography. All of this doesn’t even begin to speak of the artistry of the cake itself, which was made by Berlyn Mellein of Honey and Rose Bakery. Berlyn sells her amazing cakes, cupcakes and baked goods at Artisan Exchange in West Chester. If you get chance visit her Honey and Rose Bakery Facebook page. I am often asked if I get to eat the food I photograph and in this case I can honestly say the cake was as delicious as it looked.

Thanks for reading, I love to hear from you and answer questions so if you have any please don't be shy. If you are a chef, baker, cook, restauranteur, food blogger, writer or food service business owner and need great food photography, I would love to hear about your project. Contact me for a free quote. If you would like to see more of my photography visit www.danieljacksonphoto.com

Controlling Light While Photographing Exterior Architecture

When photographing architecture there are a lot of techniques we photographers have at our disposal to make the most of a tough situation but sometimes we must rely on luck when it comes to the weather. We schedule our shoots around the weather and sometimes we even have to wait for the season to change to get good conditions for photography. This happened on a recent shoot where the client needed images right away the building didn’t get a lick of light on the front of the building all day. 

A tighter crop from the same image, I love all of the extra pixels I get from my 51 megapixel camera. I have plenty of options in post to re-frame and re-compose. Really useful for page headers or creative graphic design presentations. 

With a little research I was able to find out that at this part of the season the building never got light on the front. In a few months along with the longer days would come the sun, but that wasn’t going to help me now. Typically when shooting exterior architecture you schedule all of the shots to get the best results. You try and hit a perfect window of time, where the light skims the building showing the detail and texture without ugly raking contrasty shadows. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon are often among the best times but it is important to get some direct light to make things pop, so really anything goes. Getting good quality lighting can be the difference between a good and bad architectural photograph.

Sun Seeker app on my iPad pro, I can have a good idea of what I will be looking at on the day of the shoot. If I am shooting this building street side and I want light on the face of the building then I better shoot before 10am. As the seasons change the angle changes but then so does foliage, so there is a lot to consider when getting the optimum architectural shot.

One tool architectural photographers use these days are apps that plot the sun’s path and apply the information to satellite maps. These programs can really help simplify the task of scheduling how to make the most of the light during the day. I use one called “Sun Seeker” that shows the path of the sun during the day, and the sunrise and sunset times for the day of the shoot. These apps are incredibly accurate and can even project where the sun will be in three weeks or three months. While shooting a recent project I discovered that there wouldn't be any direct sun on the face of the building for months. The sun at sunrise was very close to putting some light on the building’s facade but shortly after sunrise the sun would go towards the back of the building in an arc. The brief window of time never really amounts to the perfect light that you hope for in this situation. Rather than illuminating the textures the light just put confusing patterns of shadows on the wall. Since the building’s front would be in the shade cast by the eaves during the day, I knew everything would be flat and lacking in detail. 

The best option was to capture the building in the early morning. I ended up shooting at dawn, early enough for the light to have a nice directionality to it. While there wouldn't be any direct sunlight, the fact that the sun was far to the side on the horizon gave the light some heft and show off the the design. I showed up onsite a little before dawn, set up my camera and made lots of exposures till the sun came up and made a beautiful sky. I just keep shooting until all of the warm sunrise colors disappear, then I go back through the exposures and pick out a winner. I love the quiet as the day starts, watching the sunrise is a pretty great way to spend the morning.

Twilight images don't need direct sun and often show off the building brilliantly. This one was done as an elevation, probably very close to the way the design appeared on the "blueprints" when the design was being worked up.

The twilight image was made in a very similar way. I typically set up my camera before dusk and start making exposures. Ideally, the goal is to catch the building, the dramatic beautiful sky and all of the interior lights in perfect balance. So first I am looking to catch an exposure that catches some detail in the building and makes the sky look as good as possibly can.  When it gets dark enough I make an exposure of the windows. Finally, with a flashlight I hit areas on the building that need a little light. This image had the additional issue of being extremely wide. I couldn’t back up far enough to get it into a conventional camera so I had to take advantage of one of the features of a tilt-shift lens or perspective correction lens. The image was photographed with the lens shifted to one side, and while the camera remains absolutely still the lens shifts to the other side capture the rest of the image in another exposure. I am planning go into more depth on twilight photos and Tilt/shift lenses in future blog posts, so keep checking back to this space.

A close up crop of the twilight image. Rather than hoping for the perfect sun conditions during a twilight shot you keep your fingers crossed for just the right amount of clouds, too many clouds and no sunset too few clouds and welcome to boring town.

In the end, there are all sorts of ways to make the best of the situation, from polarizing filters to photoshop. And it isn’t uncommon to turn a gray dismal day into a bright sunny day with the help of a little judicious lighting. It seems that everyday I learn new techniques and workarounds just in time for the next weird challenge that comes out of nowhere.

Thanks for reading, Let me know if you have any questions. If you are an architect, builder or developer and need great quality photography to promote your business, contact me with the details of your project for a free quote. I am located just outside of Philadelphia but can be found with my camera in hand photographing in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and all over Pennsylvania. If you would like to see more of my photography visit danieljacksonphoto.com

On The Cutting Room Floor

This last summer I was thrilled to be a part of a book project demonstrating cake decorating techniques. My job was to provide food photography for the book. There was no art director on site and no prop stylist so I was also doing art direction and prop styling for the photos. Over the course of a few weeks I got to photograph 40 some odd cakes and thousands of step-by-step images. I gathered surfaces, tabletops, backdrops and all sorts of props, and lined the walls of our shared studio/kitchen space. When I got the job the pressure of making sure that so many cakes look interesting and unique came down on me. I have tons of props, plates, silverware and the like. But for this I was going to need cake stands and lots of them, I was also going to need a metric ton of servers. I had a few weeks to prepare so I started to spend all of my free time online looking for deals. Amazon and eBay got a lot of use as did my prime membership. Every day several new cake stands and servers arrived, but I knew I needed more. It was all like a sick game of Brewsters Millions. A film from the eighties where the hero had to spend so much money as to hate the sight of money in order to get his inheritance. Before this, most shopping online was somewhat pleasurable for me, After, I was glad to be finished. Once everything was gathered together at the ready, the author, her assistant Leigh and my assistant Don and I worked feverishly in Philadelphia for several weeks. With so many cakes we really had to be creative to keep things looking fresh. We would gather cake stands, plates, silverware, knives, plates and backgrounds and props and try and figure out which combinations of colors and textures worked together. We tried to make every shot interesting and appealing. Everyone on set had ideas and were encouraged to chime in when something wasn't quite working or could be improved. Once everything was set up just right I would photograph from every conceivable angle, move things, take things in and out of the shot, fiddle with shadows all as quickly as possible so we could move on to the next cake. In the end I am quite proud of the results and can't wait to see the book in print.

A couple of different versions of this design ended up in the book but not as one of the featured cakes. I have many versions of this, it was an extremely photogenic subject.

As the author and designer finalized the book and I processed the files I was sad to find that a few of our favorite images didn't make it in. It was slightly depressing because they are some of the most ambitious cakes we did. I am glad that they will get seen here, by you, and in the end it will make a better book. All of the food styling was done by the Author Carey and her super talented assistant Leigh. I am fairly perfectionistic so watching the two of them work was a treat, they were like machines, fast, efficient, precise and most importantly creative. During the course of a food shoot of this size there are a million little issues that have to be worked out and they were unshakable. I had so much fun working on this and I can't wait to share more photos. For now this is a bit of a teaser.

An example of some of the simple propping and styling we did. Details made all the difference.

If you are interested in finding out more about the book it is called Buttercream Basics by Carey Madden published by Robert Rose and it will be released March 22nd of this year. If you are in the culinary business and need food photography and would like a free quote or just to discuss options for promoting your product or business I would love to hear about it. To see more of my food photography portfolio visit www.danieljacksonphoto.com or contact me here.

Mini Review: Styled

    To launch my new resolution of reviewing design books for the blog, I thought I would pick a recent favorite, Styled by Emily Henderson. The book covers making small changes to a room for the biggest impact, and it really focuses on the subject from a interior photo stylist’s perspective. The reason I am so fond of this book is that it fills a niche that very few design books do. Practical advice. Many design books showcase great design but are very light on the substance, especially if you are looking for real world techniques that you can apply today. I don’t know how many books I have that say things like ”pay special attention to color” or “texture can really enhance a design”. Styled is great because it gives me techniques I can use right away. For example the book goes through how to compose vignettes by breaking down the component parts and suggesting types of pairings that work well together. It states what colors work together, what shapes and textures.

Mmmmm, specifics. I love it!

    The book quickly goes through various types and eras of design and tries to help you discover exactly what your individual style is. As varied as the design within is there is anunderlying style that I really respond to. It is quirky and creative and tends towards displaying personality rather than austerity. Tending towards quirkier elements like cool paintings and flea market finds, so I get a charge from the rooms in the book. 

    The photographer side of me loves to look at how everything is composed and photographed and this book doesn’t disappoint. The photography is very bright and punchy and reads very naturally, although I suspect some lighting was used. There is a tendency throughout towards everything being bright and easy to discern rather than moodier and darker but it is a perfect fit for the designers style. As always I wish there were a few behind the scenes shots of the photography. I always love to see images of the photographer at work, if I am lucky it helps me reverse engineer how the shots were put together, and maybe try out a few new techniques or ideas on my next interior design photography shoot.

Inspiring photography, and tons of good ideas.

    One of the primary reasons that I started reading so many design books was to improve my styling, and figure out ways that I could nudge a design a bit for the camera. Most interior designers I work with have this covered in spades, but it never hurts to have another sympathetic pair of eyes on set. I have found that keeping up helps me speak the same language as the designer. Even when I shoot architectural photography where I typically work alone, all of the principles still hold true. Now I know that if I am going to move a plant in the shot, I have a good idea exactly where it should go and what it should accomplish. It might add height to draw the eye or break an otherwise harsh horizontal line it might give softness to an overly boxy or square grouping. 

Photos and descriptions that walk you through the concepts rather than inspirational quotes, what a concept.

    This book would be good for anyone looking to understand and start styling at all. The techniques apply no matter what project you are working on and there is enough meat here for the the whole design let alone for photo styling. It is refreshing to have a book in my library that is focused on styling for photography because there are so few of them. I have at least one other that is long since out of print but still a gem because the information is so perfectly directed towards what I am looking to accomplish.

    Thanks for reading. Let me know if there are any other photo styling books or resources that you know about, I would love to read more on the subject. And if you are an interior designer or decorator that needs great interior photography to promote your latest project contact me for a free quote, I work throughout the mid-atlantic, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania you name it. If you would like to see some examples of my interior design photography visit www.danieljacksonphoto.com.

Obsessed Much?

So, I have developed a bit of a "thing" with design books. As I've gotten more involved in photographing interior design I have also developed a fondness for learning about design myself. Books, as well as "shelter magazines" like Dwell, World of Interiors, Architectural Digest and Elle Decor satisfy my insatiable need for good photos and ideas. I love to pick apart what makes the images work and at the same time understand the underlying design, what makes it tick. 

On the photography side I try and reverse engineer how the photographer might have created the image. Was it natural light? Was it lit? How much styling was done by the photographer? With some careful inspection of the shadows in a picture, you can learn a lot. Unfortunately for me the quality in these magazines is so good that it can be difficult to tell.

One thing I learned quickly about doing commercial photography is that a photographer is almost like a movie producer. The buck stops with the photographer, and everything in the frame is their responsibility. So if an architectural interiors photographer steps into a space and the furniture looks wrong and things aren't balanced, then you go through the space and start editing. Maybe moving a couch a bit here, straightening the chairs a bit, even decluttering a bookshelf. The idea is not to change the design, but to make it read well on camera. A design can look amazing in person and be really difficult to translate into two dimensions.

As far as the design goes, I have noticed that masterful composition and control over lighting don't make very much difference without a compelling subject. Making good interior design photography is a synergy between the two artists coming together, the designer and the photographer. The photographer needs to try and understand the overall gesture of the design and what features need highlighting and interpret that for the printed page, portfolio or advertisement. If I'm lucky enough to work directly with the designer then we both work together to decide how to best show the designers intent. And if I am shooting solo, a decent understanding of interior design principles is invaluable.

I don't expect my love for books to wane at all, after all this is just some of the design books I have collected in the past few years. I would guess I have about ten times as many art and photography books. In the interest of sharing I might do a few reviews over the next few months of some of the books I have really enjoyed. Maybe in return you can tell me of any books that must absolutely be checked out. I hope to hear from you. As always, if you are an interior designer in, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, anywhere in the Mid-Atlantic and would like to discuss your project I would love to hear about it and provide a free quote. Or, if you are similarly fond of design books and want to share some titles, let's hear it. Visit www.danieljacksonphoto.com or contact me here.

The Fine Art of Digital File Processing

One of the things that keeps me interested in photography is just how difficult it is to master. There are all of the technical issues to overcome, like aperture and exposure and keeping things sharp. Then a slew of artistic concerns like composition, color, harmony and design. All of this comes to play, in the field, when you are out there with your camera in hand(or on tripod). But, where it can get really interesting is what happens later, when the files get processed.

one of many files used to create the final image, this one  captures the exterior lights over the garage bays. As you can see the colors very different between the inside and out. In person it doesn't look this strange, so it is my job to make the colors match and look natural.

In architectural photography it is not uncommon for photographers to take advantage of the fact that buildings don't move, which puts all sorts of creative possibilities on the table. The reason that an unmoving subject can make things more interesting is that the photographer can put their camera on a steady tripod and if things stay absolutely still between shots they can combine multiple exposures. The different exposures can each provide a function, one image might capture the perfect sky exposure, another might get the lights just right. An exposure can be made using a large black sheet to block reflections from glass or metal in the shot. As long as you are careful to only include the best parts, you can literraly be in the shot, and removed later. As you can imagine, things get complicated quickly and require excellent photoshop skills to massage everything into a usable image.

This image is another of the many used to create the final composite. This image catches the interior lights, but another exposure was needed to light the fronts of the trucks. By adjusting the length of exposure every element can be exposed properly.

The way files are added together and constructed into a final image is learned through experience and reflects the "eye" of the artist. Over time, I get better and better at compositing and often wonder just how different my images would be if I were to re-process the same project a few years later. I do this from time to time to perfect different techniques and compare the results to an earlier image constructed from the exact same set of photos. It seems strange that the exact same set of images can get such different results but it's true. Photoshop is such a vast program with so many methods to achieve similar results that it behaves like more organic media, like clay or paint than what we expect from digital media.

Which brings me to the last two images in this post. They are the result of revisiting an image that I was quite happy with. This image is in my portfolio so it represents some of my best work at the time. The first of the two was processed about two and a half years ago and the other was processed today. I am happy with the results, I feel like I am progressing well. I think the color is a little more complex or rich in the new version. The new version has a nice snap to it without so much data lost in the lights and darks. I was happy with the roof since I was able to get a lot more detail and color out of the same images. Over the years I have collected techniques to get the most out of my files, of course this could be in part due to improved raw processing with newer software, but it is a fairly significant change.

This image was composited two years ago. I am still quite fond of the results. Simple bright colors, it almost looks like a 4th of July image.

In the end I am not 100% sure which version is the best, but it doesn't matter much since these pictures bring back such good memories of spending the day at the firehouse. Luckily, no alarms happened to sound during this final image and the whole thing went off without a hitch. I probably spent about 2 hours in post processing for each version. I think of post-production sort of like the darkroom of the digital artist and just another tool in the arsenal of the professional architectural photographer.

This is the version from today. I opted for a new sky, the sky in other version was such a long exposure it was noisy and lacked something. This sky works well with the shape of the building and feels more alive.

Thanks for reading. If you are interested in commissioning architectural photography of your latest project I would be glad to answer any questions you might have or provide a free quote. To see examples of my work head on over to my portfolio.

Showing the Functionality of Architecture

It seems like I am always photographing schools and churches. They are exactly the types of spaces that require an architect. As teaching methodology changes so do the classrooms and the architect brings a lot to the table. They know the trends and can design something that takes into account the needs of the institution on a case by case basis. Something I am starting to see more of, are classrooms that quickly change from one task to another. The class might look to one side of the room for the whiteboard to another for the projector. To facilitate all of the moving around the chairs and tables roll. I have watched during classes and it works perfectly. The students seem more engaged because there is no front or back of the classroom. At one moment the teacher can be making a point, a moment later a student giving a presentation. The teacher can design the shape the class can take in a few minutes before class, perhaps a lecture, or group work, a large circle or even one giant table.

In this example I was asked to rearrange the desks to show that the focal point of the room can change. There are countless ways that I could have arranged the desk. For these images we decided to keep things simple . When I got into the room I got a peek into how the space might be used on a daily basis. There were workstations against the wall, where a student might use a computer or work privately or take a quiz. The desks in the middle of the room faced forward , bracketed by side facing desks. It really becomes a creative tool that the teacher and students use together to shape their experience together.

Here is another example from a different school. You can see many of the same ideas at play here. In this design the desks are all independent and attached to a chair. In practice it means the students can follow the teacher around or form groups. I got to observe a class in this room and I was really impressed by how easily the class could turn and regroup.

The students could work on the white boards(pictured to the right of the image) and share their work with the class. The flow of the class was fascinating. The teacher could have an idea and move freely between different types of learning in a natural and intuitive way that kept the students engaged. This certainly feels like the way things are moving and is a perfect example of how good design can impact lives.

As the architectural photographer my job is simplify and let the design shine. I end up doing a little bit of clean-up. I get rid of distracting elements, like cords, boxes, bins, papers, strange things on the walls, ink on the whiteboard, pretty much anything that doesn't help show the space and it's functionality. Then I go through and make sure everything is straight and not crowded. In this case using the floor tiles to align the desks and chairs as perfectly as I can. Lighting plays a role too, depending on the angle I am shooting from the light can flatten the image and make it difficult to distinguish where one thing begins and another ends. On rooms of this scale I always use lighting to shape the room and give volume where it is needed. I combine images that are artificially lit with ambient light images in photoshop. I may use very little of the lit image or a lot depending what looks best. Lighting insures for me that I don't finish the shoot, get back to my studio and realize I didn't get the shot. I always have options and can hopefully turn any shot into something to be proud of. I am well aware that I am documenting something that may have taken years from start to finish so I want to get it perfect. Once back in the studio, I can look over the files and determine how to process the images to best tell the story of the space. There is a fine art of perfecting and retouching architectural photography that takes years to refine, but if you will take my word for it, it is also seriously fun.

Thanks so much for reading and if you have any questions or comments let me know. If you are an architect, builder, developer or designer and you need great photos to promote your business, contact me here and I would be glad to provide a free quote for you project.

Thoughts on the 5Ds for Architectural and Food Photography

Several months ago I decided to invest in a new camera, I was really excited about the new Canon  cameras the 5Ds and the 5Dsr. These new cameras had huge files, 51 megapixels, more than double the pixels of the camera I was currently using. It was such a giant leap in resolution I began to fantasize that this camera would be similar to the medium and large format cameras I used to use during the film days. I ended up going for the 5ds since architectural work is often full of repeating patterns like tiles and bricks I figured the anti-alias filter would save me a bunch of effort. I think the first thing to hit me after getting the camera was a little buyers remorse. I was impressed by the files but double the resolution doesn't always seem like twice as sharp. But really the issue ran deeper than that.

Once I began shooting I started to worry about these huge files, I had grown accustomed to working on a laptop with a calibrated monitor and hard drive space is at a premium these days with the switch to solid state drives. My whole system of backing up required some serious scrutiny. So, the camera sat there collecting dust. I would break it out for really important stuff but it was really just floundering there. On my little experiments with the camera as it was largely unused, I started to really enjoy the camera and the creative leeway that the huge files could provide. I was able to crop and re-compose my images like never before. The more I cropped the more I began to realize that distortion in lenses increases exponentially as it gets farther from the lens's center. So I could compose a shot and make editorial decisions later that could really improve my work.

wide shot at 51mp, more than enough for almost any use.

It was time to figure out how to deal with all of the space required for these huge files. I like keeping some work on my laptop so that I can re-visit and rework files even when not at home or work. (I can't help it, I am always messing around trying to find new cool techniques). I ended up getting a Raid drive, R.A.I.D. stands for something like, redundant automatic ice cube dispenser or something, (too lazy to check right now). The important word being redundant, in the case of my drives there are two in one enclosure and they are being run as identical copies, that way if one drive fails the other is still there with your data safe and sound. Then I signed up for a remote service that backs up everything off-site over the internet.

Tighter crop of the same image. The file is still huge, big enough for a billboard even after throwing out a ton of pixels.

Now that everything is running smoothly and I can choose between the big files or my other smaller camera, I usually opt for the larger files of the 5Ds. I might go for the other camera when I am shooting a lot or I am shooting something that I will never need to print huge like a head shot. But the advantages are so great when shooting architecture or food it seems like a no brainer. It feels like a win-win, I can deliver more options, customizable compositions that can be a dream when working with text and ad copy. It is one more thing that makes me stand out as a professional architectural photographer that always delivers solid work.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions or comments I would be glad to help if I know the answer. If you would like to get to know more about Daniel Jackson photo or my work please take a look at my portfolio, for quotes and availability I can be reached here.