Architectural Photography Workshop

After meeting up for a coffee and chat about the workshop, spend the first 15 minutes looking and not photographing anything. Literally set your timer on your phone and look at the building you are going to photograph. Walk around it, notice how the light falls on it. The structure. Its relationship to other buildings. The background. The way the weather is making it look. Make a note of what you feel about this building and what sort of images might be able to reflect that feeling. Will you need to go in close with a longer lens, distort with a wide angle, get the whole or part of the building in shot? Will it look better in black and white or colour?

Here are some ways you might like to approach it...
 

1. Architecture as Art: Seeing the Sculptural Beauty

Capture the artistic essence of a building by focusing on its design, lines, and form.
 

2. Harmonizing with Nature: Architecture and the Environment

Explore how architecture blends with, contrasts, or disrupts its surroundings.
 

3. Emotion through Space: The Mood of Architecture

Convey a specific emotion through your photograph of a building or space.
 

4. Storytelling through Architecture: The Narrative of Buildings

Capture a building's story—its history, purpose, or cultural significance—through photography.
 

5. Dialogue between Old and New: Contrasting Architectural Eras

Explore the visual dialogue between historical and modern architecture through photography.
 

6. Human Presence in Architecture: Capturing Interaction

Photograph how people interact with architectural spaces, emphasizing the human connection.
 

7. The Building as a Living Organism: Capturing Change Over Time

Photograph a building as it changes with light, weather, and time, portraying it as a dynamic, living structure.
 

8. Symbiosis: Architecture and Urban Life

Capture the relationship between architecture and the urban environment.
 

9. The Poetics of Space: Photographing Atmosphere

Convey the intangible qualities of a space—such as atmosphere and emotion—through photography.
 

10. Transformation and Decay: The Beauty of Imperfection

Find and capture the beauty in architecture that has aged or decayed.
 

11. Architecture as a Reflection of Society

Explore how a building reflects societal values, norms, and history through photography.
 

Participants will be encouraged to actively engage with architecture, not only as photographers but as storytellers, artists, and observers of the built environment. Each exercise will deepen their connection with the subject matter, allowing them to explore how photography can enhance and reveal the relationship between buildings and the world around them.

• Basic techniques to achieve the best images of architecture
• Camera settings
• Gear selection

• Camera
• A choice of lenses (whatever you have)
• A tripod (if you want to use one)
• Memory cards
• Spare battery