Real Estate and Architectural Photography - Working Outside

I've spent the better part of this week discussing the joys and perils of indoor real estate and architectural photography. Photographing buildings is an entirely different "animal". Here are some examples of my work before this class (taken several months ago):



Now, these are not bad, not at all. However, knowing what I know now, well, I'd like to get back up to Philly as soon as possible for another photo shoot.

Here are some things I did correctly and well, based on the class I took:

1) The first picture was taken at an angle, and at the top of a hill.

2) The last picture was taken with a wide-angle lens, and it gives the campus an open, spacious feel.

As for the second and third pictures, I could have done the following:

1) Changed the angle of the second picture to show more of the building. The pathway is nice, but it doesn't bring much to the picture.

2) Photographed the third picture at the top of this hill, and not the bottom. This point is very important, because this picture doesn't look quite "right" to me. Also, the green post is very distracting. Had I moved up the hill, I probably could have avoided it.

So, did I do better during the photography lesson? I think so:





I took all my interior shots in this house. The interior was amazing and spacious, as you could probably tell from my pictures earlier this week.



This house was across the street.

Would you believe that both pictures were taken on a steep hill? Because I went to the side that was at the top of the hill, I mitigated that risk. Also, I cropped liberally. There was a large car in front of the house in the first picture. The second picture had too much extraneous detail on the sides. Cropping is your friend, trust me.

Now, there is an exception to the rule I just mentioned. If the sun is hitting one side more than the other, you'll want to photograph that side to give a nice warm effect, even if that side is at the bottom of the hill. That didn't apply to either of these houses, because it was a cloudy day. But, you'll want to experiment with that. You'll want to do that at an angle, in case I wasn't clear. :)

Also, use foliage and anything that is pretty to your advantage. It was easier to do this with the second picture.

I live in a neighborhood with beautiful houses. When the weather improves and the flowers begin to bloom, I plan to head out and try to take pictures like these. I've always felt that my architectural pictures looked very fake, so I'm hoping I'll do better. I certainly learned quite a bit!

Tomorrow - some final thoughts about this workshop.