Photographing Buildings - Feedback

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I received this little gem in my inbox and thought it worth reproducing here.

Hi Geoff,

This little piece seemed very familiar to me:
"The trouble is you're always there at the wrong time of day, the light is coming from the wrong direction, there are crowds of people blocking your view and the rest of the family are nagging you to put the camera away and get moving."

You're absolutely right..! :)

Thanks for making these tutorials! As an amateur photographer trying his best, I found a few good tips here and there!

But some things have to do with taste I guess? I didn't share your thought on framing a building with leaves. I attached your picture of the Sagrada Familia in the way that I would have cropped (and saturated) it.

And I attached my own picture of this beautiful church. I intentionally left in the crane. I know more pictures like this one have been made.... but at least I caught it in a late afternoon sun ;).

Good luck with the website,

Thijs Roes
the Netherlands

I think that Thijs Roes's photo of the Sagrada Familia is very nice indeed. By shooting from a low angle he has created a very dramatic composition and also minimized the effect of the crane and other signs of building work. The partial cloud cover also adds interest to the shot.

Of course it would be a little more complicated to take out the crane because of the clouds, you have to make sure that it all blends at the end and looks realistic.

Of course I don't agree with the cropping of my picture at the top, I think that light corners are to be avoided at all costs because they lead the eye out of the picture, but we'll agree to disagree on that one.

Geoff Lawrence

If you want to get serious about photographing buildings try this book.

If you have any feedback on any photo related matter send me an email.

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