by William P. McElligott All photos by the author

Shooting architecture for the last 30 years as a professional has enabled me to extend my career into the field of teaching. For the past six years, I have been conducting photography workshop/tours. By using architecture as the subject matter, I have been able to pass along to my students ways of constructing and designing powerful images. I find it very easy to transfer this knowledge to other aspects of photography, including nature, landscape and people. Let’s see how this works, using architectural exteriors for the purpose of this article. Before looking at the individual design elements, I must mention the importance of preplanning in architectural photography. When circumstances permit, I will go on a scouting mission without a camera just to look at the building and figure out all the logistics. Buildings don’t move, but they do change in appearance depending on weather, time of year and season. This enables us to go back time and time again to re-photograph our favourite structures, often with dramatically different results. Whether we shoot architecture in our home land of Canada or on vacation in an exotic land, all the same guidelines apply. Light: Quality and Direction Since we are dealing with exterior facades only, we are left with one light source: the sun. It is of the utmost importance to understand the building’s orientation in relation to the light source, so a compass is a very handy tool to carry in your camera bag. I also recommend adding a city map to your camera bag, so that references can be made according to the time of sunrise and sunset in relation to whether the building faces north, south, east or west. Time of year also is very important, since the sun travels north until the summer solstice and then returns south until just before Christmas. In our Northern hemisphere this can represent as much as a 20-degree difference in where the sun sets and rises. The amount of light available can vary from nine hours of daylight in the winter to 15 or more hours of daylight in the summer. If you are travelling closer to the equator, the amount of daylight stays pretty much the same; for example, central and southern Mexico have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness all year long. Just as in other types of photography, I find early morning and late afternoon light to be the most pleasing. Archivo light Besides the early morning light evident in this photograph, the perspective of shooting from a low angle adds drama. Note the inclusion of the shadow of the street lamp; this element acts like a supporting actor in a play, adding strength to the main subject area of the doorway. Shapes The nice thing about shooting architecture is the ease of recognizing shapes in the design of a building. For example, windows come in all shapes and sizes, whether they be circular, square, triangular, or rectangular. By looking for these shapes and shooting them on a regular basis we will easily recognize these configurations in other domains of photography, such as nature and landscapes. These shapes will make intriguing detail shots in the overall study of a building. Sometimes there is a lot more information in a detail than in an overall perspective.

Spanish columns Sometimes it works when the main subject rests in the middle of the picture space. By carefully breaking up the overall composition and including a triangular shape (the blue sky) and a semi-circle (bas relief in ceiling at right), a sense of balance is achieved in the overall effect.

Lines Lines appear in buildings in numerous forms. They can be seen in pillars, roof lines, facia, cornices, for example. There are really only two types of lines — curved and straight — with three orientations: vertical, horizontal and oblique. These lines have three characteristics: length, direction and position. Long lines have more visual impact because they hold your attention and move your eye through a greater area of the picture space than short lines. The skillful use of lines will make for a clear and effective composition. Texture Ah texture — my favourite design element!! You can really capture the essence of a building by being sensitive to the skin or texture of the outside of the structure. Recognizing the different materials that go into the construction, such as stone, brick, concrete, wood, metal or glass, helps to define the true heart of the building’s design. By using strong, low-angled sidelight in the early morning or late afternoon, emphasis is put on the textural qualities of the subject matter. As well, after summer rain showers when the outside of a building becomes wet, the texture really shines through.

Morning light By shooting from an extremely low angle and utilizing directional sidelight, I was able to bring out the textures of both the ancient stone and the cactus plant.

Yellow fort Carefully recognizing and placing lines in the photograph will improve your composition. The curved yellow line and the strong horizontal line of the fort anchor the wall of the fort. Also, the negative space of the sky (the color blue) and its placement in the photograph are critical to a strong composition.

Perspective Perspective combines the qualities of shape, line and texture and further introduces a dimensional quality in the form of depth. Perspective can be created by distorting or deforming space by using a wide angle lens. Carefully chosen apertures altering depth of field (range of focus) may also be used. The position of the photographer, high or low, along with different choice of lenses all affect perspective. By simply lying on one’s stomach, one is able to remove cluttered and unwanted foregrounds. I use different heights of ladders to gain various perspectives during my shoots. Sometimes one foot of height makes all the difference in the world. Go out and find your favourite piece of architecture and have some fun. Spend some time with your camera under different weather conditions, times of day and seasons of the year. Nothing improves one’s overall photography more than making pictures on a regular basis.

	Morning streetscape Always be ready. I stepped out of the hotel early in the morning to capture the first rays of light to hit the street and came upon this scene. Acting quickly and shooting without a tripod, I was able to shoot both horizontal and vertical images. Only later when I viewed the images on a light table did I notice the motorcycle. Sometimes you create your own luck.
	Wall of balconies Late afternoon light, falling on the balconies as viewed from above the street, brings out more detail in the subject matter. I went up on a walk-way to achieve this perspective. Also, strong vertical lines including the doorways add repetition and rhythm to the photograph.

William P. McElligott is a professional architectural photographer living in Chelsea QC, just north of Ottawa. He currently divides his time between assignment photography and teaching. He conducts weekend visual design photography workshops both in the spring and the fall out of his studio located at Meech Lake QC. Go to http://www.wpmcelligott.com/ During the late fall and winter he conducts week-long photographic tours/workshops in Oaxaca, Campeche and Merida (all in Mexico) through Photographic Discovery Tours. Go to http://www.pdtours.com/ You can contact William at: willie@wpmcelligott.com All the photos shown here were taken in and around Oaxaca, Campeche and Merida in the country of Mexico.