I remember the first time I used Adobe Lightroom. It had to be around the year 2008. It was a shock to me back then. I mainly had used Photoshop before, which is a powerful tool, but especially at that time, it wasn’t well-suited for quickly editing a large number of photos.
When I set out to pick a luminosity masking plugin for Photoshop a few years ago, I was pretty overwhelmed by the amount of options out there. It seemed like every photographer recommended a different plugin, and as someone with major analysis paralysis and decision fatigue, I finally decided just to pick one and get on with it.
There will always be newbies entering the genre of architecture photography, and along with that inexperience can be unfamiliarity around some core, fundamental principles. If this sounds like you, then I hope the following videos help.
Granted there’s multiple ways to “skin the cat” when it comes to getting your verticals straight, obtaining the correct white balance, and making sure you have an overall properly exposed image.
Back in March, Farzad of Nimkat Studio based in Tehran reached out to me with something intriguing. He mentioned an efficient technique to eliminate haze and crazy highlights in interior photography. And just last week, he finally shared the video with me.
Architectural photographer and helpful tip sharer Dennis Radermacher used to be an IT systems engineer before he jumped ship to photography. He knows that as artists, we don’t necessarily love thinking or talking about mundane office tasks like backups and data management.
Let’s be honest removing/adding objects in our work is time-consuming and complex and the available tools in Photoshop were… not so good. But that might be a thing of the past thanks to Photoshop’s new tool: Generative Fill.
The AI narrative is everywhere right now, however you needed third-party programs like DALL-E to really integrate AI capabilities into our workflow (check out Kyrre Sundal post on the topic ).
Opinions will vary drastically on how to achieve (or even define what exactly is) that coveted “editorial look” in architecture & design photography. In fact, as I type out this paragraph, I’m not exactly sure if I could even define what it is (yes I understand the irony).
Alex Nye gives us a behind-the-scenes look into his editing process using localized Lightroom adjustments and masks in his newest Youtube video. Alex shows off how to intersect linear gradients and luminance ranges. He also shows how he manipulates light to create drama and atmosphere to guide the viewer’s eye and create mood.
Consider this a little end-of-year gift from us to you. My fellow APALMANAC writer Dane shared this hot tip with me, resulting in 99% fewer rage clicks while using Photoshop. I’m happy to pass it along to you!
You know that annoying message that always pops up:
Could not export the clipboard because it is too big to export.
The longer you look at Anton Ivanov’s work, the more things you’ll find to love. Full of life, restraint, mood, and character, each photograph is perfectly imperfect. The same can be said about Anton’s career. A short-lived stint in wedding photography because of his shyness actually allowed him to blossom as an architectural photographer.
Unmesh Dinda, the host of Piximperfect over at YouTube has made a great video explaining how you can use Dall E 2 instead of content aware fill in Photoshop. I did a quick test to see if it really was as simple as he explained, and yes, it is!
OpenAI’s Dall E 2 is now open to everyone.
Frequency separation is an outrageously powerful tool to have in your retouching skillset. Simply put, frequency separation (FS) is a technique used in Photoshop where you separate the colors and tones in an image from the texture and grain. Once separated, you are able to edit both “layers” independently from each other.
It’s my favourite and most indispensable piece of gear.
My Logitech MX Master mouse.
Now granted, I probably spend a lot more time editing than out shooting than most but still, if I had to judge the most worthwhile investment by the amount of time I’ve used any piece of gear, this would be it by far.
Sky replacement is a tool every architectural photographer needs to know. I personally use it very rarely, but there are times when this type of knowledge comes in handy.
If you’ve ever seen Mike Kelley’s Where Art Meets Architecture series, then you know that he talks about sky replacements in-depth in the second part of WAMA 2.
Youtube can be a great learning source for photographers, however, I find that the algorithm constantly recommends click-bait videos with yelling presenters that might not be for everyone. Last week I stumbled upon a video worth sharing by Landscape Photographer Christian Möhrle in which he compiles Lightroom tips and tricks in a comprehensive way.
Marketing as a photographer is more than just showcasing your portfolio. There are many places for you to market your brand like social media, emailers, print mailers, etc. Wherever you are marketing, you’ll need content to go with it. Our instincts are to show portfolio-worthy content but, there is a huge benefit to being real with your audience.
Capture One Pro’s latest update is here!
On Monday, Capture One Pro showed off a host of new features and capabilities available in the new release of their editing software. The update that went live this morning contains many refreshed tools that will enable seamless switching between desktop and iPad editing and are geared towards tethering.
This edition of Story of an Image takes us to central China to photograph a large-scale mixed-use development designed by global architects, Woods Bagot. We ended up staying on site for four and a half days to capture this skyline-defining project.
Several weeks ago during a conversation with a prospective home builder client, I was asked “what’s the difference between you and [redacted] real estate photography?” Now, to be honest, the builder was trying to push my buttons a bit to see how I would respond.
This edition of Story of an Image keeps us here in Shanghai and takes a look at a building that people seem to either love or hate: Tian An 1000 Trees designed by London-based Heatherwick Studio. This is the story of an image that was actually taken while on assignment to film the project.
