German Consulate Brisbane
I am trying a new technique with my monochrome imagesI and this is the first of what I'm hoping will be a series of this architectural photography style. I...
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I am trying a new technique with my monochrome imagesI and this is the first of what I'm hoping will be a series of this architectural photography style. I had actually intended to remove my signature before posting and apologise for not doing so.
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May, 2017Views
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Awards
Top Shot Award 21
Contest Finalist in Up Or Down Photo Contest
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph of the German Consulate Building was taken in my city, Brisbane. I would call myself self-taught but that is not strictly accurate, as I have had some awesome mentors from the Peninsula Camera Club.Time
This is my favourite architectural image. To capture an image like this, planning is imperative, road and sidewalk traffic are always an issue in any city. This needed to be a long exposure daybreak shot, with no lights on, in the building and so it had to be in summer. I arose at 3.30 am for a 5.0 am shoot on a Sunday in early January.Lighting
I wanted the lighting to be natural and low for a long exposure and so chose an aspect that would catch that early light but before the harsh rays of the sun fell on the building. There happened to be a little cloud overhead which also caught that first light adding to the mysterious story I was attempting to tell.Equipment
This was shot with a Sony a99, with a 20mm Sony Lens on a Manfrotto 190 carbon tripod. A generic manual shutter cable and a Garmin wristwatch. No filters were used, and the settings were ISO 50, f22, 124.0 sec.Inspiration
The work of Joel Tjintjelaar inspired me, I love the gradients and clean lines of Joel’s architectural work. Unfortunately, I’d not been privy to Joel’s techniques but attempted this style, ‘by the seat of my pants’, so to speak.Editing
This style of photography does require quite a lot of post-processing work and I started with Lightroom Classic, setting white balance and basic tones, clarity and the like. I finished the post-processing in Photoshop CC, where I could use layers to add gradients to portions of the image to tell my story.In my camera bag
I pack my bag’s (some large, some small – depending on the shoot, duration etc.) with the equipment required by the shoot. On this shoot I packed my “Awesome” Sony a99, Sony Lenses; 50mm and 20mm, Remote shutter release cable, crystal ball (in case I decided to shoot cityscapes during a colourful sunrise), a water bottle, some health bars, a tube of Bushman Plus (water-resistant insect repellent 80% Deet with sunscreen – never leave home without it.), cleaning equipment (Microfibre cloth, lens spray and an air puffer), 3 leg canvas stool and two tripods (a small tripod for the crystal ball – if needed and my Manfrotto Tripod for the Camera). Last but not least a Swiss army knife (great for those unexpected problems).Feedback
All city’s have beautiful architecture, the key to capturing their beauty is understanding their relationship to light. I like to think of this relationship as a dance, a partnership, light and the object, the light leads and the object follows. The dance changes depending on one’s vantage point or perspective. Study the dance, plan your shoot, take your time, make notes, use software such as The Photographer’s Ephemeris to plan the date and time, then get out there and have a go.
