One composition technique that works well to isolate a building from its surroundings is expanding the sky area in a picture by using the rising shift movements afforded by perspective control A.K.A Tilt Shift lenses.
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| Photo by: Rex Turgano |
To expand the sky area in your composition, mount a tilt shift lens on your camera, place the camera in a portrait orientation, compose your picture with the sensor plane of the camera aligned perfectly parallel to the building and then use rising shift movement on the lens to place the building close to the bottom of the frame. Camera sensor being parallel to the building your verticals will all be perfect without any convergence. With the building now pushed towards the bottom, the rest of the frame will now comprise entirely of the sky. The trick works well when there is much contrast between the color of the building and the sky. One other thing that happens when using excessive shift movements is that the sky tends to darken towards the top of the frame (where the camera is now recording data from the outer limits of the lens’s circle of illumination) in most cases this subtle darkening (more like a vignette) enhances the look and feel of the image. If one wishes to further enhance this effect, it could easily be done by using a graduated neutral density filter.
Related Reading
- Creative Architecture Photography Composition – Deliberately Tilting the Camera
- Architectural Photography Composition Tips - How to Photograph Long, Low Buildings
- How to Photograph Tall Buildings from Close Up
- Tips for Removing any Obstructions and to un-clutter the Front Elevation
- Architectural Photography Tutorial – How to Put the Camera At a Higher Angle