Choosing an Architectural Photographer with CG experience matters.

Not every photographer is an architectural photographer, and not every CG artist understands photography. Architecture requires a specialized understanding of proportion, perspective, geometry, light, materials, and design.

When you hire an architectural photographer with CG experience, you are gaining more than someone who can create attractive photographs. You are hiring someone who understands the complete visual process—from camera placement and lighting through digital visualization and final image production.

My 13+ years working as an Architectural Illustrator has given me the experience and knowledge to make the impossible, possible. These images below were shot in 2008. This was well before drones were in play. We would fly a fixed wing at around 1200 feet and use photogrammetry to match the image into our software. The software we were using was 3ds MAX. From there, we would model our buildings and then insert them into the image seamlessly. You might say, "What does this have to do with Architectural Photography"? It has everything to do with photography, from paying attention to lighting, composition, and even getting shadows correct in the image to ground the buildings into the photo.

The Best of Both Worlds

Traditional architectural photography and CG visualization are not competing technologies. They are complementary tools.

Photography provides authenticity. It captures the actual building, real materials, real light, and the experience of being in the finished space. CG provides flexibility. It allows designers and clients to visualize elements that do not yet exist or modify an image beyond what was physically possible at the time of the shoot.

A professional who understands both can determine when to use each technique—and, more importantly, how to combine them.

Let’s look at some real world examples:

Here is a beautiful new Fire Station in Hampton, VA.  From the outside to the inside, this is a beautiful design.  However, it is not in the most ideal spot for a final presentation.  There are power lines on both sides of the street with hanging traffic lights across the main access.  There is really no good vantage point to not get these distractions in the shot. We also provided aerials of the project that revealed a really unattractive scrap yard to the right of the project. Take a look below at some before and after shots using the slider.

Here is another example where I am photographing a building at twilight. Twilight imagery is tricky because you have about 20 minutes of light to capture your subject. In this case, I was waiting for the lights on the building to come on. Well, they never did. I had to make a decision to go with the shoot anyway and deal with the lighting in post. This is just one image of many that I shot that evening (including drone imagery). Yes, that is an art in itself to perform drone and ground imagery at the same time. There is a lot of planning that is involved in that process.

In Closing:

The best architectural imagery often requires more than a talented photographer or a talented 3D artist. It requires an understanding of how photography and CGI work together.

An architectural photographer with CG experience brings a unique combination of skills to the project. They understand the architectural subject, know how to create compelling photographic compositions, and understand what happens to their images once they enter a 3D visualization workflow.

That combination can improve accuracy, communication, efficiency, and ultimately the quality of the final image.