How light affects a building.
Architectural Photography is not about just going out to the site and taking a picture of a structure. Architectural Photography is about studying a building first. You must understand how a building is oriented and what time of the day mat be the best for photography.
This is the new Dominion building in Norfolk. In this video, you will see how the time of day drastically changes the look of the building. The main entrance to this building faces North therefore, the sun will only be on the East, South, and West faces of the building. In the very late evening you may get the sun on the North face but that also comes with long unfavorable shadows.
This building is all reflective glass which is very important to this photography. Buildings with reflective glass facades are especially sensitive to the time of day because their appearance depends on both the light falling on the glass and what the glass reflects.
In the morning, a glass building may reflect a cool, pale sky or the warm light of the rising sun. Later in the day, it may mirror nearby buildings, trees, clouds, or the changing colors of the sunset.
The direction of the sun can dramatically affect the balance between reflection and transparency. Depending on the viewing angle and lighting conditions, the glass may appear bright and reflective, dark and mirror-like, or transparent enough to reveal the interior.
33 minuted into this video you will see how vastly the building changes through the twilight.
In Conclusion, a building is never static in appearance. As the sun moves across the sky, its surfaces will continuously evolve. Understanding and studying a building is just as important as the photography itself.
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