BTS.01 atelierBASE
[backstage and process follow-up]
intro
Gratified by Arch. João Caria Lopes invitation to photoshooting his own architecture project, i accepted the opportunity with delight! The space is absolutely amazing! Simple and simultaneously complex with details, connections, all stitched up into a seemless space continuity.
In timing it's perfect moment to test-proof all research and paralell photography investment i've been doing, combined with my architectural professional background. My friendship with JCL is also valuable since we have common perspective on architectural process and results.
So, i hereby present the current WorkInProgress atelierBASE office photo session, at Lisbon, Portugal.
Besides the main goal of architectural photography itself, the purpose is also to experiment different ways of capturing architectural space and light:
- Understanding architectural space, observing and reading space;
- Architectural composition with shape, light, shadow, intensity, details, space continuity, interior-exterior transition, movements, and so many architectonic features...
- Natural ambient light only with simple photography exposure (a challenge here, due to heavy dark spaces);
- Smooth One-Shot photography with balance light between ambient sunlight and compensation strobelights (taking good advantage of #Elinchrom's Quadra Ranger RX A-Head and a Speedlight);
- Mostly using the previous one, in several degrees of complexity and challenge, testing my workshop from CREATIVELIVE with TONY CORBELL, MIKE KELLEY.
- Subtle human movement, freezing it with strobe, and letting the exposure performs it's charm of natural colour and light, without the need of long exposures or time consuming.
- Background cultural archphotographer references (Fernando Guerra, Sérgio Marques, Ana Lucia, ...) and my favorite photographer HIROSHI SUGIMOTO, on his "time exposed" quest.
Shortlist challenge-goal resume:
- Understanding and Planning (plenty of pre-sketch here);
- Tracking time-effort-resources of sessions;
- Natural Exposure and Natural HDR;
- Mixed Natural Exposure with ambient light and strobes (1 to 3 strobes = 1 to 3 spaces);
- Freezing Human subtle use of space (staged);
- 100% Crop Detail (or at least try)
Although there is no right english-translation word for "elogio", in portuguese it definetly has a more profound sound into it, such as "saudade" from fado portuguese music.
So i would say architectural photography should be able to reward all the professional effort and resulting space with a "compliment" [a.k.a. "elogio da arquitectura"].
Accessibility is good, but requires some luck to park the car and unload all the gear.
In terms of sun positioning the best urban exposures are between 8:30 and 9:30 so all outside photoshoot should be done quickly and accuratly. The space itself is long, narrow and quite dark, although has two front façades with generous doors/windows, the sunlight always finds it's way through indirect and ambient reflection. The nearby building walls work as huge reflectors, the mainstreet from and old closed-window building with neutral-greyish reflection (best performance at early day between 8 and 9 am), and the back-courtyard reinforcing the wood natural colour with the yellow cool-light reflection from it (in particular at midday and 16:00).
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