Posted on September 25th, 2009 in
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Architecture is a stark complement to the imagination of the builders. Celebrating this idea is the fact that many showy design plans are designed to become extremely photo friendly after the building is constructed. It’s always a good idea whenever you see a distinct architectural statement to snap a pic because you can develop the dimensions and verticality in editing mode. This image started out as the crown of a credit union reconstruction with gates and chains and porta-loos in the immediate foreground. But as always, the potential for a better image lurked inside the raw file.
Getting the best micro stock shots from diverse image composition is nothing new. Yet once these elements were cropped out, the elegant silhouette against the night sky becomes the focus. The operatic scope of the building’s crown suggest a far more grandiose edifice than a credit union. So grabbing this image, I flattened the vertical skew again and again until the spherical shape of the roof was dramatically foreshortened. I tested the effect of the original dimensions, but that picture presented the appearance of a mere snapshot. A dramatized banner dimension pulled out the drama of the structure and allowed a more elaborate demonstration of the design.
Snapping pics at night is a risk, because the loss of light drains potential from the very beginning. But as a backdrop night sky adds a lot of glamor to any banner pic and promotes topical subject matter for any website. This photo would be an excellent banner for this credit union. The people doing the banner for the actual credit union site might sharpen the contrast and restore the original dimensions to illustrate the actual structure. But flattening the outflung spherical facade of the building accelerates the curve of the structure and allows an onlooker to perceive the effect.
For a commercial banner, it’s likely some artificial “stars” and a more (midnight) blue night backdrop would be supplied and edited in. But working with first impressions is always good advice, and the operatic scope of the roof facade is even more emphasized in the finished photo as a grand effect with ambitious scope. My thoughts on the over reaching ambition of a financial institution building a spectacularly grandiose office branch on a street packed with “for lease” signs is another matter. Time will tell if o’er vaulting ambition will roll this impending cloud of risk shoreward soon.
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