Colliers International
Architectural Photography in Winnipeg
We are often called upon by property managers, developers, investors, builders and more to capture beautiful photographs of their properties. Most often the final photographs are used as display images but often make their way into other publications. Architectural photographs are often for future use in annual reports, brochures as well as a companies website.
Planning is Important for Architectural Photography
Capturing a property to look it’s best, takes some careful planning, time and patience. Proper lighting is very important. Therefore we are often photographing buildings during sweet light hours. Sweet light is that time of day just before sunrise or just before sunset when the sky looks its best and the light is soft. Consequently we are often up in the wee hours of the morning to get that perfect shot. Therefore this requires some planning, forethought and flexibility.
- Do the lights need to be on in the building?
- Are all exterior lights working?
- Will there be cars and do we want cars?
- Is there a particular day of the week that is better?
- Do we want people traffic?
- Are there signs etc in the windows, on the street etc?
- Is there a landscape and parking lot maintenance and cleaning schedule?
Real Life Example
Lets consider this. The client needs the downtown location photographed at dawn with no traffic and maintenance gets completed twice a month. Therefore our option to complete the architectural photography may be twice a month. Firstly, it needs to be a Sunday to keep traffic levels low. Secondly, with maintenance happening twice a month, we have two Sundays to work with. Then the unspeakable happens…. We get up at 3:30am to make it to the location for 4:30, just to find that it is cloudy and we will not get the clear sky we need. Therefore we “plan” it for two weeks away. The next occasion comes and there is a large moving van parked on the street directly in front of the building entrance. Does this seem far fetched? While this may seem ridiculous, this is what we go through on a regular basis while photographing architecture in Winnipeg. Furthermore, I have not even brought up construction or our short season to get this completed.
Colliers International – Winnipeg Office
Last summer we photographed approximately 30 buildings where these considerations were in place. Some of these buildings were for a long time and valued client Colliers International. Remember those scenarios I brought up, well they are real life examples of what does occur. Luckily the client did not need the images right away and we were able to plan for opportune times for the photography to take place. Therefore we chose the perfect time for each building, utilizing beautiful light with no cars.
Artistic Impressions Photography – Commercial and Residential Architectural Photographer
Professional architecture and exterior photographer for builders, architects, property managers and investors.
