There seems to be quite a fascination of tall buildings for people. Always has been, always will. When you stand by one, and look up, all you can say is: “wow”! The marvel of what man can create is truly amazing. And now tall buildings are becoming more beautiful as they get built too. If these buildings are so fascinating, then it’s obvious that people would want to take a picture of this building. Architectural Photography is another great word for this. And it certainly does show off some skills of one person, or persons who create these monster buildings.

Obviously, then, there must be some skill in taking pictures of these buildings. Let’s get into the “How to” of taking photos of skyscrapers.

• One thing that totally makes sense in taking pictures of a building is to take the photo vertically. You will be able to get the whole building in your frame easier than doing it horizontally.

I studied about 10 different articles about taking pictures of buildings, and surprisingly, there were different steps by different photographers. So, between what I have read between the different articles, here is the tips I think are the most important.

• Along with the first tip, in order to get most of your building to fit within your frame, you will need a Wide Angle lens. It will certainly make it easier to get the whole building in your frame, if you can use the right lens for the right job.

• Lighting of the building is something you should study before you take a photo. Remember that the perfect lighting is what makes ever photo great. Is it better to take a photo at sunset or late in the day? Or even morning? Another thing to really make a photo great with buildings, is to see if you can get some clouds in the photo. It is something that just doesn’t happen accidentally while you are walking by this building, you would, if you have the time, find a day that has the perfect clouds. An artist would probably paint the clouds in his picture, so why not consider yourself an artist and study when there will be clouds?
• Look for unique angles of buildings that maybe some other photographer has not tried yet.

Sometimes people fail to show the big beams, the micro-structure of a building and that is something a good photographer will look for. Wander around the building to see if there is something like that.

• Don’t be afraid to show people in your photo, but, if you get faces in your photo, you will need to get a copyright release. The law says you have to approval from the person if you are going to use that photo in a publication of any kind.

• A good idea to really get good architecture photos is to get to know your subject better. And that subject, of course, is the building. What can you take pictures of, that will highlight what makes that building so famous (if it is famous, or if it’s not, what feature could you highlight?)? Is it the entrance to the building? Is it the lobby? Is it the big windows? What would you like to highlight now?