Paul S. Bartholomew Photography » Architectural Photography

Residential Exterior at Dusk

Paul S. Bartholomew — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:23:15 +0000

I just finished doing a photo shoot in Connecticut yesterday. I greatly enjoy dusk shots. It takes a lot of planning for such a short window of opportunity when the lighting hits that perfect balance. I love how the light and colors changes from shot to shot.

Residential Architecture

Another Power Line Challenge In Hoboken

Paul S. Bartholomew — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:51:57 +0000

I must have photographed close to 20 buildings in Hoboken, NJ over the past 4 years. It’s a great city with incredible places to eat and scenic views along the Hudson River of the Manhattan skyline. Two things I wish could be improved are power lines and parking. I managed to find parking but I guess the power line issue poses the challenge my client will see. This building was designed by Dean Marchetto Architects. They are among my favorite people to work with and their work can be seen all over Hoboken and Jersey City. I think most of the projects I photographed for them had power lines and poles distracting the facades. We’re not always talking about straight poles but nasty crooked ones too. Below are the “after” and “before” versions of the most recent project I did touch-ups on. The new features of Adobe Photoshop CS5 do save hours of time such as Content Aware Fill but they aren’t perfect and require some learning to get the best results. I still think chopping down poles is a faster solution.

Vegetative Roof

Paul S. Bartholomew — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:49:29 +0000

I had the opportunity to photograph Friends Center in Philadelphia last fall and it was great to see a building that achieved LEED Platinum. Since it was late fall the vegetative roof wasn’t showing much green. Another issue was sunlight. The client (UJMN Architects + Designers) wished to see buildings in the background to give the project some context but unfortunately the buildings face northeast and didn’t get direct sunlight that time of year. I did a set of photos just to have something temporarily and hoped to return early summer when the sun rises from the northeast and vegetation is at it’s prime.

Here is one of the photos from the return visit. It was well worth photographing at 6AM to get nice warm lighting but I’d say it’s even nicer to see lush vegetation that I missed in the fall season. I won’t even show the older images, I’ll pretend they didn’t happen.

Vegetated Roof

Unique Interior Lighting

Paul S. Bartholomew — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:06:15 +0000

This is one of those projects that make my brain hurt. Great subject matter but very difficult to capture. Not only was this a difficult project, but it was also the first photo shoot with this client. Lots of pressure!

Here is the situation. Daylight will ruin the lighting because of the reflections, light falloff and major color temperature issues. How do I know? Scouting. I can’t stress this enough, if the project is within a reasonable distance I always try to scout first. I found that the best option for the photography was in the evening when I can work with the situation with lighting controls, additional photographic lighting and multiple exposures. Yes, this could be photographed during the day with strobes and/or hot lights all over the place, but why would I want to kill the atmosphere?

My style and approach is to capture the subject matter in a natural way. I would like to point out that this doesn’t mean I don’t use additional lighting. Most of my interior photography requires help but the idea is to not overwhelm the lighting. Supplementing is the word I guess. Some photographers have a different approach but this is personal and the reason why some clients hire one photographer over another. Interior design and architectural clients have a vision they wish for me to articulate for the world to see. Lighting is crucial to the design’s identity, if I’m not true to the atmosphere then I feel it becomes less credible, especially to those who have seen the design in person.

The lighting in this place is extreme, especially with the glowing light panels and monitors all over. So how do I capture this as natural as possible? Sometimes you need help from Photoshop and this adds a lot more post-production time. I probably spent 2 days working on the post-production. Normally I bracket exposures in a 3 stop range, the light panels and monitors required about 2-3 extra stops darker. I always recommend taking lots of extra exposures in extreme situations, this is digital not film. In post-production I look for the image that shows the most accurate exposure. This exposure will have lots of faults but it’s meant to be the foundation. Secondary exposures that bring back highlight and shadow areas are then layered in and fine tuned. This takes lots of practice when you need to mask areas and use selection tools but experience will make things go faster and better over time.

I get a lot of questions asking if I use HDR (High Dynamic Range). I have used HDR and have a few different tools for it but it isn’t natural looking to me and I can’t find a use for it other than fine art. By using a combination of natural lighting, photographic lighting and exposure layering I get what I desire. No magic shortcuts, sorry.

Evening Interior Design Photography

Provins, France

Paul S. Bartholomew — Fri, 28 May 2010 22:07:56 +0000

Southeast of Paris is a great medieval city called Provins. The Earls of Champagne made the fortified city their capital during the 12th & 13th centuries and it was a significant place for trade. Today, it’s well preserved with rustic buildings within its walls and has scenic views of the surrounding countryside. I always find myself attracted to buildings that have such character. Perhaps character is created from the passage of time and the resulting imperfections? Maybe it’s the uniqueness of the architecture and the small details that add up? It’s almost like these structures have something to tell us considering they stood a long time in history.

To me this city is a gold mine of inspiration. Since I was using my Leica M7, I had a limited supply of film with me so I had to ration. I think it’s time to go back with a digital M9 and take photos till I black out from excitement. I started out with images of the walls that fortify the city and later visited the Tour César that has great views of all around. It’s an easy place to walk with plenty to see if you like to meander away from the primary streets to see the residences and less touristy areas. I was surprised that not many tourist were around and it was nice to take photos without distractions.

Below are photos starting with the wall fortification. The rest are scenics and door details. Keep in mind that these are 35mm film scans, I’m not entirely happy with the sharpness and color. The film got zapped in the airport during the many security checks.

Provins Wall Fortification

View From Tour César in Provins

Door Detail Shot In Provins, France

Views Of Manhattan

Paul S. Bartholomew — Sun, 23 May 2010 23:09:43 +0000

I really don’t know where to show these images. I could put them in my exterior architecture portfolio but it just doesn’t seem right. The photo shoot was for a hotel in Times Square that asked for these scenic views. The images were a small portion of the shot list and the subject matter isn’t for a particular architect and just for the sole purpose of showing the views all around the hotel. It’s an awesome view! I think I may have to pursue more personal assignments and create some kind of skyline or rooftop view portfolio. Access is the challenge but New York City has many great places.

Twilight is a spectacular time and very inspiring with just a moment of the perfect light. I find myself fortunate as a photographer to have access to such great locations that most people don’t get to see. These are among the best times to do something really special. I often think about the unlimited views people see from their office windows in Manhattan. So many ways to see such a beautiful city. The thought first came up when I was photographing views from a building on 5th Avenue. I was leaning over the side of the rooftop to get a clean view below and my client next to me started to laugh. I looked across the street and their was an office building with people watching me and waving. Perhaps I was a change in their ordinary view but they seemed interested in what I was doing. It was a good day.

The images below are all from the same hotel rooftop in Times Square and are marked with the view’s direction. The Times Square view was the most difficult and was handheld with a very good camera for low light. I had to hang over the side of the building and use my elbows as a camera support. My assistant was spotting me since it can get windy up high. Lots of fun though!