How can I photograph glass-fronted buildings effectively?
Asked 12/9/2011
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I need to photograph multi-storey buildings with glass facades to showcase their architectural design. What lens choice, composition, lighting, and time of day work best for this kind of architecture photography? How can I reduce or manage reflections in the glass, and is there any special white balance approach for dark blue glass?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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Sunrise and sunset can be spectacular times for such shots: the reflections become an interesting photographic element rather than something to be eliminated:

1/50 sec f/6.3 (17mm) ISO 400 (no polarizer)
Just meter on the part of the image you want appropriately exposed. (I used spot metering near the door frame.)
The glass on the first two storeys is blue. The warm light of the setting sun balances it; no special white balance settings are needed. Notice the cool look of the sidewalk in the foreground: that's in shadow and, being lit indirectly by the sky, is decidedly blue. The bricks at the top of the building are decidedly warm under direct illumination. If you want to emphasize the building itself, and not the reflection, you might want to cool the white balance slightly, whereas if you want to emphasize the reflection, it might need a tiny bit of warming: but you can see that the sky reflected in the blue glass is not much bluer than the actual sky exposed at the top, anyway. (Transmitted light will have its color altered more radically, whence the pink cast in the windows just above the door.)
Due to the huge range of color in the light sources, image capture in RAW format is almost essential so that you can control the white balance and saturation afterwards. Nevertheless, this image represents almost no post-processing: I removed the lens' distortion (desirable for rectilinear subjects like buildings), increased the contrast by a notch (reflections seem to reduce contrast), and very slightly increased the saturation. To make sure of getting a usable image, I bracketed the shots around this one by about one stop (by varying the exposure time between 1/25 and 1/125 second).
Originally by user1356. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1356
14y ago
0
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Soft light usually works best for glass facades because reflections are less harsh and the contrast is easier to manage. Good times are early morning, early evening, or an overcast day; sunrise and sunset can also work beautifully if you want reflections to become part of the image rather than something to eliminate.
A circular polarizer can help reduce reflections, but its effect depends on your shooting angle, so try different positions. A lower angle may also simplify reflections by showing mostly sky instead of nearby buildings.
For composition, you’ll often need a wide-angle lens, but shooting close and straight on can make a tall building appear to lean backward. If possible, shoot from farther away or choose a viewpoint that gives a more natural perspective.
For exposure, meter for the part of the facade you most want rendered correctly.
For white balance, there’s usually no need for a special setting just because the glass is dark blue. Neutral white balance is often fine; if you want to emphasize the building itself rather than warm reflected light, you can cool the white balance slightly.
For highly polished commercial results, some photographers also composite separately lit interior windows into a daylight exterior shot, but that is an advanced, time-consuming technique.
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