Photography Monthly November 2014

Issue 166 November 2014

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Gallery

Black & White

DIY

Play Nicely, Please!

How To Shoot Red

Aston Martin Vanquish

Homemade Filters

NEGATIVELESS: Daguerreotype & Camera Obscura

BRUTALIST 50MM

Lush Landscapes

by Paul Wakefield

KODAK PIXPRO

*Britain’s Best Buildings *Daylight 10-stop NDs *The Art of Structures *Perspective Control *Fine Art Forms *Top Tips

NIKON D750

ARCHITECTURE SPECIAL

BUYER’S GUIDES: *Tripod Heads *Tilt & Shift Lenses om

Nikon - from birth to D810

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Architecture – Connie Zhou |

LARGER

THAN LIFE

If success is measured by the floor you live on, architecture photographer CONNIE ZHOU, has arrived at the penthouse aged just 27.

Victoria Dovey speaks with her on buildings and big breaks

Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/30sec | f/11 | ISO 100 photographymonthly.com

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C

lean, polished, modern, and grand.

These are the words Connie Zhou uses to describe her work. They took an amount of whittling to get out of her. Hesitant, and modest, Connie strains to explain how it is she produces such stylised images, as if, much like the vast buildings and architecture she photographs, one can hardly communicate such a vast concept.

“I’m not sure how [my look] is achieved,” she confesses. “I’m just very aware of what is in my frame. I like photographing things that are larger than life, that I can strangely fit into the sight of my camera. The graphics and lines of a building are what draw me in, but I’ve always had a hard time articulating why I am interested in photographing architecture.”

Connie is perhaps most well known for her extraordinary work photographing Google’s data centres; those huge prisonlike structures which are the price of our wireless ‘cloud’ technology. Aged 24, with an impressive, but small-time client portfolio, Connie’s bid for the project paid off. “I’m so grateful to have Google as a client and to have worked with them.

Personally for me, it was a big moment in my career.” The resulting images, the hybrid love child of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory and Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey – inheriting whimsy, enormity and a hint of space-age terror – were immediately hailed a success in the photographic world, as well as the internet at large. It was the first time Google had opened its doors and Connie had the golden ticket.

Photographing the electric glow from rows of servers and the constant presence of the rainbow assortment of lines in the form of pipes and wires, composed in large and stark buildings, must be akin to a child in a toy shop. What to play with first?

“Going into it without knowing what the data centres looked like was both exciting and intriguing. I did a bit of research while writing my proposal and had a good idea of what a server floor would look like; I knew I could do a good job photographing it.” To capture the glow of the server rooms, Connie asked staff to turn the lighting down entirely.

Another thing shines out from the images – what a fun company Google looks to work for. But did they give Connie the creative freedom to roam as she pleased? “We did have escorts on the premises, but they were extremely helpful,” she explains. “It was just me and my assistant. It’s always nice to have someone who knows the premises better than you.” The centres themselves are situated the world over – in Finland, Belgium, and several American states –

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Anti-clockwise starting from below: Hong Kong Opera House Canon 40D | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 19mm | 5 secs | f/8 | ISO 100 Bull Ring Mall, Birmingham, London Canon 40D | 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 | 18mm | 1/1000sec | f/16 | ISO 100 Australia War Memorial, Museum of Canberra, Australia Nikon 35mm film camera Google Data Center, The Dalles, Oregon Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 19mm | 1.3 secs | f/16 | ISO 400 Google Data Center, Douglas County, Georgia Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 23mm | 30 secs | f/16 | ISO 100 Google Data Center, Hamina, Finland Canon 5D Mark II | 24-105mm f/4 | 2.5 sec | f/16 | ISO 400

Architecture – Connie Zhou |

but exploring new places is not something to daunt Connie, who, in addition to being born in Shanghai, has been lucky enough to visit countries the world over, including a recent visit to Iceland. “My favourite place to visit,” she tells me, “is Hong Kong. It’s just such a modern city; everything is so easy there. I can’t pick a favourite when it comes to shooting.

There are too many great locations in the world.”

Connie doesn’t remember much of her Shanghai days, moving at the age of five to a city on the other side of the world. A city, that with its iconic buildings and monuments, may well have constructed the foundation for her enduring love of architecture. “New York is a great place to live and grow up. I was always interested in shooting cityscapes, exploring abandoned buildings and locations while I was in high school. It wasn’t until much later that I realised what I was mainly interested in was capturing the structures of buildings and architecture.”

It wasn’t just buildings which impressed upon budding photographer Connie. “Growing up, there was always art around the house. My father can literally create something beautiful out of anything, it’s insane!” Connie’s father, a Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) graduate and graphic designer, spurred her creativity from a young age. When I ask if he continues to be an influence today, her response is a heart-warming, “of course, everyday. So does my mom!”

Naturally there were professional role models in the making of Connie too. Idols from the likes of Andreas Gursky

Google Data Center, Douglas County, Georgia Canon 5D Mark II | 24-105mm f/2.8 | 50mm | 2 secs | f/11 | ISO 100

to Robert Polidori continue to inspire her to this day. At the Parsons The New School for Design, Connie met her first mentor, Arlene Collins – world traveller, academic, educator, curator, and of course, professional photographer. “She was one of my first professors,” Connie explains. “I was actually concerned about failing her class. It’s funny how that worked out, because now I think of her as a good friend and mentor.” And after university, Connie gained a professional understanding of her love of architecture, as an apprentice for Michael Weber, who’s work has helped establish and define some the of the world’s most recognisable >>

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hotels. “Getting the real world experience through working with Michael was definitely valuable to starting my career,” says Connie. “It exposed me to the industry first-hand, and taught me a lot about lighting interiors, as well as the ins and outs of the business.”

But people are perhaps not where Connie’s strengths lay. “Shooting the [employee] portraits for Google was very rewarding because I loved working with the staff there. But in almost all of my images I work very hard to avoid people. In fact, I spend hours taking them out of my shots!” To achieve the clean, crisp look of some extremely famous buildings, Connie works her magic in post. “I always make sure I get what I need in order to retouch them out afterwards. I do my own retouching, so I know what I need.” Working on iconic buildings the world over, Connie manages to maintain her distinct look through a strict and consistent technique. “I always shoot with my style in mind,” she says. “I predetermine what my images will look like… very rarely do I end up with a surprise. With interiors I always light with strobes unless it has more of a lifestyle look. It is a lot more work in post-production but it’s totally worth it. With the right lighting, it can change the look or the vibe of a room or space.

Shooting exteriors is more challenging, because the weather is unpredictable. But I love looking at a structure or a building and waiting for the right light to catch to get the perfect shot.”

Connie’s use of light is particularly impressive.

Does she have any advice for us? “The best time to shoot exteriors would be around sunrise or sunset. For every city I go to or every shoot that I do, I always make sure I know the times for both sunset and sunrise. As for interiors, it really depends on the layout of the space and how the light enters. Each space is unique and presents different changes and beauty.” And is there certain equipment she couldn’t live without, I wonder, with an expensive tilt-shift lens in mind.

“I don’t change my gear drastically,” she answers, “however, I do update it every couple years. The biggest investment for me has been my Profoto lighting system, and I would recommend to anyone who is interested in shooting architecture to invest in a tripod. My favourite lens, though, is the 16-35mm!”

It’s not a usual pick for an architecture lens, but Connie is not a usual architecture photographer. Her appreciation of beauty above the old traditional versus conservative battle is clear. “There will always be a conflict between the old and the new,” she tells me. “I enjoy the clash. But to be honest, my dream is to photograph a structure in complete isolation with nothing around it.” And when I ask what her dream construction would be, she replies: “Something unique. I guess something that is larger than life – probably something that looks like it’s made for space. “ It seems that her taste, if forced to pick a side, sways undeniably toward the modern. >>

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Architecture – Connie Zhou |

KIT

Canon 5D Mk II, 16-35mm, 24-70mm and 50mm lenses. Light wise I like to use my Acute Profoto 1200 pack with a regular head or a ring flash when I’m shooting interiors.

FAVOURITE BIT OF KIT?

16-35mm lens – it’s so wide! It captures everything I need.

Anti-clockwise starting top left: Atomium, Brussel, Belgium.

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 1/400sec | f/11 | ISO 400 City of Arts and Sciences, Valenica, Spain.

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 15 secs | f/16 | ISO 400 City of Arts and Sciences, Valenica, Spain.

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 24mm | 1/80sec | f/16 | ISO 100 Atocha Train Station, Madrid, Spain Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/40sec | f/11 | ISO 400 Marina City, Chicago, IL Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 1/160sec | f/16 | ISO 400 City of Arts and Sciences, Valenica, Spain.

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 31mm | 1/160sec | f/16 | ISO 100 World Trade Centre Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 27mm | 1/30sec | f/11 | ISO 400 Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/40sec | f/11 | ISO 100

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Los Angeles Department of water and power Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/320sec | f/14 | ISO 400

Beijing Opera House, Beijing, China Canon 40D | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 8 secs | f/5.6 | ISO 100

UK Pavilion, Shanghai, China Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/125sec | f/11 | ISO 100

Aqua Skyscraper, Chicago, IL Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 1/80sec | f/16 | ISO 400

CaixaForum, Madrid, Spain Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 21mm | 1/13sec | f/5 | ISO 400

Harpa, Iceland Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 18mm | 1/250sec | f/11 | ISO 400

DC Metro, USA Canon 40D | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 16mm | 1/15sec | f/4 | ISO 400

China Pavilion, Shanghai, China Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 3.2 secs | f/8 | ISO 100

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Misc Tower, Finland.

Canon 5D Mark II | 16-35mm f/2.8 | 35mm | 1/60sec | f/16 | ISO 100

“I definitely appreciate conservative and classic architecture, but there is something about futuristic buildings that I love; just the oddity of them is interesting to me.” Her favourite of them all is the Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts. “I love that building because it’s so surreal! Especially at night; the surrounding water creates another dimension for the existing building. It’s just incredible.” The awardwinning surrealist structures of Frank Gehry are also muses for Connie, making her, “feel like [she’s] photographing architecture for the first time,” and the structures of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava leave her awe-struck, feeling like she has stepped into the future.

Architecture – Connie Zhou |

Perhaps it’s this feeling which gives Connie her forwardthinking attitude, not just for herself, but in typical bigthinking mindset, for the industry as a whole. “I can only hope that through my work, I am consistently pushing myself and the boundaries of industry convention,” she says, in a manner which makes me suspect she does not realise the effect she has already had. In a world full of skyscrapers competing for the tallest title, the next big thing may not be a building at all – it may well just be Connie herself. [PM]

www.conniezhou.com

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London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS | 98mm | 1/500sec | f/7.1 | ISO 400

Building Blocks Joas Souza shares with Victoria Dovey his top tips for shooting architecture, and what to do when problems come your way

Challenges The biggest challenge I frequently come across whilst shooting architecture arises when I have to shoot a property facing north. I’ll never have the sun lighting the main facade of the property. During the winter this challenge gets even tougher, because the sun runs really low across the sky just for a few hours. In cases like this, you really have to rack your brains thinking about how to solve this problem and get something good. Depending on the position of the property, it might not be possible to get good lighting at certain times of the year, and you have to wait. Sometimes, with weeks of bad weather a job for an exterior can be delayed. With interior photography you’re not so much of a slave to the weather. But it needs a lot attention to detail – you might need a second pair of eyes to help you to make sure that everything is okay! When photographing a room with windows, be patient.

Wait for the right light to get a good balance between inside and outside, to avoid bleached windows and to capture an even light.

The Lloyd’s Building and The Willis Building, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS | 165mm | 1/800sec | f/8 | ISO 400

88 Wood Street, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 100mm Macro f/2.8 | 1/8000sec | f/2.8 | ISO 400

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Technique – Joas Souza | Using the light Do some homework; check which direction the property is facing and once you find out, you can work out the sun route during that period of the year and calculate when the ideal time of the day to get the best light is. For each job this can change drastically. Some places have a good light at sunrise while others get good light at sunset. A good app is for this is Sun Seeker: it tells you the route and angle of the sun on any day of the year. I use filters quite often, usually a polariser to get rid of reflections and intensify colours and contrasts. I have a set of Formatt-Hitech ND filters with 10, 6 and 3 stops, they help me to get really long exposures during the day, creating interesting effects for people, traffic, shadows and clouds. I also use a set of Cokin gradual ND filters to equalize the sky/ground exposure, and to give an overcast sky a bit of life.

The Shard, London.

Canon 5D Mark III | EF 24-105mm f/4L IS | 24mm | 1/8sec | f/22 | ISO 50

401, King Street, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 17-40mm f/4L | 17mm | 1/100sec | f/11 | ISO 400

Gear In architectural photography, your primary lenses are the super-wide, wide and tilt-shift lenses; to make the most of the space and keep the vertical lines straight. Tripods are vital; due to the use of low ISO and middle apertures almost 90 per cent of the time. I recently bought a Manfrotto 055 Carbon new series, which seems to be very good. For architectural photography, the Manfrotto 405 or 410 geared heads are indispensable for precise adjustments needed for perfect framing.

Dream Buildings The Gherkin, 30 St Mary Axe, is already a remarkable piece of modern architecture from outside (thank Foster for that) but inside, it’s even more breathtaking. The staircase, the materials used to do the finishing of the building, the way the building is designed internally all give an architectural photographer infinite possibilities to explore technique and talent at a high level. I would also shoot the Lloyd’s Building internally for free if I had the chance, I’d be delighted to capture inside, because from outside, I’ve already explored it a lot! >>

La Défense, Paris.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 24-105mm f/4L | 32mm | 1/160sec | f/11 | ISO 200

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Getting Permission Keep handy the Guidance for Photographers issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Anytime you are in a public space and a security guard comes to bother you, show them this document and they’ll leave you in peace. If you’re trying to get permission to photograph inside a private property, be very honest about your intentions, show them your website to make them understand you are not playing around, you are a serious photographer looking after your work.

The Lloyd’s Building and The Willis Building, London.

Canon EOD-1Ds Mark II | EF 17mm TS-E f/4L | 17mm | 13 secs | f/22 | ISO 400

88 Wood Street, London.

Canon 5D Mark III | EF 17mm TS-E f/4L | 17mm | 6 secs | f/22 | ISO 200

Post Production I craft my images as much as I can in camera. My post production consists of 80 per cent developing the Raw file and giving my images the right temperature, contrast and saturation. The other 20 per cent is spent changing some aspects of the image when necessary, like retouching elements which are out of my control, such as removing a crane in the background, an antenna, retouching the painting of a peeling wall or graffiti. I’ve discovered some Lightroom presets which give you amazing effects, reproducing the same results that I used to have when using different films or developing processes. Of course, when we talk about fine art images, then I can dive into a vast world of post-production and manipulation, to give my image a surreal, even more artistic look.

Right: The Gherkin, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 16-35mm f/2.8L | 31mm | 1/40sec | f/8 | ISO 320

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88 Wood Street, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 24mm TS-E f/3.5L | 24mm | 1/13sec | f/13 | ISO 400

111 Buckingham Palace Road, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 24mm TS-E f/3.5 | 24mm | 1/40

Technique – Joas Souza | Right: The Lighthouse, Salford.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 17-40mm f/4L | 17mm | 1/30sec | f/4 | ISO 400

JOAS SOUZA’S TOP ARCHITECTURAL TIPS

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Learn how to use natural light and the variations in the different seasons of the year, as well as the temperatures and angles throughout the day.

Educate your eyes, learn to observe symmetry. The human eye loves symmetrical things. Put this in your composition when possible.

Invest in tilt-shift lenses – they are the most important tools for an architectural photographer. In the high level market, images with converging vertical lines are totally unacceptable, unless you creating a distortion on purpose.

Balance – make sure that every single aspect of your composition is in proper balance. Use your common sense to get objects aligned and in harmony.

Architectural photography requires a good measure of perfectionism, so, remove distracting elements. Don’t be afraid to drag away objects that are not supposed to be there, just remember to put them back when you finish!

Try to get access to the roof. The taller it is, the greater the view, so go and get it! People will be puzzled about where you got that shot from and it will be your secret.

Below: The Lloyd’s Building, London.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II | EF 70-200mm f/2.8L | 170mm | 1/2000sec | f/8 | ISO 400

c | f/6.3 | ISO 400

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