Classic Roman architecture is in many way, the holy grail of architectural photography.
Of course, you must capture the fullness of a given structure when you shoot the urban built environment, especially when in Rome. But classical architecture, whether neo-classical or the real thing, presents us with limitless opportunities to make beautiful photographic compositions from the confluence of architectural elements.
Take the Pantheon, for instance. Man oh man, I was nearly wetting my pants to actually be there, with this most exquisite of architectural milestones standing right in front of me. I took it in from the plaza at first, as we all must. Then, on the way inside, just outside the door, I observed the doorway framing the geometric shapes of the coffers of the vaulted ceiling. When I put the camera up, I rotated the frame until I had just the right proportion of straight framing and curvy interior ceiling, being careful to balance the conflicting forms into a single cohesive image.
So when you’re confronted with iconic architecture that everybody knows, think of architecture in the abstract for different and memorable images.
And as always, please help me keep this site alive by browsing through my ebooks or photo galleries of beautiful New York City black and white photography. There you can select a gorgeous high-resolution print file that you can download for only $20 and print it anywhere yourself. And I’ll donate 20% of the purchase price to one of the following global humanitarian charities that you can select on checkout: UNESCO, Unicef, Earthwatch, Doctors without Borders, Human Rights Watch and The Hunger Project
Until next time, happy shooting.
Bob