What makes a good photo for an architectural commission painting?
- A digital camera will take a much better detailed photo of a building. Also, it will be a better file to enlarge for a large painting.
- A photo in focus, which clearly shows the detail of a building.
- A photo taken in good light, but not overly bright. Bright sunlight can make the colours of the building seem bleached.
- If your camera has the option, then a RAW photo will have more data and create a very large file, compared to a JPEG.
- A photo of your building with a mix of light and shadows will add more definition to the building, than taking a photo on a dull cloudy day.
- A photo of the building filling most of the frame.
Considerations when taking photos for an architectural painting
- Consider the angles of the building when taking your photo. Cameras can distort the angles of a building, but these can be brought back using photoshop.
- Consider whether you want a photo of the building side on or a frontal photo of the building.
- Decide if you want a cropped area of the building or the whole building.
- Consider the time of year, do you want a painting of the building with Summer or Autumn foliage?
- You may consider creating a photo of your beloved building with the family and pets in front, surrounded by your beautiful garden.
- Try to take a photo of a historical building when there are less tourists about, but I can always remove people, as long as there aren’t too many.
- Try to take a level photo of the building, in other words ensure you don’t have your camera leaning to the right or left. Tripods can be useful in this instance.
Mobile phone photos and Facebook photos
Photos taken with a mobile phone or uploaded to Facebook are only small file images, at best they will print to a 8” x 6” size, with a loss of definition. Therefore, they are sadly not the best photos for creating an architectural painting.
Creating an architectural commission from an old photo
If you would like to commission an architectural painting from an old printed photograph, then it is best to scan the photograph or photographs and email them to me. They need to be scanned to 300dpi resolution with either an AdobeRGB or sRGB colour space and then saved as a .jpeg. Alternatively, I have the ability to scan your photographs and make any adjustments needed to create an architectural painting from them. Please contact me to see how I can help.
You don’t have a photograph of the location you want
You have a favourite historic building or historical location you’ve seen and have never forgotten, but the only photos you have, aren’t very good. Don’t worry I have a large resource of sketches and photographs of various historical buildings, which we can discuss. Please contact me with your ideas and I’ll see how I can help. I am also prepared to attend the location (additional charges apply), to get that stunning building immortalised in paint for you.
I hope this information helps with taking and choosing photos for your architectural commission. Please enquire if you have any further questions.