By Kerry Drager
Architecture is always a favorite subject of mine. Near my California home, Sacramento offers a cityscape of modern and 19th-century buildings. Whether old or new, however, my approach is the same: Zeroing in tight on graphic-design elements such as patterns, lines, repetitions, etc.
In the accompanying "Before and After" series, the repetition/pattern of the decorative stairway railings caught my eye. My telephoto-zoom lens served a double purpose: 1) to fill the frame with this graphic-design; and 2) to take advantage of the telephoto's unique visual perspective that "compresses" objects and makes them appear closer together than they really are.
The color of light: Soft lighting can be great for architecture, but not all soft light is the same. For both images, I went with my usual sunlight White Balance setting and chose not to tinker with WB in Adobe Camera Raw.The smaller overall view below was captured in the shade of a blue-sky day - resulting in a natural bluish cast. The main photo (close-up) was shot on a different day - under a white overcast sky that produced a more "neutral" tone that I like.
Tech details for repetition close-up: 80-200mm zoom (set at 125mm), f9 @ 1/8th sec., ISO 200; polarizer to reduce glare; tripod and cable shutter release.
Thanks, Kerry Drager
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