I recently discovered the joy of architectural photography, and went out yesterday looking for something interesting. This is one of the buildings on Main St. in Hendersonville, NC. I was hoping for a darker, high contrast type image here that highlights the "FB&T Co."
What, in your opinion, can I do to improve this? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
Your image doesn't fit within the classic sense of the architecture category. Also appears that you replaced the sky during post processing. This is evident by the thin white line along the edge of the roof top. However, this image is a good candidate for a polarization filter, like the one we've created. Better framing/cropping would be suggested
I like the concept here, Mark, including the dark tonality. I did still have to hunt a bit for the "FB&T Co." The white line between building and sky IS a distraction
And you've immediately encountered one of the main issues distinguishing architectural photography from most other genres - the near-universal presence of vertical lines. If the lens is angled up, as is usually the case like here, the lines are not parallel but converge at the top. This effect if marked can be an interesting effect in itself but I doubt you'd find many architectural portfolios where the verticals aren't kept parallel almost every time. Mild convergence just tends to look wrong or distracting. And this is where view cameras and expensive tilt-shift lenses come in.
I've (almost) straightened the verticals here in processing, which is one alternative to special glass, but you can see how much ends up getting cropped out in the process.
The details of the building begin to show what the architect is trying to accomplish. In this case you are showing how the planes of the building turn a corner; everything in your image should support the concept of turning that corner. Not a bad effort, but too much sky and too little of the corner pilasters.
The medallions are cool, try to show a relationship with the medallions, the windows and the corner.
Nice Start.