CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Architectural photography is the photographing of buildings and similar structures that are both aesthetically pleasing and accurate representations of their subjects.

Arches with a circular form, also referred to as rounded arches, were commonly employed by the builders of ancient, heavy masonry arches.

Fort Pickens by Paul Sager, on Flickr


During the early-to-mid-20th century, architectural photography became more creative as photographers used diagonal lines and bold shadows in their compositions, and experimented with other techniques. By the early 1950s, architects were hiring more photographers for commissioned work, resulting in architectural photography being viewed as more of an art form.

Fort Morgan


By the end of the 1860s, 42 forts covered the major harbors along the US coastline. The main defensive works were large structures, based on the Montalembert concept, with many guns concentrated in tall thick masonry walls, usually built on the sites of earlier forts.

Including both light and shadow in photos gives your subjects form, depth, and texture. Shadows add contrast and drama to otherwise dull photographs.

Fort Pickens


The harsh sunlight also works well whenever you’re shooting architecture and other geometrical structures. The sharp shadows the sun creates add dimension to these their framework which makes them look quite dramatic.

Fort Clinch


Black and white imagery is useful in accentuating the relationship between light and shadow.

Fort Gaines


Color can sometimes be distracting, especially when it comes to shadow photography. To make it effortless for your viewers to see the shadows, then just shoot in black and white.

Fort Pickens


Color images shared in this post come from the EOS 5DIII with lenses EF 16-35mm f/4L IS and EF 50mm f/1.8. The files were process from RAW using Adobe Lightroom v6. The B&W images were captured on film and scanned to JPEG for additional processing in Lightroom.

Fort Pickens


Always observe how light and darkness interact each other in your frame. If you keep your eyes peeled, you might just capture something magical.

Fort Pickens


These images are sized to fill your wide-screen display. Try using <F11> to maximize your browser window for the full effect. If the images overshoot your display, such as a laptop, just click on the image or the URL link and they'll resize to your screen from the host Flickr site. You can click a bit further into the image details on the Flickr page, if desired. EXIF data is available from the host Flickr pages as well. On the Flickr site, use your <L>key for Large and the <F11> for the full-screen.

BB4A

👍👍

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

As usual, very lovely exposure, tonality, colors, and explanation of the structure we're seeing.
--Bob

fourpar Loc: Central Florida

Thanks.....great presentation via your always super photos!

johngault007 Loc: Florida Panhandle

Great write up Paul! And of course, you took some of the most over shot scenes at some of these forts and made them interesting again.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Excellent examples of the merging of art and photography.

Blair Shaw Jr Loc: Dunnellon,Florida

Holy Moly....every time I see one of these old forts, I imagine all the hundreds of brick-layers toiling for years to construct these fortifications. Where did all the bricks come from and what was the cost of building this particular structure? It amazes me to this day that a human could even conceive of such a project as this. WOW. Thanks Paul for these incredible archival images you have assembled and provided. Truly inspiring for me to witness and appreciate. Thank you.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you BB4A, Bob, Fourpar, John, Bill, Blair! Every turn of the corners and hallways inside Ft Pickens was another 'I can't believe my eyes' moment on a sunny November afternoon in Florida. Glad you enjoyed.

photophile Loc: Lakewood, Ohio, USA

Interesting, I enjoyed them.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

The way you composed the light and shadows in the last one is super-attractive and interesting to me. #3 is a close second. Novice photographers, take notes!

vonzip Loc: cape cod

Very well done again Paul. A great use of shadow and light and color. vz

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Another stunning set, Paul!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you Karin, Linda, Erik, Mike! My focus for these forts was more the arches and bricks. The light and shadows proved to be a lucky strike extra. Glad you enjoyed the results.

Shootist Loc: Wyoming

Growing up I spent many of my summer days wandering the fortifications at Ft. Monroe VA. Your images recaptured my memories wonderfully. Looking at them I can smell the musty, dusty dampness and the coolness on my skin. Very well done.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

Excellent set Paul