Architecture

316 Olmstead - Birmingham AL Architectural Photographer /  by Tommy Daspit

Mt Laurel Kitchen - Birmingham AL Architectural Photographer

It’s been a busy summer which is a very good thing for sure! So please excuse the tardiness in gettinging this shoot posted. Back in April I was contacted by The Town of Mt Laurel about photographing their entry in the Birmingham Home Builders Association’s Parade of Homes. (It won Gold btw) They needed photos for the web and print marketing of this project. Their latest campaign in B Metro was being built around this house. Of course I was honored and excited about the project.

The only downside was that the house was unfurnished. No furniture, art, or decorations makes it hard for me to create compelling images. So I asked my friend and super talented designer Nicole Shultz of Limerence Design if she could help out. She inturn enlisted Birmingham Wholesale Furniture to provide the furnishings. The end result is so much better than what I could have done purely on my own.

Just like the saying that the clothes make the man, so it is true with homes. The furniture, art, decorations, and staging make a huge difference in how it looks and feels. I especially love working with a professional designer who understands my needs, and the clients needs so we can make the best images possible. In that respect I wholeheartedly recommend Nicole. She was great to work with and I look forward to our next project!

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Project Oglsby - Willow Homes Parade of Homes Entry /  by Tommy Daspit

Recently I had the honor and pleasure of photographing the Birmingham Home Builders Association Parade of Homes entry for my great client Willow Homes and Willow Design Studio. This was the second year in a row that I’ve photographed their entry. I will say that I think both of us have come a long way in a short period of time!

This new construction home in Homewood is also the personal home of Katherine Bailey, on of the designers at Willow Design Studio. I’ve worked with her on a couple of their projects but there was a little added pressure to make sure this was done right (not that I don’t strive for perfection in every shoot! Honestly, Katherine really makes my job easier. She has a great sense of style and has everything styled perfectly for me. This really does make all the difference in the world. An empty room with four white walls is tough to photograph in an interesting way!

This project gave me so many opportunities for great images that it was kind of hard to narrow them down. I could have spent a couple of days there easily! I wasn’t the only one to notice this either. The mega all things homes website Houzz did an article on the home as well!

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Are you a home builder, architect, or designer in need of professional photography to showcase your work? Contact me today to discuss your needs! 

Birmingham Skyline From Railroad Park - Architectural Photography /  by Tommy Daspit

Day to night transition of Birmingham Skyline. This is a combination of two images. One taken before sunset and one at night and blended together in Photoshop. Click on image to view larger.

A couple of weeks ago one of my best clients (Summit Renovation) wanted to know if I could do a time-lapse. They’re a roofing company and he wanted to show an old roof coming off and the new one going on over the course of a day. I told him that I’d never done one before but that I knew my equipment could do it, I just had to learn the technique. So I did some research and made a couple of trial runs (a couple of learning opportunities, i.e. failures). So now I think I have it down and it gave me an idea.

I’ve been wanting to do a night skyline shot of Birmingham for some time. I also really wanted to do a day to night transition in a single image. This gave me the perfect situation to do one more time-lapse run before the one for Summit. When Kelly told me we were sending the kids to the grandparents for the weekend I knew I this was the time. After checking the weather, I sold Kelly on the idea of spending our Saturday night shooting the city from Railroad Park (best vantage point with a pond in front where the city reflects). I said we could bring a blanket, some food, and make it into a picnic. How romantic! Fortunately she’s a great sport and was happy to go along.

We nearly aborted the mission when roads to the park were closed off for a Barrons game. Luckily we found a back way in and didn’t have to lug the gear too far. I’m so glad that we persevered. The weather, sky, and clouds, couldn’t have been more perfect for what I was going for. I think the end result was pretty good and it turned out to be a great date night to boot! 

My beautiful wife Kelly has been humoring my wild photography ideas for years. We had a great time making a nice date night out of the shoot. We had a picnic in the park while the kids were at Mimi and Pappa's. Quite the wild and crazy Saturday nigh…

My beautiful wife Kelly has been humoring my wild photography ideas for years. We had a great time making a nice date night out of the shoot. We had a picnic in the park while the kids were at Mimi and Pappa's. Quite the wild and crazy Saturday night!

I set my Canon 6D with Canon 24mm TS-E on a tripod and used the Camranger's Intervalometer to trigger the shutter on a schedule of one every 60 seconds. I used the iPad to monitor the progress. 

I set my Canon 6D with Canon 24mm TS-E on a tripod and used the Camranger's Intervalometer to trigger the shutter on a schedule of one every 60 seconds. I used the iPad to monitor the progress. 

This is a combination of two photos. One was taken before sunset. It's the main image. At that time all the lights were off in the buildings and the lamps were off in the park. I took a second image taken at night when all the lights were on and visible. I merged the two in photoshop to create the final image. Click on image to view larger.

Check out the final timelapse below.

Shot from Railroad Park, I used a Camranger to trigger the camera every 60 seconds from 6:00 pm to 8:30. I then used Adobe Premiere to create the timelapse from still images.

Interested in using any of these photos? Contact me for licensing information. See more of my Birmingham AL Architectural Photography portfolio.

Galleria Signs - Hoover, AL Architectural Photographer /  by Tommy Daspit

Galleria Hoover AL Architecectural Photographer

One of the things I love about being an architectural commercial photographer is the variety of projects I get to work on. It could be a kitchen for a remodeler one day and an apartment complex for a real estate developer the next. In this case I was contacted by Integrated Sign and Graphic in Lexington, Kentucky. They designed, built, and installed the new signs at the Riverchase Galleria Mall in Hoover. Daytime and twilight images of the exterior signs were needed. These photos would be used to showcase their work, to illustrate to potential clients what their capabilities were. It was my job to make sure that was done with the highest quality possible.

The mall is absolutely huge. There are many, many signs all around the property. Some face east, some west, some north, and some south. I had to plan my shots around the best time of day to get the best light on each sign. When it came to the night shots the window of opportunity for the best light with the illumination of the sign was very short. I had to make sure everything went right the first time as I could only do a maximum of two signs in an evening (it took two trips to get the ones they wanted).

I also try to include elements in the environment that give the viewer a sense of the space and life going around the subject. To make that possible I included the cars going by the signs in both the day and nighttime images. I used slow shutter speeds to capture the movement and presence of the vehicles without taking away focus on the subject. This way the potential client has a better understanding of how the public sees and interacts with the sign. After all that’s what they are ultimately for. If it can’t get the attention of the public passing by then it’s of no benefit to the business that paid for it.

Drag the sliding line to see the difference with and without the lights from the cars in the image.

By including the intersection and the lights of the cars passing by, I'm able to give Integrated Sign's potential clients a better sense of the signs placement in the environment as well as the amount of traffic seeing that sign. A photo of just the sign would be perfectly fine. However, including energy, motion, and context gives the image more life and allows the end viewer to connect to the subject in a more meaningful way. This is one example of how I go above and beyond to serve the needs of my clients.

While a simple static shot of the sign by itself would have satisfied the basic needs of my client it wouldn’t have been the best use of their resources. By considering my clients end needs and purpose for the images I’m able to better create images that tell their story. Ultimately that is my job. I create images for my clients that are compelling and show their potential customers what they can do for them. I help my clients grow their businesses. I take as much pride in this as I do in creating the images that bear my name and my reputation. Take a look at the images below and tell me in the comments if you think I accomplished that mission.

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To see more of my commercial architectural photography see my commercial exteriors and commercial interiors portfolios.

What Makes Me Different? /  by Tommy Daspit

Tommy Daspit is the best architectural, commercial, and real estate photographer in Birmingham, AL.

There are many photographers out there. What makes me different? Why should an architect, builder, designer, real estate, agent, or business choose me over any number of countless photographers out there?

Photographers are a lot like doctors. Some doctors are general practitioners and some are specialists. The same is true of photographers. You have some that do weddings, portraits, events, senior portraits, and commercial. Then you have some that focus on one discipline. You have photographers who only shoot weddings, or just baby portraits for example. As with any skill, the one you focus on will be your strongest.

I’m the rare breed of photographer who specializes in architectural commercial photography. I photograph buildings, homes, interiors, and businesses. That’s it. No babies, seniors, families, or weddings. Architectural photography is a very unique form of photography. It takes specialized equipment (tilt/shift lenses, gridded viewfinders, bubble levels, geared tripod heads, wireless camera control) and specialized techniques. Understanding how to control natural and artificial lights to create an image that accurately shows off a space while also making it inviting is difficult. Just getting the vertical and horizontal lines straight is a huge challenge.

Even though I’ve been a professional photographer for over 23 years, I’ve spent hundreds of hours learning and practicing the techniques needed for excellent architectural photography. In fact I never stop learning. I dedicate time to my daily schedule to learning photography. I’m never satisfied with where I am.

The photos below are a good illustration of the things I do on every shoot. You can see the steps I take to make sure the image showcases my client’s work in the best possible light. This builder (Willow Homes) and designer (Frusterio Design) will use these images in their portfolio to show potential clients what they can do. The quality of my work helps with the success of their businesses. This is a responsibility I take very seriously and guides my thoughts with every shot I create.

As an architectural photographer, I don’t take photos, I create images that tell my clients story. So, if you are an architect, builder, designer, business, or real estate agent who wants their projects to stand out from the competition, contact me to see how I can help you be more successful!

HDR (High Dynamic Range) image with all artificial lights on. Three photos were taken and combined together ("correct" exposure, 2 stops over exposed, and 2 stops under exposed) This is a pretty typical photo style. No flash used. Auto white balance, and that's about it. Not bad but not great either. 

HDR image with the lights turned off using only ambient light. This is another popular style shot. It's relatively easy as you only have one color light to contend with. However, it lacks depth. The image is flat with little definition from shadows and flat color.

Did you notice the missing panel for the dishwasher? The custom panel wasn't finished at the time of the shoot. Rather than leave it this way I created one in photoshop to match the look.

Precise color is critical. For this shoot I'm creating images the builder will use for his portfolio. They will use it with potential clients to help them select the style for their home. It's critical that the color they chose based on my photos is accurate. Digital cameras aren't very good at getting it exactly right. This is especially true in complex lighting situations. I use a "gray card" to use as a reference in the computer after the shoot. This insures consistent and accurate colors.

Architects don't design crooked homes and builders go to great lengths to make sure everything is level. In spite of that it's actually quite difficult to create photos that have straight vertical and horizontal lines. Normal lenses create distortion even a slight tilt in the camera's position will leave the image askew. I use special Tilt/Shift lenses and a geared tripod head to make sure all lines are straight and true.

To create a final image with depth, contrast, and interest, I light sections of the image with a strobe. I'll use multiple strobes and combine multiple photos for the end result. The look is natural but nearly impossible to pull off with one shot. Great photos aren't taken, they are created.

Here is the final image. I've covered dishwasher, blended the ambient daylight and artificial lights, the color is accurate, and there is depth without looking fake. Which one would you rather present to a potential client?

See more photos from this project in this blog post.

Learn more about my commercial architectural photography services in Birmingham, AL.