Make the most of the weather when taking architectural photography

Most of us wait until the weather is great before venturing outside to take external photos of our hotels.

This is because we often want a bright, sunny day to show off the best bits of our buildings, and it’s also very appealing to the eye.

In many cases we do it to give an impression of what it’s like to stay at our resort when everything is perfect, including the weather. However, some of us have buildings that don’t need to be shown off in the glaring sunlight.

If your hotel is a particularly good example of a certain type of architecture, then you might find a grey day will give it more of a “lift.”

Some imposing structures can look fantastic when set against a moody sky, and when enhanced with software, this can give a far more atmospheric impression that shows off some of the more dramatic parts of our hotel.

For example, if you’re lucky enough to have a hotel that resembles a castle, it can look fantastic at dusk with dark clouds brewing in the background, highlighted by the last embers of the fading sun.

To make the most of this, look for parts of the building architecture that stand out, or that could be highlighted more by some effective back-lighting.

Also, night-time shots can be enhanced by placing lights pointing at certain parts of your building, especially angles that will reflect the light in interesting ways, or provide a frame to a certain aspect of the building that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Could all buildings benefit?

Of course, you don’t need to own a listed country mansion to make the most of its architecture and get some stunning shots.

Any building, with the right setup, and when photographed at the right time, could look fantastic if it’s approached in the right way.

An experienced photographer can make almost any scene look fantastic, no matter how bland it originally looks.

Although a lot of what pleasures the beholder is down to their particular view, someone who is good with a camera, and can also wield post-processing software deftly, can often place a scene in the mind that wasn’t originally there.

Don’t be afraid of monochrome

Of course, there’s always the friend of the moody photographer – monochrome.

Sometimes less is more, and simply stripping a photograph of it’s colour can help to provide atmosphere with little in the way of technical knowledge.

If the weather is already quite moody, with dark skies and thick cloud, converting to monochrome and then increasing the contrast between the dark and light can give a very dramatic effect.

Whatever you decide, don’t simply take a picture and expect that to be it.

Use whatever tools you have at your disposal and create a scene that will make your hotel look good, whatever the weather.