Taking Architectural Photographs for Marketing Purposes

Five Quick Architectural Photography Tips

Five Quick Architectural Photography
Tips For Houzz and Websites

Architectural photography is the cornerstone to marketing for your interior design or design-build firm. Written content will attract prospects via search, but great pictures will convince leads to contact you. Architectural photography can play a huge role in engaging customers and influencing behavior. Tightly edited and sequenced portfolios on your website and social media platforms like Houzz, BeHance, and Pinterest, that showcase your work can be a huge factor when it comes to converting interested prospects into tangible leads.

You don’t need thousands of dollars of photographic equipment and years of editing experience to create compelling images for your site. What you need is an eye for detail, a decent camera and some editing software, which can run the gamut from free photo editing software like Apple's iPhoto, to a more extensive package such as Adobe Photoshop. The fact is, taking, editing and sequencing architectural photography for your website properly can be learned, and can make the difference between visitor's engagement or a bounce to another site.

Choosing Images for a Portfolio

When choosing images, you’ll need an eye for detail. Be aware of the direction of light as it can enhance contrast and create shadows, textures, and reflections. Consider shooting in silhouette as the sun is setting. Interesting shots can add an emotional element to your website that can touch viewers and move them to action. Depending on what you are trying to convey, architectural elements, full building shots, or interiors can all offer interesting colors, textures and images that can work to enhance your brand, and your site.

Your images shouldn’t be simply documentary. Look for photographs that define the project and allow for narrative. Play with lines, light and shadows. Squint when looking through the viewfinder and choose a formal construction of shapes that's visually appealing. Architecture is all about symmetry, try to select a structure for your images that captures the essence of the sense of place to reinforce it and strengthen the composition.  Have a vision or goal in mind when choosing your photos. If the objective is to display scale, include elements like people and trees. If your goal is design-oriented, use perspective, light, and open shadows to create an aesthetic you can consistently use for your images.

Editing Your Images In Post-Production

While editing and color correction of architectural photography is best handled by an experienced photoshop editor, if you have a general idea of basic editing, you can do it with today’s technology. Especially for social media purposes because they're consumed at a much faster rate than those that reside on your website. Small interesting aspects of your subject such as architectural details usually include focal points. Tightly cropped images can create moody, aesthetically winning shots that can convey your brand as emotion. Patterns such as beautiful millwork, stonework, or objects such as checkerboard windows can create beautiful creative images to set a mood or establish a design aesthetic while engaging your visitor.

Sequencing a Portfolio

Creative sequencing of architectural photography can increase your site's visual impact, work to establish mood and reinforce brand identity. Using a shot of a building by itself is fine, but producing a time-based sequence of the same building taken on a beautiful clear day, during a storm, and at dawn, will keep a viewer engaged over a longer period. Specific architectural elements, cropping and a variety of angles of view within a series of photos, helps a viewer imagine themselves within the location. Consider taking images that replicate the feeling one gets while walking through space. 

The Internet is a visual medium. Creating, cropping and sequencing photographic portfolios and designing your interior design, or design-build website using well-sequenced images is all about storytelling and conveying your personal aesthetic in an easily consumable format. Reaching your prospects visually through the creative use of images can increase conversions, develop a strong brand image, and lead to more sales. Take the time and make sure your content and visuals line up stylistically to tell your company’s brand identity and create an impact.

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About Michael Conway and Means-of-Production

My firm builds Squarespace websites, Houzz profiles, and content marketing and advertising solutions for architects, interior designers, design-build contractors and landscape design firms. Our all-in-one tactics attract the right clients with exceptional architectural photography and brand messaging that sets you apart from the competition. Contact me for a free-of-charge consultation and marketing review. It takes about 40 minutes and you'll be provided a list of actionable improvements designed to solve your specific marketing problems.

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