April Plans with Architecture

Mother Nature has thrown her punches this year. The winter here in the midwest was one of the worst I’ve experienced since I was a kid or maybe it’s just the age factor catching up. I lead a photography workshop in Charleston the last week of March into the first few days of April and the blooms were no where to be found. They were late in their arrival and just heard yesterday the area had an incredible bloom a week after my departure. In most years you can expect the blooms to happen in mid to late March, but a bit different this year.

The so-called flower gods were expecting a banner year for blooms in the Texas Hill Country. I wanted to get down this this beautiful local but my schedule wouldn’t allow it to happen. I haven’t heard yet from anyone who was down that way but would like to hear from someone how things went. My good friend Adam Jones was in Corpus Christie for a workshop and did say the flowers were incredible in that part of the state, but saw fields of indian blankets rather than the bluebonnets and indian paintbrush which is what photographers go after in the hill country. The spring bloom in the Great Smoky Mountains looked good this year and is still happening. If anyone is heading down to the park anytime soon be aware of the closing of Cades Cove and Roaring Fork Motor Trail. Both these areas are being paved and will be closed until late May.

My April Plans

So much for the natural environment for April. I’ve been getting calls for assignments this month and probably into early May to photograph architectural projects. Spring is a great time to shoot exteriors with fresh new foliage and great looking sky’s. Most of these photo shots will take place in and around the Cincinnati area. The architectural market has taken a major hit all over the country over the last couple of years with the downturn of the economy, especially the private sector. Most of the new projects starting up now are government related. I’m optimistic things will pick up over the next year, at least thats my hopes.

For those photographers interested in architectural photography, I’ll be posting a lot of photo tips on how to shoot interiors with existing light. There really is little need to carry around a bunch of studio lights. All of my interiors are shot with existing light and put together in the computer. I use HDR to put these puzzles together. Many photographers when they think of HDR, visualize the illustrative look that has been popular over the last few years. My clients would never buy into such a thing. If you’re interested in getting a realistic look using HDR, it’s indeed possible but requires a lot of work and some skill in most cases. Take at look at my architectural gallery on my website and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Photomatix is the software program most photographers think about when doing HDR, but it’s only the first step and depending on the situation it may not work at all. I would be interested in hearing from photographers who are interested in learning how to shoot architecture. This is a love of mine and I have a great time shooting it. It’s both challenging and rewarding. Let me hear from you.

I will be testing the new Canon 17mm TS lens and the newly upgraded 24mm TS on one of my shoots coming up. I’m looking forward to testing these and see how they do. I’ll post my thoughts when the projects are complete.

Until next posting, have a great spring shoot where ever you go.

Bill