Professional Architectural Photography, Third Edition (Professional Photography Series) [Paperback]

Michael Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 25, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0240516729 | ISBN-13: 978-0240516721 | Edition: 3

This is a must-have guide both for aspiring students and for established professionals who need to keep up to speed with the current impact of recent digital developments.



In this highly visual, full colour text Michael Harris shares his professional secrets and demonstrates how to achieve top quality architectural images. Brief histories of both architecture and architectural photography lay the foundations for the technical applications that follow. This third edition provides increased coverage of the revolution in digital photography, which is forcing all photographers to review their practices. The pros and cons of these developments are assessed through a comparison of the film and digital mediums and the highly debated variances in their quality and cost.

Michael Harris is a freelance photographer specializing in architectural and interior photography. His work covers a wide spectrum from industrial and commercial, to residential photography. He is author of 'Professional Interior Photography', also published by Focal Press.



*Learn how to achieve top quality architectural images from a leading expert
*Up-to-date advice on the pros and cons of digital photography in this field
*Step by step guide to typical, profitable shooting sequences on assignment

Editorial Reviews

Review

Reviews of current edition:

'The book is easy to read, concise and to the point, and offers a wealth of information detailing with the art and science of architectural photography' Reader from Amazon

'A truly comprehensive guide' Professional Photographer

'Repays close study, particularly on the technical side' Society of Architectural and Industrial Illustrators News

'Architects and estate agents, amongst many other professionals, will find [this book] of great value' ASI Journal

From the Publisher

As a perfectionist art form, architectural photography is a methodical demanding patience and clinical precision from its practitioners, combined with an experienced understanding of the potential and effects of natural light. You too can achieve professional looking results with the tips and tricks Michael shares. This is a must have purchase for all student photographers who aspire to this level and is also invaluable for current professionals to ensure they are up to date with the affect digital photography is having in this area.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 3 edition (December 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240516729
• ISBN-13: 978-0240516721
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,969,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "must-read" book for aspiring architectural photographers!, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Professional Architectural Photography (Professional Photography Series) (Paperback)

Professional Architectural Photography by Michael Harris is a wonderfully informative and beautifully illustrated "must-read" book for any photographer who desires to shoot the interiors and exteriors of buildings. The book is easy to read, concise and to the point, and offers a wealth of information detailing with the art and science of architectural photography. As a professional photographer and photography instructor, I had always desired to try my hand, so to speak, at capturing on film the architectural beauty of historically significant buildings. After reading this book, I can't wait to go out and shoot my own architectural photographs. In fact, I was so motivated by the way the author presented the information contained in the book that I went out a couple weeks later and bought a 4" x 5" large-format view Camera. Trust me! If you think you'd like to dabble in architectural photography, invest in this book. You'll be glad you did! Even if you're not a photographer, but you like viewing photographic images in home remodeling or architectural magazines, this book will teach you much about (and give you a better appreciation for) architectural photography. Who knows? It may even launch you into a new career.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Okay, but a bit cursory, November 2, 2004

By 

Richard Coutts "buttonsrtoys" (Halifax, Nova Scotia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Professional Architectural Photography, Third Edition (Professional Photography Series) (Paperback)

I'm an architect and a beginner photographer and was looking for a good, comprehensive book on architectural photography so I could photograph my jobs for my portfolio. This book has a lot of good technical information, but deviates from the topic many times (in my opinion). For example, there's a sections on the architectural history, the role of the architect, aesthetics in architecture, etc. I don't need this and I think this is been covered extensively in other books. I don't mind if this information is there, but the topics covered could have been given more depth and examples, rather than spending time on tangential subjects.

Mostly, I bought this book because I need to understand the intricacies of lighting interior spaces to get the most beautiful photograph I can. Just when the chapter on lighting was getting good, the author recommends the reader buy his other book "Professional Interior Photography" for more information -- bummer.

So, for someone interested in reading about the subject and related areas, this seems like a good book. For someone like me looking an in-depth book only on architectural photography, I'd recommend to keep looking.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Technical Primer, August 18, 2001

By 

CMOS (US) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Professional Architectural Photography (Professional Photography Series) (Paperback)

If you're interested in architectural photography as a profession, you will probably gain some valuable insights from this book. While few of the photographic examples used are what I would call "stunning", the author provides a very methodical and thorough approach to learning the craft. And while certainly not a how-to book for inexperienced photographers, Harris has done a good job of defining the issues and explaining the technical solutions that are inherent to architectural photography.

Everything of importance is explained, from film selection and filtering, to complex exposure formulas and specialized equipment.

A warning though: if you don't have a basic understanding of Geometry, you might have trouble applying some of the concepts in this book (and thus trouble producing attractive architectural photographs). More than any other genre of photography, architectural photography is a thinking man (and woman's) game. You don't "seek out" or "sense" a beautiful photograph so much as carefully manufacture them.