Kendall McCaugherty is a UIUC alumna. She graduated with a major in photography and now works at Hedrich Blessing Photographers as a photographer's assistant. I was impressed at her ability to make architecture photography interesting. I have never focused on shooting buildings because for the most part they are boring. McCaugherty explained how composition is just as important in architecture photography as it is with other subjects, perhaps even more. Because most buildings we see, we see through photos, it is to the advantage of the photographer to make an interesting shot and capture the aesthetic goal of the designer. Hedrich Blessing stressed the importance of being able to "think a photo before you make it." There are lots of things that add up to the "perfect moment" when you click the shutter. Framing the location by setting up in a certain position can achieve interesting angles and perspective. Paying attention to the lighting of the time of day, or even time of year, is important because lighting is so important in setting the mood of a photograph. Including people in the photo can be useful to show not only the scale of the building, but also how it is used and how people interact with it. This "perfect moment" may capture a space in time that cannot happen that exact way again. Maybe the building later on gets torn down, or another building ruins the shot, or it becomes closed off to the public. Whatever the reason, we are lucky to have spectacular photographs of architectural works of art.
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