This last week I’ve been documenting some work by the students in first year. I did my best to rig up some studio lighting at short notice, which was less than ideal but may be of help to students who are wondering how to get better photos of their architecture models.
The Key things you need are:
- Some paper or material (usually in black or white)
- 3 ‘Daylight’ or ‘Cool Daylight’ light bulbs
- White Trace
- and a camera
In this case, I was not able to generate enough light from the light bulbs alone, so I chose a space that had lots of ambient DAYLIGHT from a skylight above. It is important that you stay clear of light made by Fluorescent or Incandescent lighting as these will create problematic colour casts in your photos.
Set up a light at each end of your table facing straight into the middle (as shown in the photograph above). In front of these, hang some white tracing paper. This provides even, ambient lighting without casting harsh shadows from multiple directions.
A third uncovered light can then be used to provide focus lighting and shadows. You may want a few different strength of the globe depending on how dramatic you want the light and shadow.
This is by no means a perfect setup, but it might help you get some better results in your next presentation.If anyone has any improvements please jump in!
While I had the lights set up I decided to re-photograph the high rise models my girlfriend and I made last semester. Mine is the messier one in white.
