Twilight Photography: Seeing in the dark

Using low light as a highlight

Twilight “blue hour” intentionally chosen to highlight lighting design

Architecture photographers are obsessed with weather forecasts. Everyone wants good weather for their photoshoot as this usually translates to good light (though not always the case). Of course there is only so much good light in a day and some projects require a lot of planning to capture certain parts of a project at the best time in the day to benefit from natural light. It can sometimes feel like a race, especially on those shorter days in the winter months. However, as the sun dips below the horizon, new photographic opportunities emerge.

Twilight photography in the world of architecture and interior design often reveals stunning visuals that can't be replicated during daylight, and in many circumstances, twilight imagery should be included in your shot list.

1. Showcasing Landscape design: The interplay of dimming natural light and emerging artificial lighting can create a beautiful blend of colours and textures that accentuates your outdoor spaces.

2. Materiality: Unique wall or floor treatments come alive at twilight. Texture, shadow, and depth are highlighted.

3. Lighting Design: As the day transitions into night, lighting design takes center stage. Twilight photography is perfect for showcasing the artistry of lighting schemes, from soft, ambient glows to dramatic focal points inside and out.

4. Subject Isolating and/ or Highlighting: Photographing your project at dusk allows you to isolate your subject amidst a darker background. Your building or room becomes a beacon, drawing attention to its design and details.

5. Bad Weather Solution: Sometimes things don’t align and when bad weather decides to play spoilsport during your photoshoot, twilight can come to the rescue, especially for exteriors. The dusk ambiance helps mask uncooperative weather conditions / clouds and can turn them into an asset.

As with all things architecture photography, planning is key. The ideal twilight conditions are only short lived so its back to that race again to get the images needed in the short window of ‘blue light’.

Are you an architect or designer seeking to elevate your portfolio with stunning twilight photography? We can help with this. Let's create stunning images together. Contact us today and let your architecture and interior design projects shine, even after the sun has set.

Teeth

Photographing a dental clinic

Main entrance lobby and reception

A trip to the dentist isn’t usually on the top of peoples list of favourite things to do, usually because of a hang-up from some historical experience or a second hand scare story that has been doing the rounds, but we live in good times! Dental treatments are the best they have ever been and the clinics themselves are being carefully designed to provide a functional space to help deliver the best treatments and also a calm and welcoming environment for patients and practitioners.

Keeping these points in mind were central to my planning of a recent photoshoot at the new Spot Clinic dental practice designed by award winning architects, SABRAB. A complete overhaul of a challenging space high above Avenida Liberdade in Lisbon had incorporated extensive use of glass walls, doors and partitions to maximise the flow of natural light throughout the patient and technical areas. A monochromatic palette of materials was also used to offer a clean, minimal and very modern space for patients to enjoy. My brief was to document these elements for both the architect and clinic, with the added twist that the clinic was operating a normal working day.

Photographically, the challenges were working in tight spaces around delicate equipment (resolved in part by stitching shifted images together for some compositions), illustrating the materiality and colour palette with consistency (lots of colour work in post-production), and showing some life and activity whilst protecting patient / staff identity (timing of shots, use of slower shutter speeds and keeping out of the way!).

For these commercial shoots, problem solving is a BIG part of what goes on, and is a BIG part of what we enjoy at Clear Space. Do you have a challenging space or design that you would like to share with your audience? Let’s discuss the best way to make that happen. Finally, don’t forget to floss every day :-)

Memories

Documenting a historical residence in Cascais

As you’d expect, I love looking at pictures. I think most of us do, especially when they have a personal meaning such as old family photos or that painting grandma used to have above her fire place. Such pictures or photographs can instantly take us back to a different time in our lives which is pretty amazing. Most photographers would probably agree that for their images to evoke such personal memories and feelings for others is very gratifying. In my commercial photography work, there is typically a clear brief as to what we (myself and the client) want to create and how it will be used (for example, documenting a unique design element in a residential new-build for an architectural award submission).

Occasionally, the brief goes deeper as was the case in a recent residential shoot I was commissioned for. The owner of a large historic property was making plans to downsize but wanted to have a detailed record of the house they love as they remembered it. Besides it being a fantastic example of bold 70’s portuguese architecture in its own right, it was also packed with antiques, furniture and decorative pieces collected over many years, and a wonderful fireplace at the heart of the home.

On the day of the shoot I was given freedom to navigate the house to my schedule which meant I could select the best time of day for the interiors and sneak in a few twilight images featuring that wonderful fireplace. I was fortunate to have an overcast day (rare in Lisbon!) with a beautiful soft light filling the property and I opted to stick to this natural light only to document the details with as much realism as possible. Also, no staging or moving things about - This was all about capturing the space as it is/was. Pretty much all the images in the set were taken with either a 24mm Tilt-shift or 50mm. A simple set up and a joy to shoot. Most importantly, a very happy client who now has a set of images that can transport them back to a different time and place.

Please get in touch if you would like to record memories of a place that is special to you or someone you know.