Why would you want to take pictures of a construction site? Sounds boring right. Actually, it’s a quite common that’s not talked about or given as much attention as Architectural Photography which shows mostly the beauty of the finished product but doesn’t speak to the process of how it was done. During a time when I was traveling from state to state in the US I saw buildings and bridges that baffled me as to how they were even created regarding how did they get that high or how did they build something that huge. Did some digging and mostly what I saw were images like I said the finished building and nothing leading up to it. This is where Photographing Constructions sites come into play as you now have the opportunity or the responsibility rather tell a story to viewers of how it was done. In this article, I plan to give you a few pointers of how we can best execute taking stunning images of something overlooked and disregarded by so many.
Well, first things first before we strap up out boots and grab our camera bag to head our location is to be safe. Keep in mind it is indeed a construction site which ultimately tells you they are putting something together. In that process, there are a lot of moving pieces, not to mention a lot of heavy moving pieces and all it takes one mistake to cause a horrible accident. Take all the precautionary measures needed for yourself and equipment as it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Try to wear boots and not anything too flimsy or easy to get damages. There is no telling what might be sharp just laying around waiting to be stepped on or grazed. Another measure to take is to ensure the safety of your head so if one is not already provided for you upon arrival to the construction site then have one just in case anything could happen. Last but not least is to protect your eyes and carry alone protective glasses. You don’t want all that dust or any small flying object to get into your eyes and cause any damage. After all, that’s what we use to take our pictures and damaging those would defeat the purpose of use being there to capture images so be safe!
Taking you time when capturing construction photos are very vital, also planning. Before heading to the site try to have in mind what you need and what you don’t need in your shots. Furthermore, have an Idea of how’d like your shots to look. Great inspiration can be found on platforms like Pinterest just give you a small visual idea of what you’re heading into. What I’ve also noticed is that changing my perspective over and over with the use of camera tricks have been a great help in creating amazing shots with minimal post production work in Photoshop. I try to keep it as real as possible and not make it look like everything was staged.
Try to correspond and coordinate with a site supervisor who can give you an update on what they are building and what the finished product should look like. So when you focus on these key things whenever the project is done, you now have something to show that this was what the process took and this is what was being done. They can also guide you as to where is safe for you to take photos and where might be a risk of your safety because I don’t think you want to roam around into the unknown on a construction site.
You want to make sure that your Images catch the eye of your viewer to certain key details and doesn’t look like your regular boring old shot of some guys working on something. Your image composition will play a huge roll in what people decide to see in contrast as to what it there so be careful when composing your shots. Take a quick look around when framing up your shot for any loose wire, cars or even trees that could take away the attention of your viewer. If you have a tripod with a built in leveling tool that would be a great asset to have during your shoot. You want to make sure your shots are leveled and in line with the building because if it’s not then, it will show clearly in your photos. This something I’ve seen done and even me myself has made this mistake many times and had to fix it in post production. So to save you the time and stress of doing all of that, just be sure your camera is leveled with your subject.
I hope you enjoyed this short guide to capturing shots on a construction site; I hope it was of great help. Be safe ! and until next time, Thanks for stopping by.
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