At dusk and dawn, architectural structures come to life behind the camera, like no other time of day.
While most of us are winding down or sleeping, Graham Warman, a seasoned architectural photographer with more than 16 years' experience in both the UK and NZ, is gearing up for the 'golden hour' when the shadows are softer, and the sunlight draws out every colour in the scene.
If the conditions are right - Graham can pretty much guarantee the photographic equivalent of a bull's eye, as long as the designer and client are clear about the images they want.
"I suppose I do work to a formula to a certain degree," Graham says, "I always make sure I get a really detailed brief, including the plans and snaps, so I can get an idea of what the building looks like before I go out to shoot. I'll be looking for roof lines and design angles and whether I'm going to capture the whole of the building or certain aspects. The most important thing is to figure out what the client wants to showcase and why they want the shots taken. Sometimes I need to really dig to have those questions answered."
Graham has photographed multimillion dollar homes where the designer has been given free reign. While this type of job is 'the ideal', he has to work hard to interpret and capture what he perceives to be the designer's intentions.
"You get jobs where every shot has that 'wow factor' and then there are the other buildings; the little white boxes that you've seen 100 times before. That's when you need to work that little bit harder, try to do things differently."
And with no pun intended Graham says he will get that amazing shot 'at the end of the day.'
"Yeah, it's those dusk shots - the big wide angled dusk shots that always work for me."
Graham's stunning images have appeared in Defign Magazine and on award winning entry boards for his clients, including ADNZ, Master Builders and Master Joiners Awards. Graham is currently working for clients entering the annual ADNZ | Resene Architectural Design Awards.
Visit http://www.archiphoto.co.nz/ to see more of Graham Warman's work.
