1.3. How Can I Get the Best Shot?
The Ahwahnee Hotel is photographer friendly; just be sure not to make a nuisance of yourself. Set up your tripod so that other visitors can easily get around you. Plan to photograph the interior of the Ahwahnee in midday when most guests are out in the park, to avoid people walking through your images, and to be less of a hindrance to other guests.
The exterior that appears through the windows will be totally washed out when you expose for the interior. Many photographers choose to make one exposure for the interior lighting conditions and another for the exterior and combine the two images in an image-editing program. An advanced technique to try is High Dynamic Range photography, known as HDR, to get a full tonal range image.
1.3.1. Equipment
When shooting architectural subjects, using a wide-angle lens and tripod are equipment essentials. Because you are photographing in tight quarters, you will have to tilt the camera upward to include the ceilings. Doing this causes some distortion, which you can correct during post-processing. If you are really into architectural photography, you may want to rent or buy a tilt-shift lens designed to reduce the distortion inherent in wide-angle photography.
1.3.1.1. Lenses
As with most types of architectural photography, a wide-angle lens is the most effective when photographing the hotel. When photographing in the interior, a wider lens produces a better image. If you're fortunate enough to have a tilt-shift lens, it will help you keep all your lines straight when working in the hotel. Lenses in the range of 14-24mm work the best. If you are photographing the details, a short telephoto in the 85-250mm range will allow you to isolate those details. When photographing the exterior, you can use lenses anywhere from 14-55mm.
1.3.1.2. Filters
When photographing in the interior, no special filters are needed. A polarizing filter may be useful in eliminating glare from reflective surfaces. Star filters can add a unique quality to your images: All the light sources in the hotel will have star-like flares.
1.3.1.3. Extras
A flash is useful when photographing in the interior of the hotel. You want to use daylight as the main source of light, and the flash to fill in the shadows. A tripod, a cable release to ensure sharp images with no camera shake, and a bubble level to insure straight lines and vertical walls, are also useful tools when photographing the interior.
1.3.2. Camera settings
The interior of the hotel has a mix of lighting sources. You will have daylight and tungsten light. Shooting on Auto White Balance or better yet, creating a custom white balance gives you the best color. Set the lens to a small aperture, called stopping down, to get greater depth of field, which will result in using slower shutter speeds. Adjust your ISO accordingly for the low-light conditions. You may be dealing with shutter speeds of several seconds to get enough light to see into all the corners of the interior.
1.3.3. Exposure
You can successfully photograph the Ahwahnee Hotel at any time of day or night. However, if you follow the guidelines listed in the next section, you will have an easier time balancing the extreme contrast differences that can occur in this location.
1.3.3.1. Ideal time to shoot
The best time to take your pictures of the interior of the hotel is on an overcast day or closer to dusk (see figure 1.3). These lighting conditions make it easier to balance both the interior and exterior light.
The best time to capture exterior shots of the hotel is at sunset, or just after sunset, when the sky has just enough light present and the exterior hotel lights are coming on. The combination of the warm artificial lighting from the hotel and the cool light of dusk give a lovely mix of tonality as well as some dramatic lighting effects to your photos, as seen in figure 1.4.
Figure 1.3. The Solarium photographed close to sunset. Taken at ISO 500, f/16, 2.5 seconds with a 17mm lens.
Figure 1.4. The south side of the Ahwahnee Hotel at dusk on a summer evening. Taken at ISO 100, f/11, 3 seconds with a 17mm lens.
1.3.3.2. Working around the weather
When the weather gets nasty, photograph the interior of the hotel. A bit less light will come in the windows, and your exposures will be longer, but at least you will be dry! However, if you choose to work outside in inclement weather, always be prepared by bringing plastic bags to cover and protect your camera, lens, and other photo equipment.
Remember the hotel looks great year round. The Ahwahnee Hotel is absolutely beautiful to photograph in the wintertime. If you are able to go outdoors to shoot the hotel as snow gently falls, do it! It can add so much character and dimension to your photographs (see figure 1.5)
Figure 1.5. The south side of the Ahwahnee Hotel in winter in early afternoon. Taken at ISO 100, f/9, 1/20 second, 24-85mm zoom lens at 28mm.
1.3.3.3. Low-light and night options
Most of your interior shots are taken in low-light conditions, whether that is on overcast days or at nighttime. If you photograph at night, you won't need to worry about the contrast differences between the interior lighting and exterior lighting that can often make daylight images more challenging to capture. The key is to get the interior exposure correct and not worry about the exterior exposure. When photographing the inside of the hotel at night, use a tungsten white balance or custom white balance to get the best color.
|
1.3.3.4. Getting creative
One way of exploring your creativity is to try low angles when photographing both the exterior and interior of the hotel. Another example might be to take all your interior photos from a sitting position so that the viewer has the feeling of sitting in the hotel. You can try light painting the exterior with a flashlight or use HDR to capture the great range of contrast.
