Follow the Sun: A Field Guide to Architectural Photography in the Digital Age by Ewing James

Author:Ewing, James [Ewing, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2016-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

Two-point perspective is the type of perspective most commonly used in architectural illustration and photography. It employs two vanishing points to describe the walls of a building from an oblique angle rather than head on. The x and y axes both have their own vanishing points at unique positions on the horizon. The z axis does not have a vanishing point in two-point perspective and thus vertical lines remain parallel. An example of this is Piranesi’s engraving of the Temple of Neptune (see Figure 9.1 ). Most architectural renderings also use two-point perspective. If we photograph a building from an oblique angle but keep our camera absolutely level to the earth we will create an image with two-point perspective.

In three-point perspective each of the three axes has its own unique vanishing point. There are no parallel lines in a three-point-perspective image. The lines of the three axes taper and converge towards their own unique vanishing points. Three-point-perspective images are characterized by the sensation of looking up or down at something and are slightly disorientating. This kind of perspective is rarely used in architectural illustration. Good examples of three-point perspective are Berenice Abbott’s photographs of New York skyscrapers in the 1930s. If you photograph a building from an oblique angle while tilting the camera up towards the sky you will create an image with three-point perspective. When your camera is not level to the earth you’ll create architectural photographs that have three-point perspective.

Figure 9.6 This image of The New School designed by SOM was made with a tilt-shift lens in two-point perspective.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.