photo - Ken Gilbert

Render Architecture
For buildings, where you stand is what you get
PHiliPP klinger
aN arDENt admirer of starkly
futuristic architecture, Philipp
Klinger spent much of the past
decade following the design
and construction of Santiago
Calatrava’s breathtaking
Liège-Guillemins train station
in eastern Belgium. Located
about 190 miles from Klinger’s
home near Frankfurt, Germany,
the building opened to the
public in the late summer of
2009—and Klinger was on hand
to photograph it.
How to capture such complexly
designed, highly linear
subjects? The 25-year-old
computer-science student
suggests taking a very exacting
camera position, for starters.
For a symmetrical shot like his
image of the station’s ceiling
(left), if the camera position is
off just a tad, the lines go
askew and ruin the photo.
Sharpness is also an absolute
must, so Klinger shoots at low
ISOs, works from a tripod, and
uses only midrange apertures
such as f/8 or f/11—the sharpest
openings for most lenses.
Using a lens that controls
linear distortion well is equally
important, he says.
To see more of Klinger’s
architectural images, visit
www.klinger-photography.com.
—Peter Kolonia
Klinger
captured
Calatrava’s
Belgian
train station
using a
Nikon D700,
Sigma
12–24mm
f/4.5–5.6
lens, and
Benro C-258
tripod.
Exposure:
1/125 sec
at f/9,
ISO 200.
Think
monochrome.
In this view
inside the
British
Museum,
b&w’s
abstracting
powers
convey the
building’s
volume,
form, and
sweep
better than
color would.
www.storemags.com & www.fantamag.com
SimplE complEx
Step 1
Search online. To locate exciting
architecture, klinger uses
searchable photo resources such
as Flickr. He looks for buildings
he feels passionate about and
confirms that other photographers
have gained access to a variety
of compelling angles—and that
tripods are permitted.
Step 2
plan when to shoot. Determine
what time of day and what type
of lighting will work best. For
example, klinger knew that if he
shot this train station’s ceiling on
a clear day, the blue sky would
have been tonally too similar
to the roofing struts once he
converted to monochrome, so he
waited for an overcast, white sky.
Step 3
Slow down. “When i arrive at a
building, i walk around without
my camera—it forces me to
focus on the whole site without
distraction,” klinger says. “Once
i pull out the camera, i obsess
about individual pictures and
don’t really take in the whole.”
Final Step
Set up carefully. “i’d rather
work methodically and get 50
shots that i can work with than
rush to get 200 that i ultimately
discard,” he says. To build
sharp, precise compositions,
klinger uses a tripod. and if your
camera has an lCD grid overlay,
he advises using it to ensure
that your lines are level.
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