Looking back at that time I photographed old cars in the desert with the snowcap mountains in the background.

But I didn’t.

Adobe recently released their Beta AI in Photoshop and, like almost every photographer on the planet, I began experimenting to see if I could augment reality in a believable way.

The original picture is one I made of a Hotwheel MG sitting on a granite block on the lock outside the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. Photographed with a 24mm perspective control lens using the tilt function (see original below) the blurriness on top and bottom was created in-camera so that focus was on the car’s front end.

Bringing the picture into Photoshop AI I added puddles, then mountains, and then made a very wide panoramic. To give a stronger balance I then added more sky and, after touching up rough edges, and about two hours of tweaking this is what I got.

While Adobe AI use is not available for commercial use - especially so for architecture photographers, where truth is imperative - it is good to know what is out there and to practice and play with the latest.

Note, I could have made this same picture without AI - if I had pictures of mountains and more time - this picture was playtime.

For the “Museum Collection” - Port Elmsley Drive-In, Port Elmsley Ontario (halfway between Smiths Falls and Perth).

Thirty years ago this man, James McNeil RPA, LEED AP (and Shari Geekie), interviewed and hired me to be the marketing coordinator at Hazeldean Mall.

And here we were in a photo booth at the Ottawa Board of Trade “Ottawa is Open for Business” event at Canderel’s Constitution Square.

When in downtown Ottawa at night, for me, there is nothing better than walking around making pictures.

I was contacted by the owner of a house in a new Smiths Falls development. As the unit is an investment he needed pictures to share on rental sites to get it occupied as soon as possible. 

While the building is almost completed and the rest of the community is still under construction he made arrangements with the builder to give me access at a time that suited their schedule and would allow for delivery of pictures fast. 

Though the property is a middle unit and it looks small from the outside it is still quite spacious with an appropriate design to make the most of the space available.

With a nicely laid out kitchen

Laundry and Bedrooms on the main level

And a Basement Family Room with walkout

And Bathrooms

In my experience, not enough attention is paid to utility rooms found in basements. I like them because basements were always the best places to store things and operate a darkroom but they help me to share a more complete story about how the house was built.

These Photographs were made in under 2 hours, edited and delivered via online gallery within 24 hours.

Real Estate Photography is available by quote; you can connect with me to find out the pricing model at fff@idea3.ca 

Years ago I was on a long train ride with a former golf pro and he told me that the old saying “Practice makes perfect” is wrong.

“Frank, perfect practice makes perfect.”

Each of these pictures is actually 8 pictures stitched together. 

When making panoramics you need to follow and practice proper techniques in using a shift lens. If you don’t, the lines in the building won’t match up and it will be all distorted. You do this by leveling your camera, getting a proper exposure between the building and the sky, taking a series of images and then compositing the images together in Lightroom. After all this, you need to use Photoshop, and select the elements to downgrade and accentuate to draw the eye to your subject. 

I’m torn between calling this “art” or “illustration” but in the end it is about sharing an idealized version of what the eye actually sees so that you can put yourself, as the viewer, in the scene. 

I was at a Christmas Party last December and I brought up that I do Pole Photography.

The person got very excited and asked me if I had done Pole Dancing Photography long.

“Ummm, no, not that type of Pole Photography”

I attach my camera onto an extension pole (the pole is imbedded into a tripod) and then I remotely control the camera from an app on my iPad.

This is an alternative to making pictures with a drone - which you cannot just fly anywhere you want - and is perfect for a different perspective on buildings and getting everyone in a group picture.

Here is a 20’ pole picture:

And here is an unedited ground level picture of the same building:

Ground-level photographs are great for sharing how it looks and feels from an “I’m walking up to the building” perspective while a photograph made at height shares more of the builder and architect’s point of view of a property’s features.

And when you make a group picture from height, everyone is in the picture:

Sharing the story of P3 Panel Company and United Edge Structural Components (Smiths Falls) through photographs.

Drone Photography of the Factory

Ground Level  of the yard and building

Pole photography inside the factory

People at work - shot in colour however, when shared in black and white the images take on a photojournalistic edge.

Work in progress - 7 Maple in Smiths Falls, Ontario

Work in progress on Ferrara Drive in Smiths Falls, Ontario

BTS

$5,000 camera equipment tethered to iPad
+ 25’ tall tripod
+ construction zone
= A different perspective

Note: for safety/insurance I wear steel-toed work boots, high visibility jacket, and permission to be on site from builder/developer plus all of the workers were gone for the day (a hard hat would be needed if work was going on).