How It Started vs. How It's Going 1.0 - Architecture Edition

Remember the HOW IT STARTED vs. HOW IT'S GOING challenge? This is my rendition and I simply wanted to share a bit of how my involvement in Architectural Photography came to be. And yes, I know I'm late to the party with that challenge but I've made peace with the fact that I usually jump on trends when they're long gone.

When I first got my camera in 2013, all my effort was on learning my gear. And so I shot anything and everything. Specialization wasn't anywhere on my radar. All I wanted to do was to shoot because I'd heard that the more you shoot, the more the camera becomes an extension of your arm.

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I gained some confidence to start sharing what I was shooting and it wasn't long before Alex @thedocumentor noticed my 'eye for detail' (at least that’s what he told me, I think) and asked me to be his go-to second shooter for the weddings and events he was documenting. We did that for about two years until I realized anything that involved shooting people wasn't my forte.

The thing about Alex is that he’s a jack of all trades. He had the knack for putting a team together to document anything. And so when he got a gig to shoot some hospital interiors, which obviously needed the services of a shoot assistant, whom does he call on? Yours truly, who also happens to be an architect. A bold move on his part because I’d never shot anything like that, until then.

After a few online tutorials on the week prior to the shoot, we were good to go, confident as ever.

For this shoot, I had carried my own equipment and when I wasn't arranging furniture, lagging gear charging batteries, or holding up the speedlites, I was sneaking in some shots of my own.

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I then used these to approach my former boss for a pitch. The plan was to seek access to some of his completed projects and batter access to those locations for free images for them. It was a low-risk arrangement for him because he wasn't paying for the shoot and also a win for me because I was building up a portfolio in the process.

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This then landed me my first solo paying gig in 2016 - shooting a hotel.

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By 2017, I started getting regular shoots for architectural photography and I eventually ‘quit’ the weddings-second-shooter world to exclusively focus on documenting architecture.

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From Residential Units ...

To Banking Halls ...

Hotels ...

Restaurants ...

Office Spaces ...

and even Commercial & Retails spaces.

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In brief;

So far, so good.

That then brings me to the question - How’s it going now? Well, you be the judge.

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Residences ...

Restaurants ...

Offices ...

Commercial Real Estate ...

as well as some stand-out assignments, like documenting the UAP Tower.

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What next?

I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting projects to document because that's always the plan.

Documenting a mega-project from inception to completion would be quite the adventure. Every detail from the initial sketches to the final nail (or whatever the saying would be). The kind of stuff that would be made into a book. Like this image I dusted off of my shelf showing UAP Towers under construction and when finished.

So, if you know of such a project, do give me a shout. I'd be happy to jump on that ship.

For now, enjoy a few more images from the last couple of shoots, made for one of the best interior designers I know.

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A Boutique Hotel ...

And an Office Space fit out ...

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It would be practically impossible share every shot on a single blog post, but you're more than welcome to sneak around the Eyeconic Media website and see what else is on show.

Oh, there's also my Eyeconic Media showcase on Behance. I've dumped a lot more stuff there just to keep the website leaner.

Thanks for coming along for this ride and do reach out for any leads or if you have any questions. I'm always happy to engage.

Be on the lookout for the follow-up post - Cityscapes. Better still, Subscribe to the Eyeconic Media Blog to get them updates.

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