Pevsner in Camera

Professional architecture photographer Martine Hamilton Knight PGCAP, FHEA visited Keyworth Camera Club on Thursday February 24th to give us her presentation Pevsner in Camera.

Martine showed us some of Nottinghamshire’s extraordinary architecture, both exteriors and interiors of well-known and often unsung heroes of the built environment that feature in the new Pevsner Architectural book and will form an exhibition.

As architecture photography lives or dies by the weather, Martine told us about the challenges she faced in photographing very ancient buildings as well as more recent constructions. Planning is the key. Choosing the right time and month for the light was one of these considerations. Others include whether trees would cast shadows where not wanted or if in full leaf would they block the view of the building. A combination of aps helps with this, especially Sunseeker.

Martine takes enough equipment with her to fill her car, LED lights, flash lights, reflectors, tripods and the vehicle has a roof platform fitted so she can take pictures from the top of it. One of the most important items being her ladder as Martine isn’t very tall. Martine also talked us through how she lit an interior with artificial lighting balancing it so it would appear natural.

Many of the photographs have to be worked on for hours in post-production to remove items that tie the building to a specific time period as Martine needed the pictures to have a timeless look.

Thank-you Martine for showing us your excellent work and passing on some fascinating background information about the buildings you photographed. Your enthusiasm for your subject came across strongly and was extremely infectious. We’re sure some of our members will be out and about very soon to have a go at creating their own photographs of them.