Steve Whittaker gave an interesting and visually exciting program on "Architectural and Interior Photography" at the July PPGBA meeting. 

Steve got into the slides almost immediately, giving commentary on the images and other topics. He expressed appreciation for the mentoring and education from fellow PPGBA members that he has received over the years.

Whittaker avoids the middle of the day when the sun is highest. This means most of his work is done early in the morning or late afternoon, including dusk and later at night. Almost all of his work is done with a 4x5 view camera, using a 35mm only for aerial work.

Steve's showed many building exteriors, which featured dimensional lighting for texture and form, and many had interesting cloud formations, which are often scarce in our area. He mentioned that except for editorial uses, you should clear the scene from all recognizable people or you have to go to the trouble of getting model releases from anyone in the picture.

Many lighting situations have mixed lighting sources where Steve finds a combination of daylight, tungsten, fluorescent of several colors, sodium vapor, etc. He generally solves that problem by doing multiple exposures, turning on each type of light separately and filtering at the camera. This method also allows him to vary the exposure of each type depending on the strength of the source. Other situations call for filtering the lights themselves to solve the problem. How does he get the exposures to balance? He uses many Polaroids before he shoots film; often up to 10 exposures.

Many interiors are best taken at dusk to get the right balance of light outside with the interior lighting and you have a 3 to 4 minute window get the shot before the light fails. On exterior shots (especially when doing night photography) Steve will often hire a water truck to wet down all of the driveways and parking areas in the photo, which gives the scene a lot more drama and hides the irregular pavement, oil spots, etc. He also often inserts a moon into night exteriors by doing a second exposure of the moon using a very long lens to enlarge it. 

Whittaker gave two business reminders that apply equally to all types of photography: first, sales tax must be added to your total bill - you can't separate out time from materials and all the other expenses that went into the photo. Secondly, if you use assistants, you must pay employment taxes for those persons, almost never are they "independent contractors." The penalties for failure to do both things are the (good) chances of being audited and then required to pay the taxes plus additional penalties.

Part of Steve's reputation comes from the outstanding photos he creates that require adding lots and lots of light to the existing scene. He showed slides of very large areas (both exteriors and hotel lobbies, etc,) where he brought in a great number of lights, and in some cases took all night to set up for one shot. These require several assistants and obtaining the cooperation of management, security, janitorial and other services such as a water truck. The audience appreciated not only the technique and artistry of his work, but also the planning and effort that went into getting those images.