The Ahwahnee Hotel is photographer friendly; just be sure not to make a nuisance
of yourself. Set up your tripod so that other visitors can easily get around you. Plan
to photograph the interior of the Ahwahnee in midday when most guests are out
in the park, to avoid people walking through your images, and to be less of a hindrance
to other guests.
The exterior that appears through the windows will be totally washed out when
you expose for the interior. Many photographers choose to make one exposure for
the interior lighting conditions and another for the exterior and combine the two
images in an image-editing program. An advanced technique to try is High Dynamic
Range photography, known as HDR, to get a full tonal range image.
Equipment
When shooting architectural subjects, using a wide-angle lens and tripod are equipment
essentials. Because you are photographing in tight quarters, you will have to
tilt the camera upward to include the ceilings. Doing this causes some distortion,
which you can correct during post-processing. If you are really into architectural
photography, you may want to rent or buy a tilt-shift lens designed to reduce the
distortion inherent in wide-angle photography.
Lenses
As with most types of architectural photography, a wide-angle lens is the most
effective when photographing the hotel. When photographing in the interior, a
wider lens produces a better image. If you’re fortunate enough to have a tilt-shift
lens, it will help you keep all your lines straight when working in the hotel. Lenses
in the range of 14-24mm work the best. If you are photographing the details, a
short telephoto in the 85-250mm range will allow you to isolate those details.
When photographing the exterior, you can use lenses anywhere from 14-55mm.
Filters
When photographing in the interior, no special fi lters are needed. A polarizing fi lter
may be useful in eliminating glare from refl ective surfaces. Star fi lters can add a
unique quality to your images: All the light sources in the hotel will have star-like
fl ares.
Extras
A fl ash is useful when photographing in the interior of the hotel. You want to use
daylight as the main source of light, and the fl ash to fi ll in the shadows. A tripod, a
cable release to ensure sharp images with no camera shake, and a bubble level to
insure straight lines and vertical walls, are also useful tools when photographing
the interior.
Camera settings
The interior of the hotel has a mix of lighting sources. You will have daylight and
tungsten light. Shooting on Auto White Balance or better yet, creating a custom
white balance gives you the best color. Set the lens to a small aperture, called
stopping down, to get greater depth of fi eld, which will result in using slower shutter
speeds. Adjust your ISO accordingly for the low-light conditions. You may be
dealing with shutter speeds of several seconds to get enough light to see into all
the corners of the interior.
Exposure
You can successfully photograph the Ahwahnee Hotel at any time of day or night.
However, if you follow the guidelines listed in the next section, you will have
an easier time balancing the extreme contrast differences that can occur in this
location.
Ideal time to shoot
The best time to take your pictures of the interior of the hotel is on an overcast day
or closer to dusk , These lighting conditions make it easier to balance
both the interior and exterior light.
The best time to capture exterior shots of the hotel is at sunset, or just after sunset,
when the sky has just enough light present and the exterior hotel lights are
coming on. The combination of the warm artifi cial lighting from the hotel and the
cool light of dusk give a lovely mix of tonality as well as some dramatic lighting
effects to your photos
The south side of the Ahwahnee Hotel at dusk on a summer evening. Taken at ISO 100, f/11, 3 seconds with a 17mm lens.
by
Lewis Kemper
Photographing
Yosemite