From these you can determine what the photograph should convey, selecting suitable lighting, filters, lens and viewpoint. With some buildings, these technical considerations may virtually dictate the shot ­ if there is a restricted view, for example.

Walk around the building, at different distances from it, and make a mental note of all possible viewpoints, along with the focal lengths of lenses that each would need. Consider whether the architect intended that the building should be seen from one particular viewpoint and, in the case of an old building, whether subsequent construction around the site has interfered with this.

LIGHTING

Consider both the time of day and the weather, to establish the ideal lighting conditions for each viewpoint. Is the building lit at night, and how does artificial lighting affect it? Although natural light is not always predictable, work out in advance what the ideal daylight conditions for the photograph would be ­ the angle of the sun, cloud cover and the colour temperature. If possible, plan around these, even if it means delay or more than one visit.

Strong frontal lighting gives good colour saturation, backlighting can be used to silhouette buildings with strong outlines, the diffused light on an overcast day reduces shadows on complicated details, and cross lighting ­ the most generally useful ­ reveals texture and shape. Some public buildings and monuments may be well floodlit at night, usually with tungsten or sodium lamps.

In this case, twilight is normally the best time, with some tone remaining in the sky to define the building's shape.

FILTERS

A careful choice of filters can give precise control over the tonal range and colour contrast. Darkening a blue sky is probably the most common use of filters, this is achieved by the use of a polarising filter in colour photography, and a yellow, orange or fed filter in black-and-white photography.

LENS AND VIEWPOINT

The purpose of the photograph being taken and the accessibility of the building will determine the camera position, at least to a general area, and this in turn will restrict the choice of lenses to be used. Converging verticals are a special problem of architectural photography and can be dealt with in several ways.

CONVERGING VERTICALS

The sides of buildings appear to converge when viewed from close below. Although convergence is an entirely normal feature of perspective, and one that the eye accepts without question, when it is reproduced in two dimensions in a photograph, it usually looks distorted. As the normal viewpoint for most buildings is from ground level and fairly close, correcting converging verticals is often a major preoccupation for architectural photographers.

There are a number of ways of overcoming the problem, but most rely on being able to take the photograph horizontally.

Don't forget to look for details in buildings to create strong graphic photos, such as doors, windows, fretwork, stairs, textures, shadows, colours and any other features that can add to the overall look of the building especially within a feature story.

Jamaica offers a great opportunity for architectural photography with its wide variety of buildings, from very old to ultra modern. We are also blessed with great weather all year round. There are also many power and telephone lines that get in the way (thanks to the computer, we can now eliminate them).

The Governor-General's Architecture Awards competition offers the opportunity for our local architects and photographers to show their best representation of Jamaica's award-winning buildings. Architectural Digest is a magazine that features some of the best photographs of the exteriors and interiors of buildings worldwide. So whether you're taking a picture of a thatch-roof dining canoe at 'Little Ochi' in Alligator Pond, or the new shopping centre at Liguanea Post Office, Matildas Corner, take time to look, walk around, outside and inside before you take your prize-winning architectural photograph.