Derek Rath captures the form and function of Southern California landmarks with the Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 VC Wide-Angle lens
Story Contributed by Tamron
When he was growing up as a boy in England, Derek Rath learned the ins and out of three-dimensional drawing from his father, a civil engineer. “He was in charge of housing and streets and all kinds of related things, and he showed me how to work up 3D plans,” Derek says. “It fascinated me even back then.”
Derek eventually made his way to the US to produce a music album, and he soon settled down in Southern California, which he has called home for more than three decades. It’s proven the ideal locale for a person who has since parlayed his childhood interest in the lines and forms of civil engineering into a career as one of the region’s top architectural photographers. “Southern California is such an interesting place for architecture, because you can find 20 different styles along just one block,” he says. “Builders aren’t afraid to do things here and take chances.”
For architectural photographers, a wide-angle lens that allows for work in tight spaces is a must. Derek recently started shooting with the Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8 VC Wide-Angle lens, and he’s been impressed with the results. “First, I can handhold at shutter speeds I never thought possible,” he says. “And of course I appreciate the extra reach on the 15mm end that allows me to capture photos in spaces I wasn’t able to before. Plus, its sharpness is stellar. On many wide-angle lenses, the sharpness tends to drop off in the corners, but that’s not a problem with this lens.”
Derek’s approach when he’s capturing local architecture involves putting the building or structure in context with its surroundings, depending on what he’s been commissioned to turn in. “That comes down to finding an angle, something that illustrates a strength of concept of the design,” he explains. “Other times, I may be looking at textures or how a particular aspect of the building works in relation to the rest of it, or how the entire building works in context with its environment. It very often doesn’t unfold until you’re actually looking at the scene in front of you. And I like to shoot in natural light, or use available light that’s been incorporated into the design of the building.”
One thing Derek does when on a shoot with a client: Bring his laptop. “If they see my images right out of the camera, they may get upset because they’re not seeing what they expect to see,” he says. “And that initial photo is not what I’m going to give them in the end. Ansel Adams is very famous for his prints, not his negatives—he made his magic in the darkroom by pulling all the information out of the negative. Digital is the same for me. I take the photo, then finagle the information, then present the final result to my clients.”
A recent test-drive with the 15-30 allowed Derek to try it out on some of his favorite LA haunts. For a photo inside one of the city’s most prominent government buildings, Derek was faced with less-than-ideal lighting. “It was almost dungeon dark, as this was fairly early in the morning,” he says. “I was on the third floor of the rotunda, the most elaborately designed of all of the floors. It’s a wonderful period piece of architecture. My goal was to focus on the filigree of the light and show how the light fell so beautifully down onto the Los Angeles plaque below.”
15mm, F/9, 0.4 sec., ISO 640
the 15-30 that he was able to capture this shot. “I finally was able to get the width I wanted shooting at 15mm,” he says. “And the Vibration Compensation on this lens allowed me to handhold at a ridiculous 0.4 seconds shooting at F/9. I was also going for symmetry. When you’ve got a circle, it will distort a bit with any wide-angle lens, but if I were off-center in capturing it, it would look terrible.”
The wide end of the 15-30 also allowed Derek to capture the Parlor gastropub at LAX during a late-night shoot. “I had to take these pictures at 1 a.m., when no people would be there,” he says. “I still had to shuttle a few people out of the way. I was able to move far enough inside and underneath the entrance so I could capture the seating and the roof and the display of those timbers along the ceiling. If I’d stepped further back and used a longer focal length, it wouldn’t have worked as well. I used a 2.5-second exposure at F/11 and ISO 64 to keep as much of the detail as possible, as well as the dynamic range. There’s extreme contrast here, between the dark wood and the TVs and counter lights.”
15mm, F/11, 2.5 sec., ISO 64
A well-known architectural landmark overlooking Los Angeles and visited by hundreds of thousands of people a year gave Derek the chance to shoot both interiors and exteriors. “I couldn’t have taken this lobby photo with many other lenses besides the 15-30,” he says. “This image was all about getting the shapes and deliberately distorting them a bit. That extra reach on the 15mm end allowed me to capture every bit I needed, and the sharpness carries all the way through.”
15mm, F/11, 1/500th sec., ISO 400
30mm, F/11, 1/1000th sec., ISO 400
24mm, F/11, 1/800th sec., ISO 400
As for a photo looking down upon one of the center’s outdoor seating area, Rath was able to harness the geometry, patterns, and repetition of the tables, chairs, and their accompanying shadows. “I appreciate this photo because it has lot of depth to it, and the detail in it is stunning,” he says. “It’s also another example of how well that 15-30 performs, if you want to bring things back to a classical way of looking at architectural photography. The lines are straight edge-to-edge, and it’s got a terrific range of contrast.”
15mm, F/11, 1/640th sec., ISO 400
15mm, F/8, 1/320th sec., ISO 250