Hello! Welcome to my website. I’m Rick. I photograph buildings, nice places and buildings in nice places. And I write about photography on my blog.
I am a professionally qualified photographer based in Dorset. I specialise in architectural, commercial, landscape and travel photography. And that is all!
I am an all round nice chap. Please get in touch so we can create some great photos.
Rick McEvoy Photography - Estate Agent Photography in Poole
This is one of my favourite exterior photos of a recently constructed house in Poole. A stunning recently constructed house in Poole that is.
Photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott, this house is one of a pair in a luxury development in Poole not far from the sea. The main contractor was Spetisbury Construction.
And the secret to this photo?
A painters pole........
Hamworthy Park Junior School - Rick McEvoy Photography - architectural photography in Dorset
This is one of those exterior images that took a lot of time to produce. Firstly in the image capture. There was a lot of preparation and planning, along with three visits and a lot of waiting for the right conditions and no people to be in shot!
And then there was the processing, which was a challenge. The render has a green tint within, which I had to accurately recreate. A very subtle green through colour render - see I know about all this good stuff!
I managed to do this, then hand the epic task of dealing with my nemesis (I would have said nemesises but not sure how to spell it?) - which are
This extension, photographed for the architect Kendall Kingscott, was nominated for an LABC award - my images were used as part of the submission. I don’t think it won - well if it did no one told me!
Refurbishment at Horndean Technology College - Rick McEvoy ABIPP - Construction Photographer in Hampshire
This is one of those photos that tells the whole story in one image.
The story is this.
The vapour trail of the plane was really there.
And the white van in front of the building to the right was removed using Photoshop. Obviously you can't see it now, and neither can you tell that it was there at the time!
This was an HDR image captured using my Canon 6D, which was placed on top of the corner fence post, with the compostion done though me peering through the not so great LCD screen on my Canon 6D in Live View mode.
I was stood on top of a low wall.
And the shot is one of the best construction shots that I have taken. This is down to a combination of factors.
Which all combine to give an image that has received so many positive comments.
The client for this project was Hampshire County Council, the architect was Kendall Kingscott, and the main contractor was Raymond Brown Construction, now known as Knights Brown.
Clasroom in Poole by Rick McEvoy ABIPP Architectural Photographer in Dorset
Bright, sunny space with lots of natural daylight and a sea view. Do school classrooms get any better than this?
My only regret with this photo is that I did not have time to set the chairs out but to be honest no one has ever said anything about this, so I guess it is just me being picky.
After all I have looked at this image far too many times now.
After I have completed the publication of my entire 2018 portfolio I am looking forward to moving on to some new stuff, and working on the next chapter of my journey in photography.
I have lots of plans and ideas, and lots of writing to do, so I will shut up now - it is after all a Saturday!
Seating at the University of Southampton
Seating with a view at the University of Southampton. This picture was photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott as part of the refurbishment of two floors of a building in the city centre of Southampton.
I like this picture. Of all the images I took this is my favourite, as it tells a story of the view from the seats looking out over the city of Southampton
This is one of my favourite architectural photography images, taken some time after completion of the works. I wanted to give this new building frontage a touch of drama and impact. On my architectural photographer page I write
"This was one of the first pictures to make it into my BIPP portfolio set.
This picture of the new entrance to the Library at the Winchester School of Art, part of the University of Southampton. The picture was taken for the architect Kendall Kingscott.
This was a genuine after the sun has gone but there is still daylight picture. It is also an HDR Merge of two images to get the lights, darks and everything else in the middle.
And there has been an amount of cleaning up of this image in Photoshop, especially to the pedestrian area around the benching and bin.
And what a feature that bin is, with that fantastic lighting on it."
Yep. This picture works for me.
Any thoughts/ comments appreciated.
Rick McEvoy Photography - Architectural Photographer
Bournemouth, Poole, Sandbanks, London, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire
On my website I write
"This picture was taken for the architect, Kendall Kingscott. This picture shows the refurbished block set in the context of existing buildings. This is a kind of composition I like to include in a shoot, showing the impact of construction works to the immediate surrounding environment.
In this picture of the recently completely refurbished block, I have deliberately overlapped the old building on the left with the brand new white façade of the refurbished block.
This kind of picture is useful for architects and developers in developing future schemes of works.
The main contractor for this refurbishment project was Raymond Brown Construction, the architect Kendall Kingscott, and the client was Hampshire City Council.
The picture was taken with my Canon 6D, Canon 17-40mm lens, both sat securely on my Manfrotto tripod."
There is a point to this image, and that point is placing a new structure in it's context. In this case a big bright shiny white building set against less appealing older buildings.
Architecture is not just about the buildings, but also how these buildings interact with their surroundings.
Rick McEvoy Photography - Architectural Photographer
Bournemouth, Poole, Sandbanks, London, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire
Interior photography of a light bright sunny classroom in Poole
"A sunny new school classroom in Poole
This really is all about the light and the orientation of the space. This is a classroom with a west facing sea view. It is a fantastic space for a school, which I photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott.
This was the third visit to this extension to a school in Poole. I do not often get the opportunity to return to photograph interiors in better light, but as this extension was being submitted for an LABC award I managed to find a bit more time, which was a luxury I was delighted to have."
Local knowledge helped me here, with the time and direction of the sun.
I wanted that big burst of sunshine illuminating this lovely new interior space in a school, so got this shot on the second visit.
To get ths starburst effect I used the minimum aperture on my Canon 17-40mm lens, mounted on my Canon 6D which was sat on my Manfrotto tripod, squeezed (literally) into the corner of the room.
I wanted to get the teaching board on the left, as well as both rooflights on the right, and the sun beaming in through that large south facing window in the center of the composition.
Interior Photographer – Bournemouth, Poole, Sandbanks, London, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire
High tech space at the University of Southampton photographed for the architect Kendall Kingscott.
I write on the interior photographer page of my website about a trick with white balance.
"A big and busy space. Lots of grey carpet. I love grey carpet by the way. I can set my white balance just by using the eye dropper on the white balance tool in Lightroom and selecting the carpet.
Ace.
If there is no neutral colour I use one of my grey cards to ensure that I have captured the correct white balance in the scene. The white balance that is specific to the lighting in the space I am photographing.
This is the starting point to all my digital image processing – getting the white balance correct. If not the colours are (or may) be out, and correcting the white balance can have an impact on the exposure, so it makes perfect sense to me to start off with the white balance and the exposure correct!"
Yes I know. Grey carpet. Grey furniture works just as well. And the beauty is that the carpet is illuminated by the dominant light source in the room.
One other tip - I take a set of images to capture the white balance, then take a picture of my hand before taking actual photographs, so i can easily tell when I get back to my office where the test shots end. This is more useful than it sounds - when you get back from a days shooting and have hundreds or even thousands of images to sort through little things like this really help.
Rick McEvoy Photography - Interior Photographer
Bournemouth, Poole, Sandbanks, London, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Wiltshire
I have just entered The Art of Building competition 2016, the brilliant photography competition run by the CIOB.
The closing date for entries is today, 27th November 2016.
To find out more about this competition head to
The competition is described by the CIOB
You can find out more about the competition at
http://www.ciob.org/art-building
And you can find out more about the CIOB at http://www.ciob.org.
I am a member of the CIOB, achieving the designation Member of the Chartered Institute of Building some years ago. I have the letters MCIOB, which sit nicely next to one of my other professional qualifications, Licentiate of the British Institute of Professional Photography. LBIPP.
You can enter three images in the competition, and this year I chose the images you can see in this post.
I wanted to submit something a bit different.
The first image is this.
Roof tiles, Chideock - construction photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy
This picture is of the roof tiles on the new roof of Chideock Church in Dorset. I photographed this classical new domed roof to the church for the architect, Andrew Stone. I like the pattern and the colours. This picture was taken using a focal length of 400mm, and at this focal length I have managed to exclude everything else from the image. That just the leaves the tiles in no context at all. Quite an abstract image. Graphic almost. A work of art?
Hamworthy Park Junior School - interior photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy
The second image is the picture of the windows overlooking the sea in the extension to Hamworthy Park Junior School. Another picture taken for the architect, Kendall Kingscott. Why did I choose this image? It is the light through these large, floor to ceiling windows. That and the fantastic view from the school classroom in Poole, Dorset.
Winchester School of Art, part of the University of Southampton - architectural photography in Hampshire by Rick McEvoy
The third image is of the new extension to the library at Winchester School of Art, part of the University of Southampton. I chose this picture as the lights in the building illuminate the street furniture in the foreground, giving interest and depth to the image.
So these are my three images entered for the CIOB Art of Building Competition 2016.
Sunday 27th November 2016
Horndean Technology College, Horndean, Hampshire. Photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott. The client was Hampshire County Council, and the contractor was Raymond Brown Construction
Picture of the new extension to Winchester School of Art, part of the University of Southampton. A stylish extension with interesting street furniture in the foreground.
Hamworthy Park Junior School extension, Poole, Dorset, photographed for the architect and the client, the Borough of Poole. Blue hour architectural photography.
Construction product photography shoot in Poole, Dorset, for K-Rend. The white render on these buildings was the subject matter of this product shoot.
The Shard, London. The view looking up from below nicely finshed off with a plane.
Picture of The Shard in London
Part of the major construction development at Poundbury, Dorset, photographed for the architect, John Simpson Architects
Dorchester Fire Station and Dorset Fire and Rescue HQ buildings, Poundbury, Dorchester, photographed for the construction company Morgan Sindall
More architectural photography in Poundbury for John Simpson Architects
A different view of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth - personal architecture photography work in Hampshire
Southampton Central Travelodge, Southampton, Hampshire. Commercial architectural photography.
Bench, Chideock, Dorset. Photographed during a commercial shoot for Andrew Stone Architect
Panoramic architectural HDR image of a refurbished school in Hampshire
Duomo, Florence, Italy. Personal architectural photography work.
A picture of modern architecture in Portsmouth
RNLI Memorial Scuplture, Poole, Dorset. Located on one of the streets amongst the large RNLI base in Poole.
The front elevation of a stylish new house in Poole, Dorset built by Spetisbury Construction Limited
The same new house photographed from eye level from the other side
Chideock Church photographed from the grounds of Chideock Manor
The tiles on the new roof of the Chideock Church dome. See above!
The stunning ceiling of the new domed roof of Chideock Church
A sunny classroom in Poole, Dorset, built by Midas Construction Ltd.
Window and floor - photography at low level in Poole in a new house. Interior photography in Dorset.
Guildhall Square, University of Southampton. A picture of the seating in the staff canteen.
Kitchen with a sea view in Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset. Stylish Dorset living in this prime Sanbanks location property.
School dining room with a flash of colour in Hampshire. Interior design photography in Hampshire.
Fire engines in the brand new appliance bay at Dorchester Fire Station, Poundbury, Dorset
A bedroom with interesting lighting in a stunningly stylish new home in Poole
Chandelier, Poole, Dorset.
Kitchen in a new house in Southampton. Photographed for the company acting as Employers Agent.
A private indoor swimming pool at a country residence in Dorset. Stunning country living in West Dorset.
The recently refurbished sports hall at Bournemouth University for sportBU
Chideock Manor library, a stunning new private library in Dorset. Lovely interior space with subtle, classic tones.
Room in a farm, North Dorset. Just the room.
WIne rack, Lucia, Italy. Internal street photography in Italy!
Barrels, Remy Martin, Cognac. Dark, moody, massive industrial space. Industrial photographer Rick McEvoy
Art in a vineyard, Bordeaux, France. Great interior design.
The stunning interior of Bordeaux Cathedral, France
The equally stunning roof of San Sebastián Cathedral
Ceiling, Duomo, Siena, Italy. The last image, and one of my favourites.
This is all 40 images in my architectural photography portfolio, submitted to the BIPP for review.
Thursday 27th October 2016
Architecture photography in Dorset by Rick McEvoy
Another image for my architecture photography portfolio that I have already produced a black and white version of but am going to re edit now.
Full Spectrum inverse works for me.
What I do is scroll down through my favourite presets and then on the way back up might stop at something I like and that is that.
I want the lights to shine, so I increased dynamic brightness a lot, 76% to be precise. I can do this as I am going to apply a heavy vignette, Lens Falloff 3.
And finally a filter.
Red filter – completely transforms the image.
Orange and yellow filters do the same as the red but a bit less.
The green filter worked really well.
Finally, the blue filter made the sky too bright.
I went with the green filter.
There is no science to this. Well there is in how the filters work, but none whatsoever in how I choose them. It is purely on how they look and nothing else.
Like most of my processing in Lightroom, which is a visual process. The numbers in the main on the sliders mean nothing.
The architect for this project was Kendall Kingscott www.kendallkingscott.co.uk, and the builder Midas Construction www.midas.co.uk
The science was all in the original edit. That was a client piece of work with more time spent on it. One of my favourite things is taking client work and refining it. I can’t do this for clients as these things can take a lot more time – preparing a portfolio image is a time consuming thing. And clients don’t want to pay for me to play about forever with images in Photoshop.
I also have the creative freedom in this type of image processing to do pretty much what I want, as I am working for myself and not the client, and I enjoy that freedom. This is where new ideas and techniques come from – the creative space to experiment.
I have nearly completed my black and white portfolio, and am looking forward to the last images which were also taken in Poole, which you will be able to view over the next 5 days.
Wednesday 19th October 2016
I have written about this image before. Why? Because I love this image. The burst of sunlight might be a tad clichéd, but I like the effect, and waited some time for this moment. And it is a significant feature in this brand new space.
I spend far too much time watching where the sun is, where it has been and of course where it is going to be!
I was photographing this brand new space for the architect. This project has been entered for an award. With my photos. Exciting!
The picture is the extension to the school, providing a brand new classroom with a sea view. And south facing, so you can see Poole Harbour and the Hamworthy Beach Huts.
An architectural photography picture of the extension to the school has already been included in my portfolio. Now I am back to the interior photography images I can work this one to portfolio submission standard.
I was going to include the client issue image but there is no need. All I have done to the client issue image is add a vignette in Lightroom and then brightened up the centre of the image by dodging in Lightroom. Dodging and burning are old school darkroom tricks. Dodge is lighten, burn darken. I tried using the radial tool in Lightroom but I just don’t get on with it.
So I stuck to what I knew best.
I am writing this in the past tense I noticed, even though I am writing the post as I edit. Hmmmm…..
Research into the building orientation, and where the sun was relative to it. There was a short period of time when I could get this shot, very much in vogue at the moment I know. Easy as I lived not far from there at the time of taking the photographs!!
And of course taking the time to properly set up the shot. Which did take a bit of time.
Key points of the composition? I wanted to show the space and get a nice warm feeling. And I wanted to capture the essential elements of the image, which for me were
The only thing I did not have time to do was set out all the chairs, which is a shame, as this would have completed the shot.
This was a tight shot. I had to squeeze in the doorway to get as much of the two walls as I could, which is normally my aim. And this shot as taken on my tripod.
Image capture details.
Taken on my Canon 6D with Canon 17-40mm F4L Lens, Using a focal length of, erm, 17mm.
I was using the AV Mode, I am not sure what I say that as it is all I ever use. The aperture was F22, and the ISO 400. I took three bracketed images using shutter speeds of 1/200th, 1/50th second and 1/1000th second.
ISO 400 on a tripod? My slowest shutter speed as 1/50th of a second, and I did not want to hand hold this squeezed into a corner.
I much prefer composing using my tripod anyway, the only issue being can I squeeze into the corner enough to get the capture I want.
Processing was HDR Merge in Lightroom, the usual adjustments then cleaned up in Photoshop.
I am writing less about the processing of images and more about the image capture by the way, as the image capture is the key, not the processing.
Tomorrow I will post another image for my portfolio, but if you want to see any more of my work in the meantime please head over to my website and check out my interior photography page at www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/interior-photographer/
4th August 2016
Hamworthy Park Junior School by Rick McEvoy, Interior Photographer in Dorset
Now this is a great internal space. A brand new classroom with a sea view. And south facing, so you can see Poole Harbour and the Hamworthy Beach Huts. And I know it is really not my place to say this but I think this is s fantastic representation of that space.
Not a bad place for a Junior School
So a bit about this subject matter here. Photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott. Midas Construction built the extension to the school The client was the Borough of Poole
An exterior shot of the new building has already been included in my portfolio. I have gone a bit out of sequence here, as I have not finished with my architectural photography external shots yet. I have jumped to this image as it needs nothing further doing to it. It is the finished product, the image issued to the architect is going into my portfolio exactly as issued.
I photographed the building over two visits. Due to the timing of the first visit, and when I had access to certain areas, I could not get the external shot I needed, but this was from that first visit.
The key to the success of this shot was research. Research into the building orientation, and where the sun was relative to it. There was a short period of time when I could get this shot, very much in vogue at the moment I know.
And of course taking the time to properly set up the shot. Which did take a bit of time.
Key points of the composition? I wanted to show the space and get a nice warm feeling.
I wanted the board to the left, the two roof lights, the work done by the children hanging down.
The only thing I did not have time to do was set out all the chars, which is a shame, as this would have completed the shot.
I was squeezed in the doorway to get as much of the two walls as I could, which is normally my aim.
Technical stuff
Canon 6D
17-40mm F4L Lens, set at 17mm.
AV Mode, F22, ISO400. Three bracketed images taken varying the shutter speed around 1/200th second. Tripod mounted (on my old tripod).
ISO 400 on a tripod? I was using F22 to get the starburst effect from the small aperture. Yes, I could have dropped the ISO but really at 400 there are no issues, especially considering I am doing an HDR bracket so the shadows will have little if any nose in them anyway.
As I have said before, you need to know how you are going to process an image when you take it. You can then expose for the processing. Maximise your chances of getting a great result.
Processing was HDR Merge in Lightroom, the usual adjustments then cleaned up in Photoshop.
I am writing less about the processing of images and more about the image capture by the way, as the image capture is the key, not the processing.
I think I am going through the cycles of interest, and have ended up back where I began, with image capture. I have learnt a lot about processing, and there is a time and a place for extensive editing, but also a place for quick production of work, which is where I am going. I get pleasure looking at am image like this, not because of the processing work I have done, abut more so for the image I have captured. I love photographing buildings, and in particular my work as an interior photographer. Creating such a striking image in a school is something I am very happy with.
Thanks for reading this post and tomorrow I will be back in sequence with another external shot from my Portfolio.
Well I might sneak in an extra image as I am in the mood for some quick Lightroom trickery!
You can view some of my work as an interior photographer at this page, www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/interior-photographer
Hamworthy Park Junior School, by Rick McEvoy Architectural Photographer in Dorset
This image was taken in February 2016 of the recently completed extension to Hamworthy Park Junior School in Poole, Dorset.
Client for this project was the Borough of Poole, the contractor was Midas Construction, and the architect who commissioned the photography Kendall Kingscott.
This was one of the last shots taken on the day of the shoot, in blue hour, that magical hour after the sun has gone before darkness descends. In Poole in February this is 6pm.
I had to wait for all the little people to leave the school, and was working my way around this fantastic extension to the school.
I had envisioned this outcome at the beginning.
This shot was taken from my large stepladders, using my Manfrotto Magic Arm clamped onto the top.
Exposures were 2.5 seconds, 0.8 seconds and 10 seconds (or the two stop over exposed shot), auto-bracketed in AV Mode on my Canon DSLR.
All taken at F8, ISO 100, Canon 6D with 17-40mm F4L Lens set at 17mm.
10 seconds on a pair of stepladders is pretty good I have to say. I could have pushed the ISO but having practised with this set up I knew it wold be fine. Had I not practised who knows?
But to get such a clean, sharp shot under such circumstances is an achievement (even if I do say so myself!).
I knew I could get a sharp shot even with such long exposures so could keep the ISO down as low as possible, at 100, to get the best quality possible. One of the things I have learnt to do in such circumstances is to stand on the bottom step of the step ladders and breathe very slowly! I must look quite ridiculous but all these little things added together help me to get great results like this.
Processing of this shot was tricky. The shape was quite complex, and there are contrasting lights and darks in the scene, as well as through coloured render with a subtle shade of green. As I was taking photographs for the architect everything has to be correct of course! And that is one of the many challenges of architectural photography – getting everything just as is it.
You can see some more of my, to be honest, rather outdated architectural photographer work at www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/architectural-photogrpaher. Go over there soon before I update the pages with all my stunning new architectural photography work.
Tomorrow I will post the three RAW images I took, along with the initial edit issued to the client, so you can see the progression from capture to portfolio, which is quite a lengthy process.
But I will repeat myself, the client issue version took quite some time to edit, but the portfolio shot had even more care and attention to get to this polished result. This is a level of editing that I will not be repeating for this shot (hopefully), but the edited image will be used in the promotion of me and my architectural photography for some time to come.
And once I have a completed Portfolio I can sit back for a while and work on swapping images as and when something of a portfolio standard appears.
Whilst I will be updating my gallery pages on a regular basis I will not be going through a wholesale renewal of my commercial photography portfolio for quite some time, hopefully years. This is why I am investing the time in myself now for the future.
I already know what my next learning steps will be, and also have a very exciting shoot coming up very soon which I have been waiting a long time for. Unfortunately I will not be able to publish any of this work for months due to client confidentiality and the sensitivity of the subject I am shooting.
Thanks for reading this post, and please call back to my blog tomorrow at www.rickmcevoyphotography.co.uk/blog to view the images mentioned above.
No.
It is not that simple.
Of course it isn't.
Here it is. Construction photography. One of my favourite things to do. Well is it architectural photography or construction photography? This is a bit of both. No matter.
Horndean Technology College, Hampshire. The building has recently undergone a major building refurbishment, having the external walls and roof completely replaced, and the internal space remodelled. There is also this fantastic external space.
This construction project was photographed for the architect, Kendall Kingscott
Unfortunately, I do not have before shots of the project.
Over the next few days I will try to explain how a flat RAW image is transformed into a bright, vibrant, technically correct portfolio image.
But lesson number 1 is
Non-destructive editing. I have done some work to this shot, but not in a layer. And now I have to do it again. This time I will do it in a layer and save it as a PSD file.
Now you might be thinking - hang on - why do you not know everything about Photoshop?
well the answer is, no-one does. And I have managed to use Lightroom for the vast majority of my workflow since Lightroom 1 came out and I started using it, that Photoshop is something I call on for final cleaning up. Now I am progressing my editing skills to the next level.
But as a construction photographer I sometimes need to do a bit more editing work than I would say for a landscape, as there is the technical element to the finished image that has to be technically correct due to the subject matter and the client’s requirements.
Thanks for reading this post, and please call back tomorrow to see if I am making any progress!