Keeping Your Distance One of the most difficult parts of photographing buildings with the average digital camera is it can be very difficult to get enough distance between the camera and the building. Getting complete photographs of individual sides of the building can make modeling much easier due to the presence of complete, intact structural reference in one image. To photograph the side of a building with modern compact cameras usually means getting distance between the camera and the building due to the focal length of the lens. If you are lucky enough to be using a camera with a wide-angle lens then the focal length will be shorter and this problem less obvious.

Use Your Optical Zoom Its simple really, the bigger the building the further you need to be away from the building to get everything in frame. To overcome this problem just do your best with your given surroundings and the camera you are using. It is sometimes easier to get much further away from the building and then use the zoom function on the camera to get the whole building in frame. Looking for vantage points away from the building can make life a little easier. Beware of Digital Zoom Many compact cameras have two different types of zoom function. The first zoom function is called 'Optical Zoom' and uses the internal lenses to enlarge the image. Optical Zoom usually offers clear images, however you will need to keep the camera nice and steady while taking photographs. When the lens has reached its maximum Optical Zoom the camera will start to use something called 'Digital Zoom'. On the whole we would not recommend that you use Digital Zoom as this will reduce the quality of the images produced.

Getting The Roof Most buildings have a roof and every roof is different. The roof of a building and the aging process of the materials add huge amounts of character to the overall structure. This added character is very evident when you are dealing with geospatial models. Real photographic textures are simply less perfect than Computer Generated Graphics and it's this weathered, aged look that gives models real character. We are not suggesting for a minute that you hire a helicopter to get a photograph of your roof, although this would be a nice option. What we would say is, if at all possible, get into a good slightly elevated position adjacent to your building and try to get some decent photographs of the roof area. Naturally the taller the building and the shallower the roof angle (as in the model at the top of this page) the more difficult this is to achieve, but it's worth a try.

	Warning: Photographers and motor traffic don't mix. Please take great care when out photographing your building, you can guarantee that the perfect photograph will involve you standing close to traffic.
	Getting enough distance between yourself and the building is usually the biggest problem in built-up areas. Do your best to get individual sides of your building in one photograph. Try to make the building fill the frame but without losing any edges or required detail.
	Make sure that you get some close-up photographs of detailed areas like doors and windows. It might be worth getting further away from the building and using the zoom function on the camera to get close-up's. Getting further away can reduce the angle you are looking at the building, making the photographs more head-on. Remember to support the camera and keep it steady when using the zoom even if your camera uses image stabilizing technology.
	Beware of digital zoom; if at all possible don't use it. This all depends on the camera you are using and you know your own camera's limitations better than us. At the end of your camera's optical zoom function you will start to use the digital zoom; digital zoom is a real no-go for high definition photography.
	Try to get the roof. This sounds like a strange request but the roofing material on your building can add a real dimension of realism to your model. Getting a photograph of your buildings' roof depends on a lot of different factors: how high the building is, what angle the roof is at etc. Just get as far back as you can, try getting higher than ground level and do what you can. Just get as much of the roof as you can.

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