Buildings come in countless sizes, shapes, and designs. From inside or out, they can mold our perception of space, light, and color, sometimes completely unknowingly. Looking at architecture with an eye for detail can reveal the nuances of how the materials have come together and how they define the space that surrounds them.

To spot the characteristics that give a building its shape, it often helps to start by looking more closely at its corners and curves. These are the places you will often find different materials coming together, as well as other key structural elements. Try to get in close to show detail and texture, revealing how the building gets its form. Experiment with different angles and let the resulting lines and shapes guide your composition.

Many buildings are designed to capture light in unique ways. If you can, try to observe how light changes in a building from room to room, or even better, from hour to hour as the sun travels across the sky. How does the resulting balance of light and shadow interact with different elements of the building’s design? Let this guide your eye as you look for places to photograph, inside and out. Try to capture any unique reflections, especially during golden hour as the sun begins to set.

The Adjust tool combines all the essentials you need to fine tune the lines and crop of your frame. Architectural photos are especially driven by these elements of composition, so experiment with different approaches. The Skew tab is useful for straightening out distorted or crooked lines, which often happens when translating a three-dimensional building into a two-dimensional photograph.

The Contrast and Tone tools complement each other nicely. Boosting Contrast can really help define shadows, shapes, and colors, but this often comes at the expense of blown out highlights or completely black shadows. Use the Tone tool to target the areas that need help, whether that’s bringing back Highlights, or brightening Shadows.

Head to the Blueprint Collection to gather even more inspiration.