Windows in photographs

I often find myself photographing windows and doors. They are the kind of architectural details you will find practically everywhere with many details of their own: locks, knobs, decorations. They also bring a strong human element to photographs with people looking from windows deep in thought or hurriedly coming and going through doorways. Windows and doorways make simple frames and provide lighting. They can essentially be the subject, frame the subject, or light it. And they are everywhere around us in the urban environment providing endless possibilities for interesting photographs. Actually, I think I don't find myself photographing windows and doors anywhere as often as I probably should.

Here are some photographs with windows I chose for this post. The first two pictures feature a window as the main subject. The first one is really about the humorous balance between two halves of the window: one side advertising the store with the text "now open" while the other side suggests the store is under renovation. The second photograph features a window in a lighthouse.

2007 - Canon EOS-300D, 1/125, f/8, ISO 200

2009 - Sigma DP1, 1/200, f/8, ISO 100

In the next two shots the window acts as a frame. The first of the two I took in the same lighthouse as the previous photograph.

2009 - Epson R-D1, 1/2000, ISO 200

2009 - Canon EOS-1D, 1/3200, ISO 250

In this next photograph I really liked the window frame. However, with its nasty reflections the window alone does not make for a very pleasant subject. The man sitting on the bench gives it both a context and scale.

2009 - Sigma DP1, 1/500, f/5.6, ISO 400

The last image features an open window, which breaks the pattern or repetition of closed windows. Emphasis is given to the open window by using a tilted lens (essentially this just gives a very shallow depth of field in this example).

2009 - Canon EOS-1D, 1/8000, ISO 320

I used a Carl Zeiss Jena 80/2.8 lens on 1D, a Sigma DC 18-50/3.5-5.6 lens on 300D, and Leica Summicron-M 50/2 on R-D1 for these photographs. The 80/2.8 lens was used with a tilt adapter.