“Double Header”

Had a double header this month. I have a project featured in the LUXE Interiors + Design Los Angeles issue and one in the Colorado edition as well. Both projects were beautiful and a real honor to shoot. Really excited about the Colorado house, its just a few blocks from my own and the interiors were done by the famed Jan Showers out of Texas. The Architect was my good client Dan Murphy. The LA home was completed by the West Coasts one and only Adam Hunter, Inc. who was a real pleasure to work with on site for the shoot, beautiful design to say the least. I am very proud to see both projects featured this month.

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“Black & White or Color”

From a recent shoot in Southwestern Colorado this exterior shot was a composite of ten separate images to come up with the pano. Really interested in the concept of how the image looks in black and white compared to color. I think I will explore this contrast in more detail for future portfolio pieces as well as for a coffee table book of my work that we are working on.

“Interior Design Magazine Feature”

Very honored and thrilled to receive the latest issue of Interior Design Magazine to see a project of mine featured within the pages of a home I shot for Studio William Hefner in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. ID is a magazine I look up to for not only its content, but layout and level of photography as well. I am honored to say the least. The other homes featured in the same section of “Innovative Houses Bring the Outdoors In” were located in Iceland and Spain.

“2 am Casion Shoot”

I was recently on a shoot in Black Hawk Colorado photographing a home for a magazine when during the shoot I received a call from my longtime client Haselden Construction. They wanted to know if I could shoot two casinos for them the following day in Black Hawk and meet their deadline of having the images in hand by the beginning of the next week.

As serendipity had it and as I told them, not a problem, I just happened to be in all places but Black Hawk already. Sometimes the stars just line up! So instead of loading up my gear and driving home after my shoot for the magazine, I headed to downtown Black Hawk to meet with Haselden and do a walk-through of the properties.

To photograph projects like these its imperative to do a walk-through. Meeting the GM’s of the properties is also key. Security is tight in casinos as you can imagine so getting clearance is a must. Trust me you can’t just walk into a casino with a camera on a tripod and not expect to be confronted by several security guards with guns.

The above images are from the Mardi Gras Casion, below are from Saratoga.

I was given strict instructions by the owners of the casinos that I was not allowed to photograph any areas where money was handled (the cage) or photograph any employees, or patrons. Also, I was to be out and finished by 8:00 am, no if and’s or buts.

So the game plan was to arrive at the first location The Mardi Gras at 2:00 am photograph it, and then walk up the street and shoot the Saratoga. So from when the initial phone call came in from Haselden to shoot the casinos (about 1:00 pm that day) to when I would actually begin photographing  was roughly thirteen hours. Keep in mind I had been already shooting a project all morning.

So after my walk through and getting clearance the time was now 3:00 PM. What to do what to do knowing I was gonna be on the ground running at 1:30 am.  I did what any other seasoned professional photographer would do. I ate dinner at 4:00 PM, had a few cocktails, found a black jack table (i lost by the way) and was in bed by 6:30 pm.

And that’s how that day began….. and ended.

“Sympathetic Addition”

Now that the new website is completed and behind us I am now hoping to be able to get back to the Blog on a more frequent basis. What better way to jump back into it than with a post on a recent feature of ours that is once again in Mountain Living Magazine ( March/April 2013). The Magazine hired me a few months back to photograph a home located in Telluride Colorado (one of my favorite mountain towns to work in. If you haven’t been there make sure to stop in at “Baked In Telluride” for a coffee and one of their killer donuts that are hot out of the oven at 5am).

The home was designed by Eric Cummings Architect and the Interior Design was by Catherine Hobbs of Studio Frank based in Telluride. We worked closely with Catherine and her assistant who both styled each shot for us throughout the day. Eric was also a huge help on the shoot when an extra pair of hands were needed. As I always say collaboration is a huge key in any photo shoot and success lies in all of the parties working together with one vision for the final outcome. The final images are a testament to this philosophy and I believe reflect the vision of all who participated in the overall success of this shoot.

Now all I need is another excuse to make it back to Telluride and “Baked in Telluride” for another one of those killer donuts!

“March 2012 Featured Project”

I just spent the last three weeks in shorts and tennis shoes shooting for BCII Productions and HGTV in Los Angeles and Hollywood. I traded that attire in last week for pants, ugg boots, down jacket and wool hat for a shoot in Aspen, Colorado.

I was hired by my good client  Rebecca Richardson of Charles Cunniffe Architects out of Aspen. Rebecca Richardson Marketing Director for Charles worked closely with me on the shoot as well as my wife Carolyn helping style and set up for each shot. Without either of their help the two-day shoot would have turned into a five-day shoot.

When we arrived for the first day of shooting my plan was to shoot the exteriors that evening at dusk to eliminate them and their need for dealing with the elements. Well that sounded like good plan, but since it was snowing and blowing sideways we deferred to start shooting the interiors first.

Using the overcast skies mother nature had given we were able to shoot several low lit exteriors that really showcased to sexy lighting of the house.

Shoot day two offered a blue bird day with sunny skies throughout the evening…this light was taken into consideration and interior spaces were chosen that would best utilize the natural light..

Day two was wrapped and finished with dusk exteriors as seen above. The storm that hit the day before provided some beautiful snow coverage for the exteriors….hard to get sometimes when a shoot is booked several weeks out and not knowing what the weather may do.

The shot below was the final image from the shoot and one that was not on the shot list. As I was walking back into the house from shooting the exteriors I grabbed this composition  thinking it was a nice addition to the portfolio of images we had shot over the course of the two days……I’m always thinking above and beyond the shot list for my clients…

Now if I could only put my shorts and tennis shoes  on and be projected back to that nice Cali weather. Looks like I will only have to wait about a week  or two before that happens when I return for more work in that region at the end of March…