Architectural Photography at Colorado State University

My biggest photography project of the year has been for an architecture firm based out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  The FWA Group was the lead architecture firm on a new lab on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins, Colorado.  Part of the reason that this is such a large project is their were five additional vendors involved.  The additional vendors include the construction company, GH Phipps, consulting firms, an artist, and another architecture firm.

The Diagnostic Medicine Center is not your typical university lab.  It is primarily used for research and has the latest and greatest in lab technology.  It is also not a typical lab building from the exterior or interior.  It has a beautiful design inside and out and strongly incorporates public art into the building.

I have driven the hour long drive to Ft. Collins four times so far for the project.  The first time was to do a walk-through with the lead architect and put together a shot list.  The second time we photographed the labs, a necropsy (where they do animal autopsies for research) and a couple other rooms.  The third time we photographed the large atrium and did some detail shots.  And finally in the fourth trip we photographed the other end of the atrium, more details and the exterior.  After all of that we still have one trip remaining in the spring to get a couple final exteriors (once the grass has grown in) and a couple rooms that weren't ready for photos yet.

For most of the shots we have lit the entire space and used a balance of our lighting and the ambient light, but for some we have had to use entirely ambient light due to the layout of the space.  This has lead to one of the biggest challenges of the project, post-production.  Because we have shot over multiple days at different times and with widely varied lighting, getting consistency between the shots has been difficult.  Ryan has done an amazing job creating consistency in color balance, contrast and brightness.

Below are a few of the final images that represent over 80 hours of photography related work.

The exterior, we will reshoot this in the spring when the grass has grown in.

The main atrium.

One of the research labs.

The atrium with the "egg" at the end.

Another research area.

The necropsy, where they do research on deceased animals.

A detail shot of the exterior.

University of Colorado Library for H+L Architecture

I recently photographed the Norlin Library at the University of Colorado in Boulder for H+L Architecture.  The university had hired H+L to do an interior redesign of the library and add some additional space. 

Overall it was a pretty typical shoot showing the overall space.  We used people in many of the shots to give a feel for the space being used.  H+L always comes with multiple people to help in coordinating the shots and to stand in as models in the photos.  It is always fun working with them because it is good to see everyone again and to catch up. 

The biggest challenge I had was lighting and color balance in the first shot you see below.  We had multiple lighting sources, which always makes things challenging.  We had the overhead flourescents, skylights, my strobes, and some overhead tungsten lighting.  It made for quite the mix of colors and as you can see the green was especially prevalent.  We also had challenges with placing lights and filling an entirely different room with light, which you can see in the top left of the photo.  Below I have my first test shot of the space and then the final photo.  After that are some of the other shots of the project.

Cornerstar for SEM Architects

We photographed a new retail development southeast of Denver, Cornerstar, for SEM Architects.  It had some great anchor businesses that photographed well and some very well done architecture that sets it apart from other retail locations. 

We went out to the project a total of four times to scout and get all the necessary photos at various times of the day.  Many times we could hang out at the location from dawn until dusk and get all of the photos, but shooting for a 14-16 hour day in the summer gets pretty long.  I prefer to break it up over multiple days if we are not on a tight schedule so that we are fresh each time.  It also allows me to evaluate the pictures that we have taken previously and make sure we have covered everything from a fresh and interesting perspective.

Below is a mix of perspectives on the project.

Broadmoor Magazine Published

Back in May I did a blog entry on an architecture shoot I did for The Broadmoor, a luxury resort in Colorado Springs (you can view the previous entry here).  The photos were to be used for their in-house magazine that goes in every room.  The magazine was recently published and my photos and the accompanying story were used for the cover and an 8-page spread.  You can see the cover and the opening 2-page spread below.

Downtown Denver Loft

We photographed another great loft in Riverfront's Delganey building for a listing that recently went on the market.  The loft is the combination of two residences that were combined when the building was built to creat a truly custom loft.  The loft overlooks Cherry Creek and is across the street from the Pepsi Center (talk about easy access to Nuggets playoff games!)  The home is over 3,500 sq ft and has a 1,000 sq ft rooftop patio.  This was the first loft that we have photographed that had enough space for a built in theater.  My favorite photo from the shoot was the dusk shot that we took of the rooftop patio. 

You can have this amazing home for the small asking price of $2,499,000.