Fashionable Four Makeover Video

The Fashionable Four is off and running!  We had our first event last week and had over 50 people show up, including the fashion editor for the Denver Post. Look for another event sometime in early January.

The video of our first makeover is now online.  Check it out!

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.

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.

Photographing Landscape Architecture for Lime Green Design

I was hired by Lime Green Design to photograph five landscape architecture projects that they wanted to feature in their portfolio. The projects consisted of a new condominium develpment in Boulder, a new Aloft Hotel in Broomfield, a roof at the Denver Public Library, a new Arapahoe District library and gardens at The Polo Club in Cherry Creek. Each project was unique and very enjoyable to photograph.

Photographing landscape architecture is quite a bit different than photographing buildings. You tend to get low on some shots and high on others. You get low to put the landscape in the foreground and show the textures. Then you get high, when possible, to show the overall plan that the designer had in mind. I definitely have to go in with a different mind set than I do when photographing a structure.

Here are the different projects with descriptions.

Lime Green designed the public areas between three buildings that make up Landmark, a new condo development in Boulder. It is a very modern complex and the clean lines of the buildings contrasted well with the Lime Green's design.

The Eloise May Library is a new library in the Arapahoe District and was a great project to photograph. Both the building and landscaping did a great job of having a contemporary Colorado feel.

The job below was a pretty impressive landscaping project. They landscaped the top of a parking garage with everything from native flowers to trees. I learned that to create the depth necessary for the trees they build up large mounds of dirt to give the roots space to grow. This project was also my most adventurous to shoot since I got some of the overall project photos from the roof of the 21 story building. There was no protection of any kind and it definitely takes your breath away when you look over the edge to take the photograph.

On the seventh floor of the Denver Public Library, Lime Green designed a "green" balcony. The balcony overlooks downtown Denver and it was one of the smallest projects I have every photographed.

Aloft Hotel is a new concept by W Hotels. It is made for today's professional on the go. The rooms are loft style and breakfast consists of energy bars and coffee. They have a nice outdoor patio that Lime Green did the landscaping around.