July 2010 Photograph of the Month “Temple Hoyne Buell Theater”

Temple Hoyne Buell Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Temple Hoyne Buell Theater, Denver Center for the Performing Arts

This months Photograph of the month is titled “Temple Hoyne Buell Theater”

This image is the last photograph I shot as a semi-professional photographer way back in 1992. I had been working for five years to build the skills and acquire the experience necessary to open my business as an architectural photographer and finally all my plans were coming together. I had one more goal to achieve before I went out completely on my own and that was to photograph one large, dramatic public works project.

I pleaded my case to the theater manager and he decided to let me do my thing. He was very kind because not only did he let me into the theater on a Sunday morning he gave me free reign to make any changes to the lighting that I needed. It took me about a half hour to figure out the lighting controls and once I had mastered them I was all set. I shot five different images that day, using my 4×5 camera and black and white polaroids, this is the single best image.

In fact it’s so good I have used it as the closing image in my portfolio ever since. It’s still one of my favorites and always will be.

I hope you like it.

All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. Please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

Please call me if you have any need for photographs and I will do all I can to help you.

Thanks,
Dean

April 2010 Photograph of the Month “Restraint 2″

High Dynamic Range Image of the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay in Redding, CA

Narrow Screen Version

This months photograph of the month is titled “Restraint 2” I hope you like it.

I shot this image of the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay in 2007 in preparation for a gallery showing. I first saw this wonderful creation in 2004 on a trip to Redding, CA to photograph the Shasta County Municipal Building. It made  a big impression upon me and I have revisited the site several times since then and each time I find a new view of the grandeur and majesty of this remarkable example of creativity and design; I never would have imagined to find such a work in Redding, but there it is.

Both March and April have been extremely hectic months. Beginning with shooting several last minute projects for the ASID Design competition, being voted onto the board of ASID CA Peninsula, previous commitments to the chapters student members and commitments to my favorite not-for-profit organization, along with some on-going and resource intensive technical challenges with my computer system I have barely managed to get Aprils photograph of the month out on the first day of May. But, as with all the things there is never a good time to do anything, so you do it when you have the chance.
All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. Please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

You can download copies of all the Photographs of the Month by following this link to my website gallery.

The Bridge of Reality and the Spires of Night

The Bridge of Reality and the Spires of Night - B/W - HDRI - Mary Avenue Pedestrian Bridge - Cupertino, CA

This is a pedestrian bridge that crosses over I-280 at Mary Ave. in Cupertino, CA.

I was surprised and delighted to find such a marvelous example of engineering and design in this application. The spires and lighting are dramatic and inspiring. I have seen other images of this bridge on the web, but none of them have been of the bridge in it’s full glory at night.

It was great to get out and shoot something for no other purpose than to interpret it’s form and function from my own perspective, with no concern for a client or expectations from outside parties. It’s creating spectacular images like this, of grand and dramatic structures that are well designed in both form and function that caused me to fall in love with photography back in the 1980’s.

I do love my work and find it very fulfilling but this is simply fun.

How I became an Architectural Photographer

There’s an old saying “A man should do what he loves, or what he does best. If they are one and the same, then he truly is blessed.”

Recently I have been asked about how I got started in photography and how I came to choose architecture and interior design photography as my specialty. Here is the short version of the story.

In 1987 in Denver, CO I was in business with my father building custom upholstered and finished wood furniture to the trade. One day while cutting the back panel for an Armoire  on the table saw I almost cut the fingers off of my right hand, twice.

I realized that all the guys who had been doing this work for very long all had severe injuries to their hands, some missing several fingers, or worse. I shut down the saw and never turned it back on.

It was early April and I realized I needed to find a job, but hadn’t interviewed in years. I looked through the classified ads and saw an ad for a photographer with no experience required. I thought this would be an opportunity to refresh my interviewing skills. Much to my surprise I was hired, despite never having picked up a camera before in my life.

The job was to travel around the hinterlands of Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and New Mexico taking pictures of babies in K-mart department stores.

The job was great. I got to drive around the mountain states all summer long  spending a week in medium sized backwater towns. I got paid a decent wage and a reasonable per diem. I had a great summer and realized I loved photography but hated the job of shooting babies. I knew I had found my calling in life and set out to turn this summer job into a lifelong career.

As the seasons changed I realized that making a living driving on back mountain roads during the winter was not a good idea. So I quit, returned to Denver and found employment in a one hour photo labs, which used to be an ubiquitous  feature of every mall, large and small throughout the United States. This particular lab, Moto-Photo, had several photographic manuals for sale. These were books on how to take pictures such as, The Joy of Photography, Fashion & Portrait Photography, etc… The manual that caught my attention was “Photographing Buildings Inside and Out” by Norman McGrath. One look at the photographs Mr. McGrath created and I knew this was what I wanted to do. Before getting half way through the book I had decided I was going to be an architectural photographer and dedicated all my energy and efforts towards achieving that one goal.

I spent the next five years shooting small jobs for realtors and home builders while working in various photo labs both one hour retail labs and large commercial photo labs. I did this to build a strong foundation of experience in the background of the photographic processes and to pay the rent.

I worked as an assistant for another architectural photographer, Thorney Lieberman, for a brief time. My plan was to work with Thorney for a couple of years to gain experience and supplement my income, but one night we were both very tired and Thorney told me I was better at this than he was. I was shocked to hear this. I had a lot of respect for Thorney, he was a good shooter and I felt he knew what he was talking about when it came to photography. I decided that I should strike out on my own right away.

Finally on March 13, 1992 I struck out on my own and became a full time, professional, self employed architectural photographer and have been loving it ever since.

It is surprising that architectural photography is the one field where I can apply all of my past experience as a carpenter, electrician, machinist, upholsterer, cabinet maker and business owner. I tell people I am lucky to have found my calling in life and now you know why.

It’s been twenty-three years and each day I wake up excited and anxious to get to work. There’s nothing I would like to do more than spend every single day of my life creating beautiful images. It’s what I do, it’s what I am all about.

Ad for Viscusi Elson Interior Design in Gentry Design Magazine

Viscusi Elson Interior Design, Post Party Analysis

I have been working with Viscusi Elson Interior Design on their advertisements over the past year. It’s a lot of fun and I get the opportunity to combine my talents and skills for photographing architecture and interiors with my talents for photographing people. My story telling abilities are proving to be quite valuable as well.

This ad is titled “Post Party Analysis” and it appeared on the back cover of Gentry Design in October of 2009. The scene was photographed at the home of Noel Cross of Noel Cross Architects. We had to capture this image at just the right instant to communicate the idea of a couple discussing the party after returning home late at night. I think it worked out quite well.

High Dynamic Range Imaging Slide Show

I have been working with High Dynamic Range Imaging for many years, recently some software has become available that makes using the techniques much easier. Throughout the past year I have been using the techniques on all of my clients projects and many of these images have either been published or used in winning design competition entries.

I have finally found the time to assemble a flash based slide show of some of the more interesting High Dynamic Range Imaging photographs I have created for my clients over the years. You can view this new slide show by following this link.

A Career Milestone

I am very proud to say that this image I created of the Golden Gate Bridge was added to the permanent collection of the California Museum as a part of their “Only in California” exhibit.

Golden Gate Bridge from Marshall's Beach

I am honored that the curator selected my image as the “definitive” image of the Golden Gate Bridge from the thousands they had to choose from. I’m told my image captured the feeling grandeur they sought and communicated the context of the bridge admirably.

I did not set out to create an iconic symbol, only to capture my impression of the bridge as the work of art it is and one of mankind’s greatest engineering achievements. I think I achieved my goal.

You can view more of my images by following this link to my portfolio galleries.

Architectural and Interior Design Photography Slide Show

Several people have suggested I create a flash based slide show to use as a splash (introduction) page to my web site. I designed my web site to quickly and easily provide the critical information a visitor needs to answer their questions and help them make decisions about hiring me to photograph their projects without unnecessary distractions. I didn’t think a slide show was really necessary.

I don’t liked the idea of using flash as the front end of a web site because doing so forces the viewer to stop what they’re doing while the web designer takes control of their computer for however long the designer wants the show to last. And there is no guarantee that what the designer wants to show is what the visitor needs to see. Not to mention the fact that search engines ignore flash when scanning websites.

But I want to do all I can to provide for the various wants and needs of my clients and prospects as they define them; so, I created a slide show this morning. You can view it by following this link or by using the slide show link in the navigation menu at the bottom of each page of my web site.

Please take a minute (fifty four seconds, actually) to look it over and let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Dean

Expanding My Portfolio

Over the past few days I have been adding more images from my archive to my portfolio galleries. It’s been quite fun reviewing these images from the past and I am pleased with how my style has evolved through the years.

There are now well over four thousand images in my portfolio galleries displaying images from 1992 through today. These images provide a very good sampling of my talents and skills photographing residential, commercial, institutional, hospitality, retail, education, civic, healthcare and justice interior design and architecture.

I even included the last photograph I took as an “amateur” photographer way back in February of 1992, just a few weeks before I made the final jump to being a full time professional architectural photographer on March 13, 1992. It’s a wonderful shot of the Temple Hoyne Buell Theater in Denver, CO. I was pleased with the shot then and I am still proud to include it in my primary portfolios to this day. I even sold the image to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts which is why I have enclosed the amateur above in quotes.

Take a look at the galleries. If you want to see if I have the talent skill and experience to shoot your project, I’m sure you’ll find what you are looking for. And remember it is a searchable database.

Architecture and Interior Design Awards Portfolio

Yesterday I assembled a portfolio gallery that showcases  projects I have photographed that won  architectural or interior design awards.

It was really a lot of fun to go back through my archives to find the projects and review them once again. I am surprised at how many there are, they just kind of creep up on you.

I only included the seventeen projects that won awards from 1999 through today because I was out of time and the deeper I dig into my archives the less well organized things are, and the documentation becomes difficult to decipher and cross check. I began my conversion to digital photography back in 1998 and since that time my digital asset management has gone through major evolutionary changes. So, I just didn’t see it as worth while to dig throught my digital catacombs in search of files that no longer represent my style or my level of professional expertise.

I am very pleased to see that 2009 was a watershed year for me and my clients. Collectively my clients five ASID design awards this year, and the feather in my cap is that every one of my clients that eneterd the competiton won an award. And Joseph Hittinger of Joseph Hittinger Designs won three awards for projects I photographed for him.

I’m very pleased and look forward to outdoing myself next year.