September 2010 Photograph of the Month Tafoni

Tafoni - Wide Screen

Tafoni - Narrow Screen

This months photograph is titled “Tafoni”

I shot this image in El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve. Tafoni are small cave-like features caused by weathering and erosion found in granular rock such as sandstone or granite. They are found in intertidal areas, such as our coastline, as well as in deserts.

My wife Erica and I enjoy exploring the open spaces of the Peninsula, and when we found this remarkable feature of the landscape I knew I could get some really cool shots. And since my daughter suggested that I stretch my limits, I felt this was a good opportunity to set aside my innate preference for realism and explore the abstract.

Please let me know what you think by calling me, sending a e-mail or posting a comment here on my blog.

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

Permanent Link

Project Daedalus The Day The Universe Changed

Today is the big day. Today is the roll-out of Project Daedalus, the next evolutionary step in how interior designers present their work on-line. Using conventional interior design photography in video format with musical accompaniment, title slides and voice overs I create a vehicle to display my clients talents, theories and accomplishments.

The goal is to increase my clients ROI from social networking, improve search engine rankings and help get their phone ringing while making it easy to do.

Here you can see two videos I created for my clients: Joseph Hittinger Designs and Viscusi Elson Interior Design.

A few of the many benefits of my Daedalus Videos are:

• Videos are an elegant and powerful sales tool allowing you to personally make your best “pitch” to the client regardless of time of day or their location.
• Cost effective and fast – there is no need for a web designer, and no additional charges for web design or site hosting, upon completion the video is uploaded to youtube and immediately ready for you to use in blogs, forums, social networking and e-mail.
• “Gee Whiz” factor – clients and prospects are motivated to share the video with family, friends and social networks because it makes such a great impression.

Please call 866-499-8083 or send me an e-mail to learn how I can help you… “Helping you is why I am here”

Pre Roll-Out Announcement of Project Daedalus

What lies beyond?

Today I am announcing Project Daedalus, named after the master artificer of Greek legend who is attributed with many great works and inventions (such as lifelike imagery and sculpture, building the Labyrinth at Knossos, and who is most famous for crafting wings for himself and his son Icarus to escape their captivity in said labyrinth).

For two months I have been working on Project Daedalus to help my clients increase their ROI from social networking, improve their search engine rankings and help get their phone ringing, while making it easy to do.

The official roll-out is coming soon; keep your eyes and ears open.

August 2010 Photograph of the Month Twilight on the Sea of Souls

Twilight at the Sea of Souls

Twilight at the Sea of Souls

This months photograph is titled “Twilight on the Sea of Souls”

This image is another in a series I did of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse near Pescadero, CA back in 2006. I really love this particular lighthouse because of it’s archetypal architecture. It is the only classically styled lighthouse on the west coast because this is the only point that does not have cliffs of sufficient height on which to build the structure above the fog.

This is a pseudo high dynamic range image. Normally to shoot HDRI you need several different exposures of the same scene, however if you only have a single exposure you can still get unique and very dramatic results.

I hope you like it.

You can download this month’s screen saver by clicking the images above. A new window will open with a larger version that you can save to your hard drive.

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.

Dean

So much to do, so little time to do it all

Great News! This image of the Golden Gate Bridge was featured in a story by US News and World Report on  “10 Pricey Cities That Pay Off”

Golden Gate Bridge fetured in US News and World Report

So much going on…

I’m finishing a big job for Loretta Spence and Shirley Lo, more shoots for Lilley Yee – she really is a wonderful kitchen designer.

I’ve also some shots for Patrice Greene using my a’ la carte price structure. That really seems to be working out well for everyone and I intend to maintain that “product offering.”

This month I’ve upgraded my camera and am now working to integrate even more “product/service” offerings. I’ll have more to say about this in a couple or few weeks when I do my official roll out.

Being the ASID Industry Partner Director is going to be both challenging and interesting. I’m really hoping to make a difference for all the designers and IP’s in the chapter, and hoping that results in a positive result for my business as well because, as a photographer both the IP’s and the designers are my current or prospective clients.

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

Meeting with Patrice Greene Yesterday

I had the pleasure of meeting with Patrice Greene of DzignIT. We spoke for about two hours and I really enjoyed the afternoon.

At one point Patrice told me that she was a little disappointed with digital photography. I asked why and she showed me a few shots that another photographer shot where the color was not great.

Since I had my computer with me-as usual-I asked if I could see what I could do with them. It only took me a couple of minutes of “playing” with the color & contrast to make major improvements to the images. After was done Patrice was so impressed she ran a print off and immediately replaced the existing copy on her display shelf.

I pointed out to her that this was easy for me because I have been working with digital images on a daily basis since 1996. After fourteen years, I’ve developed some appreciable skills with digital photographs.

Many photographers want to do all of their work in the camera and leave it at that. My background of working in photo labs back in the eighties and early nineties taught me that taking a picture with the camera is just the beginning of the photographic process and that there is no photograph that cannot be improved in the darkroom, or on the computer.

Some photographers have objected to this, feeling that their creative opportunities and professional responsibilities pretty much come to an end once the shutter clicks. I like to point out that Ansel Adams, a well known and highly respected photographer wrote three books on photography “The Camera”, “The negative” and “The Print.”

As you can see according to one of the most well known and respected photographers of the twentieth century taking the picture is only part of the creative .

High Dynamic Range Photography of Interior Design

I was speaking with Meera Chawla after the ASID CA Peninsula board meeting yesterday and she told me that she was impressed with the crisp liveliness of my photographs when viewing my portfolio. I told her this was the result of my use of high dynamic range imaging.

High Dynamic Range Image of Residential Kitchen

The high dynamic range imaging allows me to create images of spaces as humans perceive them, with rich colors and a wealth of detail in both highlight and shadows that capture the delicate interplay of color and texture. This technique allows me to go beyond showing the furnishings and accouterments to communicating the mood and emotion of a space with unparalleled fidelity to the designer’s vision.

As I say in my seminar on photography for interior designers high dynamic range imaging will soon become the standard for interior design photography. I recognized it’s utility and value the first time I had the opportunity to work with it, this is why I have worked to master the technique. and now my clients can benefit by having photographs of their designs that contain a life and sparkle that was never before possible.

You can view more high dynamic range images of interior design in my portfolio galleries.

Styling for Interior Design Photography

Private Residence, San Mateo

I am surprised when my clients respond with astonishment when I help with the styling for my photographs. I move furniture and plants, help hang artwork and clear off desks, tables and counters. I offer suggestions about where to place the flowers, and how they should be arranged to best compliment the photographs composition and suggest changes to the arrangement of furnishings and which art to use where. This is the collaborative aspect of interior design photography and I love doing it.

But what really causes the strongest response is when I help put the homeowners things back where they were, help with re-packing the boxes of plates, vases and flowers, and carry things out to the car at the end of the day.

Because I am using high dynamic range imaging and no longer have twelve lights to position, adjust and control I have more time to work with my clients to style the spaces and make the photographs we create the best they can be, but I have always done these things. For an interior design photographer this is what collaboration is. If your photographer isn’t doing it, you should be working with me.

June 2010 Photograph of the Month “Red Clover”

Red Clover in Sunol Regional Wilderness Area

Red Clover in Sunol Regional Wilderness Area

This months photograph is titled “Red Clover”

I shot this image in the Sunol Regional Wilderness Area last year. I love the soft forms and gently colors of the flowers. Upon getting good close look I was surprised a the abundance of nectar produced by the flower, these little beads of nectar really give this image a level of interest that is absolutely delightful.

I always enjoy shooting nature photographs. It gives me the chance to get away from the computer, phone and e-mail, reconnect with my inner being and remember what I love about being a photographer, because in the day to day madness of proposals, appointments and accounting it’s far too easy to forget that I chose this career because I like taking pretty pictures.

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