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.

May 2010 Photograph of the Month “Stasis″

Stasis - Wide Screen

Stasis - Narrow Screen

This months photograph is titled “Stasis”

I have been planning this image for a few months now. I had shot some preliminary test images in February but wasn’t satisfied with the results.

There are some rather significant challenges involved with shooting high speed images of water drops. The technological challenges of timing are the least complex. I was not prepared for the amount of space that was required to shoot water drops and get the smooth gradient background I envisioned. I ended up buying a 40” x 60” print developing tray , painting it black and filling it with water – and it was just barely large enough to realize my vision.

This was  one of the single most challenging images I have ever created. The image you see here is the result of four days of hard work, in a wet, dark room. I must have shot 400 images before everything finally fell into place with lighting, precise timing, angle of view, size of water drop, and the distance it traveled to get the perfect splash, the perfect reflex splash, and the perfect pressure waves. I even had to control the surface tension of the water using soap, alcohol and temperature of the water. I am very proud of the result.

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.

An Avant Gard Triumph: prisencolinensinainciusol

OLL RAIGHT!

I’ve been trying to make this post for a few weeks now. Recently my wife sent me a link to this video on youtube. It’s called “prisencolinensinainciusol” and it’s worth your time.

This video went viral a few years ago. It is a song written by italian singer songwriter Adriano Celetano. It was written in the early seventies and it is a true Avant Gard masterpiece, made more so by the remarkable choreography and big band sound. In fact I believe this puts the song “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict” on the album Ummagumma by Pink Floyd to shame.

Many people say the lyrics sound like american english to non english speaking italians, but when interviewed Mr. Celetano says the song was about “incommunicability” (he’s obviously comfortable with polysyllabic words) and the rational for the composition was to do something that was simply fun after working on two socially and politically motivated projects. The words are complete gibberish in any language but they are rhythmic and fit the music.

I’m sure he is quite proud that after forty years the song is still a big hit, but I doubt it would be quite as popular as it has been if not for the choreography.

The choreography that helps make this such a fantastic presentation was arranged by Raffaella Carra a diva of some repute in the Latin world. She was the first woman on Italian television to show her bellybutton and was promptly repudiated by the vatican.

Regardless take five minutes out of your day and enjoy both the song and the show. I guarantee you’ll be singing and dancing to prisencolinensinainciusol all day.

Eyes!

Joseph Hittinger Published using High Dynamic Range Photographs

Joe Hittinger had a project I shot for him published in Palo Alto Online.

It was a great project that I shot using the High Dynamic Range Imaging technique that is making such a hit with all my clients. I like it because I can capture the essence of my clients design with a degree of fidelity to their creative vision never before possible. And since the supplemental lighting I need is either minimized or in most cases unnecessary we no longer have to struggle with reflections and light stands and cables, instead we can focus all of our energies on the creative aspects of styling and composition.

Take a look at the project at Palo Alto Online. com or check it out in my portfolio. I’m actually using photographs from this project of Joe’s in my CEU seminar for ASID.

February 2010 Photograph of the Month “Puff Ball”

High Dynamic Range Image of Dandelion Puff Ball

High Dynamic Range Image of Dandelion Puff Ball

This month’s photograph is titled “Puff Ball.” I hope you like it.

I shot this image last year in a local park specifically for the February Photograph of the Month. I intended it to remind everyone of the warm, sunny days of summer hoping it would brighten your day and lift your spirits as the cold dark winter slowly passes.

This is a High Dynamic Range Photograph. I am very pleased with the way this technique brings out detail in both the brightest highlights and darkest shadows. It allows me to control the representation of my subjects with almost the same freedoms of a painter. I say “almost” because when I create an image I still have to work with what is actually before me; a painter has no such restriction.

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

Photography for Interior Designers CEU Lecture An Overwheling Success

Last night at the Hunter Douglas Showroom in Milpitas, CA I gave a CEU lecture to the members of ASID CA Peninsula titled Photography for Interior Designers. The overwhelming positive response of the members who attended tells me I did a good job. I found that I enjoyed speaking to a room filled with eighty people.

I discussed subjects such as Photographic Composition, Styling for Photography and HDRI photography. These subjects are of importance to interiors designers because the quality of their photographs are important to the advancement of their careers .

At the encouragement of Marie Chan of Inter-Space Design, President of ASID CA Peninsula, I worked hard to ensure that all who attended left with a deeper insight to photography or a greater capability to either shoot better photographs for themselves or do a better job of collaborating with and directing their photographer on their next photo shoot.

After four months of work on the presentation actually giving the lecture seems anticlimactic. Regardless today I will begin the next phase of the project which is to decide if, where, when and how to arrange the next lecture on the subject; before the lecture even began there were requests to give another in San Francisco.

After all the work I did I want to make the most of it. So next week I will see what the future hold, right now. I have photographs of another prison to process and a residential walk through in Los Gatos, CA this afternoon.

Photography for Interior Designers

I will be giving a seminar on Photography for Interior Designers on Thursday Nov. 12 from 5:30 PM to 8:40 PM Hosted by Hunter Douglas 1870 Milmont Dr., Milpitas CA, 95035.

This seminar is a CEU for ASID Members and provides 0.2 Credit Hours.

I will be discussing subjects such as compositional guideline to make your images better, Photographing Space: Techniques to help you showcase your talent, Staging and Styling for dramatic effect and New Technology: High Dynamic Range Imaging.

Attendance is limited to 85 people and costs $45.00 for members of ASID and $55.00 for non-members but you have to RSVP to the ASID CA Peninsula Chapter office with a check or card payment by Nov. 6

I have worked hard to make this a truly education experience for interior designers with any level of experience. This will not just be a show of pretty pictures. I will be explaining tricks and techniques that I have learned throughout my career and  employ to great effect on every photograph I create.

Here’s a copy of the promo announcement. I hope to see you there.

Dean

This two-hour course will benefit interior designers of all experience
levels. The guidelines and techniques discussed will be beneficial
when applied to either a professional photo shoot or when designers
photograph a project themselves.

Attendees will learn of compositional guidelines allowing them to
better direct and control the outcome of their photo shoots, the
logistics and principles of styling for an interior design photo shoot
will be discussed and designers will be instructed in the evaluation
and application of new photographic techniques helping them make
informed decisions and gain greater control over their photo shoots.

Bay Area photographer Dean Birinyi creates beautiful architectural
photographs that capture the emotional character of his clients’
work and communicates their talents and design concepts.  With
more than twenty years of experience photographing architecture
and interior design, Dean listens to his clients to integrate the solutions
for many different but equally important needs into any image. Dean’s
talent for storytelling consistently helps his clients win design competitions.

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.

ASID CA Peninsula Tours Rosewood Sandhill in Menlo Park, CA

Rosewood Sandhill, Menlo Park, CA

Friday afternoon ASID CA Peninsula toured the Rosewood Sandhill Resort in Menlo Park. This is a five star hotel and it shows in every way, from the gardens as you approach to the registration lobby to the pool and day spa everything about the hotel, staff and grounds speaks of quality.

I was most impressed with the approaches to critical hotel features such as the registration lobby, weight room and conference facilities. The dramatic framing of the transitional spaces was really quite impressive. The rooms, bar, pool and spa themselves, of course were spectacular but these transitional spaces had been given a degree of attention equal to that of the major spaces that is unusual in most hospitality projects I have experienced. I guess that’s one aspect of a five star hotel that helps them stand out.

I was on hand photographing the event and have snapshots of the spaces, the tour  and the Q&A afterward for you to enjoy in my portfolio galleries.

ASID CEU “Photography for Interior Designers”

I have been approved by the IDCEC to give a Seminar for ASID members on “Photography for Interior Designers.” I am excited about this because I will be able to share my unique insights into creating photographs of interior design covering subjects ranging from composition, to styling, to the HDRI photography technique.

The seminar will be scheduled for sometime in November, will provide 0.2 CEU credits and is limited to 20 attendees. I will be working closely with Marie Chan, Pauline Hsu and Jane Higo to coordinate with other members of ASID.

Look in the ASID e-blasts and newsletters for more information.