Nesting Newbies Publishes DIFFA Dining by Design

Nesting Newbies DIFFA Dining by Design

I am proud to announce the publication of the DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fight Aids) Dining by Design event at the San Francisco Design Center by Nesting Newbies magazine.

You can view the images I shot in my portfolio by following this link. All but one of the images they published were shot using the High Dynamic Range Imaging technique that is such a hit with all my clients.

Or you can review the entire winter issue of Nesting Newbies by following this link.

It was a pleasure working with Lea McIntosh and Jodi Murphy of Nesting Newbies, they are on the cutting edge of periodical publication. I look forward to working with them as they blaze the trail for others in the publication industry to follow.

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.

B&M Tear Off Roofing

Last year I was working with Rebuilding Together Peninsula to document the rehabilitation of their new permanent facility at 841 Kanyne St. in Redwood City, CA and I had the opportunity to work with B&M Tear Off Roofing as they were installing the new hot tar roof. I worked with them for two days and found the B&M Crew to be one of the most conscientious and professional that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. And I did roofing in the early 1980’s.

The men at B&M were all polite and professional and they obviously took a lot of pride in their work. Every one of them wore their safety equipment and followed all the rules to the letter. I was very impressed with their attitude and how efficiently they got the job done.

Last week Daniel from B&M called me to ask about getting some of the photographs I took for B&Ms’ use. As is standard polcy on RTP projects all the contractors and volunteers have free access to the photographs I create all they need to do is call me.

It was a lot of fun documenting the tear-off and installation of Rebuilding Togethers’ new roof. You can view a gallery of the entire process by following this link to my portfolio galleries, but here are two of my favorite shots from the roof.

May 2009 Photograph of the Month: Sunset at Pigeon Point

Sunset at Pigeon Point

This month’s photograph is titled “Sunset at Pigeon Point”

In my work I am usually facing the wrong direction to see the sunset, so this is a somewhat unique image for me. I shot this image as part of a series I was working on at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse; it has turned out to be my second best selling stock image. The Pigeon Point lighthouse is unique in that it is the only “classic” lighthouse on the West Coast. Its tower-like structure is required due to the low cliffs that are available at this location, while elsewhere along the coast the cliffs provide the elevation required to lift the lighthouse up out of the fog on the surface of the sea.
This was a difficult image to create because I wanted detail in the lighthouse without creating a solid black silhouette. To achieve this I needed to wait until very late in the sunset cycle, beyond what most people see as complete darkness, and then I light-painted the lighthouse with a two million candlepower spotlight from the camera position. The result was the perfect combination of darkness and light to capture the mood of the scene.

It was challenging not only because of the technical and creative obstacles I needed to overcome, but also because once it was done I was 100 feet from the beach  negotiating rather treacherous wet rocks covered with seaweed in the dark with my camera bag & tripod, the tide was rapidly advancing and I had a 25 foot cliff to climb. I made it out safely and now have both an interesting story to tell and a wonderful image to share.

I hope you enjoy this month’s photograph.

All images in my “Photograph of the Month” series are sized and formatted as a screen saver or computer desktop wallpaper. You can click on the image to open in a new window or download; please, share it with your family and friends, with my compliments.

SF/SPCA Feral Cat Volunteer Caregivers

Last week I had the opportunity to go out into the wilds of San Francisco to begin documenting the volunteers with the SF/SPCA who care for the feral cat population. I know it’s an odd thing for an architectural photographer to be doing but, I love cats and I want to make a contribution. This seems like a good way to do that.

In case you don’t know the SF/SPCA is a “no kill” facility. The goal of the organization is to care for the animals until they are adopted but sometimes adoption isn’t an option.

Feral cats are in a unique situation, most have never been a “pet” but are in fact wild, unfortunately many of them were pets that were either lost or in some cases dumped by the humans who were supposed to care for them. Feral cats if left alone will breed wildly and prolifically. This causes quite a few problems for the cats and the people who live near them.

The SF/SPCA has a trap, neuter/spay and release policy. Volunteers will care for the animals by feeding & watering them and ensuring they have some form of shelter available. They also use humane traps to capture the animals, give them medical treatment and to spay or neuter, and if the cat can be socialized they will bring it in and offer it to the public for adoption. Unfortunately many of these cats cannot be “tamed” and must be allowed to live out their lives in the “wilds” of the city streets, back alleys and parks.

I am setting out to tell the story not of the cats themselves but of the people who give their time, their energy and their love to these poor animals who have no one else to love and care for them. This is a long term project and I will be posting short episodes here on occasion and once the project is completed I will post a link to the final story of the remarkable people who go to rather extreme lengths to do the best they can for these most vulnerable citizens of our city.

Breakfast in the wild.

Feral Cat Caregiver

Tomorrow morning I begin shooting the volunteer Feral Cat Caregivers with the SF/SPCA.This is the beginning of a long term project to document the Feral Cat program and the remarkably dedicated volunteers who make the program work.

I’m looking forward to it and the challenges that I will be faced with. I’ll post more about the program in another day or two.