Serene Scene

As the sun rises and the chill in the air slowly turns away, dappled light begins run through the trees and spreads across the landscape.  Somewhere (outdoor speakers) a violin begins to play and is soon followed by an entire orchestra, setting the mood through campus.  Behind me fountains start to flow as the walkways soon fill with laughter, smiles, and suntans.  Eagles, seriously, bald eagles (possibly hawks) soar through the winds above and I can see islands in the distance.  EVERY direction looks like heaven and this Malibu, hill top, ocean front setting somewhat supports that.  Lush, lively, and completely serene, this university campus is a very unique result of a very strong design.  This place should be on tv.

BTW, architect David Leckie of HOK Architects cleaned the back of every single seat in the auditorium.  I’ve never seen such a thing.  He’s superman.

Mountains of Glass

Searching for views that communicate a design intent can often be quite consuming.  Sometimes, the quickest way to find a great shot is to slow down, breathe, and simply listen.  Occasionally, there are times that encourage this slow down.  While photographing the new Shadow Hills High School in Indio, CA designed by Ruhnau Ruhnau Clarke, I came across one of those times.  With 115 degree heat, a zero wind factor, and sweat streaming through my eyes, I was constantly stopping to clear my vision.  This inevitable slow down gave me time to better appreciate the landscape of the project and led me to finding this shot.  Three rooftops up, atop the school gymnasium, I noticed a relationship between the skylights and the mountain range that I couldn’t pass up.  While this was not one of the planned shots, this view spoke loud and clear to me, be it through stinging eyes full of sweat and tears.  Here are some other perspectives from this very large, hot, high school shoot.

Good Design

Ever go into a building and you hear that little voice?  The one that says “This is only going to get better.”  That’s the feeling I had when I arrived at 1320 North Detroit Ave. designed by Predock_Frane Architects.  This space was an exciting experience.  From what I can remember, I was intrigued by the front facade, but as soon as I hit the courtyard, I just took off!  I could practically taste the shots.  I opened my eyes just a little wider and climbed up and down the steel staircases floating above the bamboo garden.  With the vision of a dusk shot from the street already gathered, and about 10 angles in the courtyard that hit me instantly, I moved on to the interiors.  With natural light flowing through and connecting every space, open walls, and skylights looking down on me, I wasn’t disappointed.  Well done Predock_Frane!

Heat Rises

If there’s one person you can’t complain to about heat, its a fire fighter. Even when shooting the new Fire Fighter Training Facility in Visalia, CA, in 115 degree weather, with natural fires starting up all around town, (HAHAHAHA) well, we jumped in two feet first. Turnouts on and 250+ degree rooms waiting, this was one hell of an interior shoot! The walls were all rigged with propane and the experience of the space helps fire fighters work through the anxiety of a real fire situation. In many ways, this building can help save lives. Hopefully, my images will accurately show the value of this type of training facility and assist in obtaining funding to build more of them. More cities with burning buildings that is.

Champagne and Cigarettes

While shooting the EVO Building in downtown Los Angeles, I found a perspective that seemed very strong. The only problem was it was floors up, in a commercial parking lot, basically mid air, lingering liability all the way.  Since there was a short lead time for our shoot, the property manager was already irritated with the short notice, and we had to convince another contractor on site to loan us his scissor lift, this was an interesting challenge.  I had to convince a parking lot attendant to allow us to place a scissor lift in his space and get the shots within ten minutes of our introduction.  With a respectful approach, an humble attitude, a couple packs of cigarettes, and a bottle of champagne we were able to proceed with our shoot.  Phew…….I love short notice.

Granada Theater, Above It All

The second shot on this blog is one many see by simply purchasing a ticket to a performance at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara, CA. What many do not see is in the first shot, the grid that sits above the stage, and supports everything hoisted above each performance. By strapping a line to five of the steel rods, one can suspend 1 ton of weight. Hopping around with my union escort between gaps that I could have easily fallen through, I felt privliged to take part in this shoot.  Seven floors up, 6-12 inch gaps every step, this was a special site to see and the engineering involved in this space was………awesome. I loved taking this shot!

Who Visits The Library???

So, who goes to the library now a days you ask?  While shooting this project, my assistant and I observed a local prostitute soliciting in the area.  She was picked up by a “John” on his BMX bicycle. While composing my shot, we listened as the “John”  attempted to talk her down in price and fought with her over payment up front.  The couple circled in front of us a few times, her riding on his handle bars, until eventually the transaction ended due to the John’s unwillingness to produce payment up front. Despite additional harassment from the local townspeople for our presence in the area, we achieved our shot, and got out of there in a hurry.  Good times!

Man’s Best Friend

This week I photographed Habitat 825 in West Hollywood, CA.  One of my favorite things about West Hollywood is the street life, most specifically all the walkers and runners often taking along their doggy companions.  Usually these couples are willing to stand in for our shots and today was no exception.  Given the location of this project, I thought incorporating mans best friend was the way to go.  I ended up photographing about 16 dogs that were simply out on their daily walks, happy to take part. I was happy to make some new doggy friends and we all had a great day.

I Could Have Used A Boat

This shoot was my first documentation of the work by architect Santiago Calatrava.    He seems to transcend all others and is to date my favorite designer.  His designs are purely art and I felt prevlidged when I discovered his first brigde in the U.S. was in my home state. At that point, I immediately took flight to Redding, CA to interpret the project through my own vision. Apparently my vision that day was calling for me to go chin deep in the freezing Sacramento river to get this shot.  Just above the chilly water laid my camera, my new carbon fibre tripod five feet deep submerged. I dealt with the misquote bites quite well, waiting in the chilly water for the right light was beyond refreshing, but when the shots came out as I had planned, it was all worth it.