Deconstructing Zion

A Natural Spring with Mineral Deposits by Jay Goodrich

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I was an architect–not a marine biologist. Even further from that point, I was in school to become an architect. My parents figured architecture would be a great major for me because I loved to draft in high school. What my parents didn’t realize, and what most people don’t realize, is that architecture has a closer relationship to fine art painting than it does to engineering or technical drawing. In fact the technical drawings or “blueprints” that most know about, are really the final process of what an architect does. This is where the problem for my parents’ dream of having a son who was an architect ended. The point at which I began studying architecture is the point at which I began to open my mind creatively. I was set to become an artist. Yep, said it, the beret, facial hair, and attitude of an artist. Kind of.

Standing Water Reflection Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

The major focus for an architect is design, to create a space for a human to utilize in some way, shape or form. Think of a painter who is a sculptor too, architecture is just that, creating in a three dimensional world as well as the two dimensional world of a painter. The final building is the sculpture and the drawings are helping your army make that vision a reality. Within the art form of architecture there are as many different styles of creating as there are within the world of painting. There are those who utilize the classical (I have no idea why), those blend the classical with the contemporary, and those who disregard the classical to design the modern. In fact, if you study art and architecture history side by side (something you are required to do for an architecture degree) you quickly see a correlation between what artists were painting and what architects were designing.

Reflections Over Wind Blown Water Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

I was a modernist. In fact, the style of architecture that I absolutely loved was called Deconstructivism. It was the anarchist of architecture at the time. It scoffed at the general rules that were put in place by the architects who came before. Have you ever heard someone say, “form follows function.” Deconstructivists said screw these types of rules, they wanted to create drama through a sort of controlled chaos. The mission was to make a structure look like it was, for lack of a better word–unstructured. Very similar to what Picasso would paint when he went full tilt into cubism. In other words for a young punk rebellious kid, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. “What are you rebelling against? What ya got.”

Canyon Reflections and Shadows Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

There were two guys in my class that were amazing at designing in this style. I only remember their first names at this point–Dan and Mark. Dan was older than most in my class at about 30, Mark was even older at 40. Both of them lived their lives just like they designed–contemporary, well dressed, well read, well spoken, and I hated them as much as I loved them. I wanted to create like they did. Their presentations looked like original Picassos, and their models were built out of steel, aluminum, rusted metal and plexiglass. They could create the coolest looking projects I had ever seen and then defend them until there was no other choice but to give them the “A”. They had all the reasons because their projects grew out of a well thought out theory of why. There wasn’t a misplaced or misthought beam anywhere. You loved their work even if you hated their style. When they presented, the rooms were always full. These guys taught the professors. They created a following throughout the architecture department, and taught me how to create like them. I sought their advice often, listened and remembered anything and everything they told me.

The Heart of Stone Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

It wasn’t long before their inspiration and instruction grew into my own way of thinking. Good, bad or indifferent, I became knowledgable and opinionated. I became the beret wearing attitude without the beret. There you go, I said it again. This meant though that creativity at some point was going to become the driver in this testosterone love triangle and it wouldn’t be long before the new hot chick of photography would grasp me in her clutches and allow me even more free love than I had in school. The mission began as some free love in the woods near my home in Colorado and then grew into completely new way of life. Even to this day though, I have never forgotten my roots and apply all of what I learned in college to my everyday photography life.

Canyon Wall Reflections Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

Now, knowing all this why would I change direction, throw away a life of architecture for a life of photography? Well, I think a place like Zion speaks volumes to the reason. I have morphed my vision of the world from architecture, now to photography. What I loved about architecture is quickly finding its way into my photography no matter where I travel. Zion is a perfect place to let the deconstructivism dog out to stretch its legs. To go against those perfect landscapes that many nature photographers pursue there. This was a time to play with my viewers emotions, to utilize shade and shadow, reflection, color, texture, direction, and design concepts to highlight what Zion can be about, but very few seek out there. This place strong holds a mecca of compositions. A place where I could spend the rest of my life exploring. Of discovering and rediscovering. A life of working on a vision with reason. Go ahead and ask me why, to any of it, I dare you.

The Liquid Bear Zion NP by Jay Goodrich

Duality – China

Shanghai China at Night by Jay Goodrich

There is this heavy metal band that I listen to on a regular basis named Slipknot and they have a song titled “Duality”. This song alternates between the heavy metal that most would dub “noise” and a calmer, completely comprehendible singing, hence the name. I have been thinking of this song for most of the last thirteen days of my travels throughout China. There is a capitalist economy here where people shop at malls purchasing name brands like Chanel, Fendi, and believe it or not Mercedes, while outside of the mall there are tribes people selling their homemade wears. This place is bordering on the bizarre. Beautiful, natural places are engineered to highlight the most spectacular viewpoints, which are then packed with…well one billion Chinese. I finally found a place in the world where the traffic is worse than Seattle. I know, I know, there are tons of places like that, but I am here now.

Huang Shan China at Sunset by Jay Goodrich

In the same breath, I love and completely hate this place. Experiencing another culture is always amazing and the trip has been just that-an experience. We started in Shanghai studying and photographing the amazing modern architecture that seems to transform before your eyes. Things change very quickly here, I guess when you have so many people willing to put forth an effort, change is inevitable. Then we headed for Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain) that holds an almost indescribable beauty, which is ruined by the cigarette smoke of tens of thousands daily visitors. With all those people comes tremendous ingenuity too, which has allowed me to visit stunning viewpoints with a network of walkways and trails that highlight the best surrounding stone features.

The Walkways of Huang Shan China by Jay Goodrich

Then on to the rice terraces near Yuang Yang, a place whose history dates back thousands of years. There are 6000 foot peaks completely terraced out for crop growing. This creates some of the most dramatic, abstract, reflective landscapes out there. Again, with areas constructed to take advantage of the best viewing platforms that are again, shared with a billion Chinese photographers. Nature has never felt so crowded? God I can only imagine what this place was like twenty or thirty years ago. I did experience a local market here too which had me filling flash cards like no tomorrow.

People Walking Near the Bund in Shanghai by Jay Goodrich

I definitely fought the same red pill and green pill decision that Neo had make in the first episode of the Matrix when I decided to travel to China. I honestly had mixed emotions, mainly because of the 17 day trip away from my family. The positive side of this is that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I am experiencing that first hand right now. God I would kill for a turkey burger from Larkburger in Edwards, Colorado with a 5 dolla’ strawberry milkshake. “That is pretty good fuckin’ shake,” and worth every penny too. Yes, that does mean the food leaves a lot to be desired. That was the other thing I heard from those who have come before me. “Good luck, the food sucks.” I have now had six good meals in thirteen days of breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is what it is I guess. Luckily I had the brain power to pack enough ProBars to last the entire trip. A little taste of home in a not so homey place.

Rice Terraces in Yuang Yuan China by Jay Goodrich

There is a drive to push China past the 21st century, but even with all their technological advances there is an uber wealthy class followed by a completely poverty stricken class. You can be staying in the nicest, cleanest hotel in the dirtiest city, eating the worst food, and meeting the most interesting people, while putting up with twenty chain smokers, drinking the best beer, riding in the slowest bus, watching the most modern freighter pass you heading up river, while getting cursed out by a local tribes person for taking their photo, while their neighbor invites you in for tea, as you fill up the last flash card in your camera pack, before trying to fall asleep on a mattress made of solid wood.

The Rice Terraces of Yuang Yuan China at Sunrise by Jay Goodrich

Now I am riding in our tour bus for ten hours to get on a plane for two more additional hours to Guilin to explore the Li River area. This is where my friend and co-leader Art Wolfe photographed his popular “Night Fishermen” image. I have decided I am going to copy that shot, because I have brainwashed him into thinking it would be a good idea. I am wondering how this area will be perceived by me? Probably not much different than everything so far–Duality.

Can’t Han…dle the Wor….kload

For the last week I have been under the gun from commercial architecture clients with ridiculous deadlines. I essentially have 7 projects to finish mastering by the 15th of November, which all came to fruition at the same time last week. It wasn’t like I was slacking on my end, just playing on Facebook and Twitter, figuring that somehow all this stuff would magically get done. No, I am blaming the clients for slacking in this event. I really want to give them a piece of my mind, but the reality is that it would accomplish very little, and I would probably lose those clients in the process of venting and making myself feel better. That means I sit at my wonderful computer relentlessly for days,listening to and purchasing tons of music from Apple. I have spent so much time in Photoshop in the past week, I want to start writing the code for that program. No, not really, but I have become more knowledgable with it than ever before. The up side to all of this is that on the 15th, next Monday, I will have the billings to reflect the fruits of my labor. Is there really a downside to all this? Well the only real thing I can think of, is missing out on some quality sleep time. I have always said though that sleep is for the dead. Well honey, I might be dead and don’t really know it yet–would that make me a vampire?

As I have been typing this I have watched the sun rise over Mount Baker and begin streaming into my office. I love the early morning light here in Washington. For those who have never experienced it, it is almost indescribable. With that said, I need to head back to image mastering, but I did want to show you what happens with a typical architectural image of mine. Many of these new photographs will be on the new website when it launches on January 1, 2011–1/1/11.

Raw File from a Private Residence in Colorado by Jay Goodrich

The above image is the original raw, middle exposure photo from a gallery hallway in one of the projects that I am now working on. I did not light this scene with my typical hot lights or strobes, although I did capture 5, additional, one-stop exposures that I fused together with Photomatix Pro to even out the scene. Then the real work began. The client specified that they wanted the track lighting, miscellaneous sprinkler covers, alarm sensors, HVAC grills, and smoke detectors taken out of the image. To which I obliged thanks to the the new Content-Aware feature in Photoshop CS5. Being in control of how my work is viewed though, that was just the starting point. Removing the lights were easy, fixing the areas where they cast light on–the walls, was where I spent the time. In the end, there were close to two hours spent mastering this image and that is pretty much the norm for all of my architecture photographs. That is why I charge mucho dinero for this work.

Final Mastered Image from a Private Residence in Colorado by Jay Goodrich

Notice the lack of lighting on the beam, it is actually a new beam. Then there is the smoothing out of the light casts on the walls, the balanced color, and additional contrast. I was okay leaving the light on the floor in the foreground because if you notice further down the hall there is the same cast, which is actually from the same track lights. Those just happen to be on the backside of the beam in relation to the camera. And, if you ever want to know how I do all this, you can always sign up for a one-on-one chat session and I will show you. Well, the sun is up and this vampire has to go back to work. I have many new post ideas coming, I just need to find some time to get them all out there. In the meantime, let me know what you think of the image.

  • Pride Parade Vancouver by Jay Goodrich

    People in a Vancouver apartment building look over the Pride Parade.

August 2010 Photo of the Month

The photo I have chosen for this month’s photo is a little different then past choices and hopefully a new way of highlighting how I see the world. Don’t get me wrong, I love photographing nature and adventure but I am also taking to more literal types of photography. Possibly a bit towards photojournalism, but also not quite there. I want my viewer to start contemplating the scene. What does this image say to you? For me it was the repetitive nature of the stark apartment architecture and the people, who all seem to be joining forces in a celebration. Onlookers to something, but what that something is, has me looking deeper into the image. There are hints there but nothing concrete. The other piece of the puzzle for me is the variety of race, gender, style, ect. it speaks volumes to the people of our world. Captured with a Canon 1D Mark III, 70-200 f2.8 IS AF lens, handheld, mastered in Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS 5.

Happy Holidays

lights christmas house

My wife told me to take her credit card to the store and get a bunch of lights to decorate the house. I decided to spare no expense, since it wasn’t my dime. I think there is a dog house in there somewhere that will be my home until it is time to clean it all up. Just kidding! We hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season. I can hear my daughter downstairs right now singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, so that is my que to go and have some “egg nog” –  translation = tequila. Oh and the house isn’t actually ours, it’s a house in West Seattle whose owners obviously love the holidays. Taken with my iPhone.

  • Residence Entry Colorado by Jay Goodrich

    A custom residence entry in Colorado.

The Job at Hand

I have been in Colorado for past week shooting a commercial  residential project. I was hired to create a major collection of images for the home owner, builder, and the architect. The images will be used for their portfolio and marketing pieces. Projects of this magnitude take a huge amount of planning and work to complete successfully. At one point, I had four assistants helping me move furniture, props, and equipment all over the house in order for us to finish the task at hand in the time allotted.

This house is a perfect blend of contemporary and mountain architecture, and the finishes are top of the line. It is very important for me to create imagery that responds to those details and provides the viewer with a glimpse of what it is like to experience a well thought out design like this one. This image is of the entry way into the residence, and it is the first thing that you experience as you walk into the house.

To achieve this image I used a mix of tungsten hot lights and an HDR blending technique in the computer before creating my final image that was adjusted for color and contrast. This image was created with a 1Ds Mark III, 24mm f3.5 tilt/shift lens, Gitzo tripod, Kirk Ballhead, and Lowel Pro-light lights. Shooting projects like this is a lot of work, but the rewards are worth much more.

  • Great Room Interior by Jay Goodrich

    An interior great room for a custom Colorado Residence.

The Commercial Side

Many people want to know what I am doing at any given moment in time so I am trying to make that happen by adding more blog posts while I am working. Last night I was photographing a private residence for a commercial client in Colorado. I am not allowed to give names…well, I could but they would kill me, so here is the vague breakdown.

My client is a high-end custom painter and wood supplier. He has hired me to shoot a project that he has done almost all of the painting on interior and exterior wood work, as well as supplying all of the exterior wood material for the house. My job-to capture images for his marketing. So what do I look for? Interesting compositions that highlight what he has done. I am not necessarily going to capture architectural design ideas, nor am I going to setup in one corner of a room and include everything, I am there to capture details that the sub-contractor was responsible for creating. In the above image that happened to be the finish that was applied to all of the interior doors. If I were to just photograph the door, the image would have much less interest than if I included other elements. This house had a wonderful collection of artwork so I utilized that to my advantage. I chose to use the door to lead the viewers eye off into just a small part of the residence, giving just a small look to what else is there. When all was complete my assistant Brendan Russell and I shot 171 images for which only 10 will go to the client.

I shoot many aspects of photography and truly believe that if you think about the basics of light, composition, and clarity in every image that you create, your photographic opportunities will be limitless.

Bjarke Ingles-Architect and Naturlist

Some of you have noticed that I have not been adding content here for quite a while now. Well, I have been offline for a bit, traveling, working, and in general living like a caveman with the basics of fire and shelter-stay tuned for more on that in some up coming posts. Some of you also know that a main staple of my income is generated from commercially driven architecture photography. Many people ask me, “How does a nature photographer cope with the seemingly opposite professions, capturing images of nature that make a statement for its rescue, while also shooting structure imagery that shows nature being turned into something that is man-made?”

Let’s begin with the fact that I was an architect and a builder for close to two decades before actually realizing my dream of becoming a photographer. I have been responsible for the design of close to 50 projects, over half of which I personally built. The design and construction industry do not have to be professions that are against nature, they can peacefully coincide with and actually create nature as Bjarke Ingles demonstrates in the above TED video. When I was building, I always made a point to recycle as much material on a job site as possible and create a home that utilized as few natural resources as possible.

Now as a photographer, I recycle everything in my home and office, as well as live and work from a home that is set up to use less water, gas, electricity and is insulated extensively to eliminate heat loss and gain. I am also looking to work with clients that have those same ideals in mind. I have a client right now who is producing wood products for houses that are completely recycled from the downed beetle kill forests surrounding Vail, Colorado. We need to proceed with our lives and careers with a thought process that allows us to save, recycle, and generate nature. If we do and think in that manner for multiple aspects our planet will grow more profitable then ever imagined.

I love to see people like Bjarke pushing the boundaries when it comes to work. In the video he discusses how every idea leads to another idea and that nothing is ever thrown away. This is a great way to succeed as any creative individual, I don’t care what profession you working in, architecture, graphic design, photography, painting, etc. The more you expose your mind too, the more successful your creative journey will become and the more you will build on your past.