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.

  • 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.

  • Great Egret Coast Florida by Jay Goodrich

    A great egret hunts for dinner through the mist.

  • Coots Feeding Florida by Jay Goodrich

    American Coots feeding in a pond in Destin, Florida.

  • White Sand Beach Destin Flordia by Jay Goodrich

    The sun rises over the Emerald Coast of the the Gulf of Mexico waves mimic the shape of the standing water.

  • Snow Trees Ghosts Colorado by Jay Goodrich

    Fir trees covered in powder during a major winter storm in Vail, Colorado.

Shooting on the Fly

Jay has an article in the Winter 2009 issue of NANPA’s quarterly magazine Currents. Here it is for your reading pleasure.

Shooting on the Fly
by Jay Goodrich

John Shaw, nature photographer, writer and workshop teacher, once said to me, “The more time you are in the field, the more money you are spending. The more time you are in the office, the more money you are making.” To manage all of my fieldwork I need to spend time in the office editing, selling, and marketing images. I would love to do nothing but travel the globe in search of the next great image, but if that were all I did, I would never make any money.

To add to my stock photography with as little impact as possible on my office time, I attach shoots to personal vacations, conferences, business meetings, workshops and assignments. At the 2008 Annual NANPA Summit, for example, I arrived two days early to take advantage of photographing in a spot where I had never been. What I found was pretty amazing; I shot close to 2,000 frames. What follows is my diary of this project to show you how it came to fruition.

November 15, 2007
Victoria Fox, a local (Colorado) client, commissioned me to furnish her house with ten framed fine art prints. She is looking for images of area wildlife, landscapes and anything artistic and full of color to work with her decor.

December 1, 2007
Victoria stopped when she saw me on the side of the road photographing migrating geese. I took the opportunity to get to know her in a one-on-one situation in a place that we both admire. I asked her where she is from, what her lifestyle is like, what draws her to nature. She told me she loves birds. When I told her that in January I am going to NANPA’s Summit in Destin, Florida, she said she has vacationed in Destin for 20 years.

That evening I researched Destin to learn about the Emerald Coast, its wildlife and its habitat. I found photographers online who had taken images there, and I made notes to reference once I arrive.

I called Victoria to discuss image concepts for her project. I suggested that we incorporate subjects from both Destin, Florida, where she vacations, and Vail, Colorado, where she lives, into the prints I am doing for her. She loved the idea, so I created a list of images to take with me to the Summit.

December 16, 2007
I created a shooting schedule that allowed for one evening and two morning shoots prior to the beginning of the Summit. I had an aggressive list of some 100 subjects that included landscapes, wildlife, plants and insects. Rules in photography are meant to be broken, and, likewise, lists are just a reference point. I will change direction based on the actual conditions once I’m in the field.

February 24, 2008
I arrived in Destin full of excitement to be out in the field again. My first mission was to talk to everyone and anyone about the location, including locals, tourists and employees of the hotel where I am staying. I asked about wildlife and good sunrise locations, directions to local parks and trails where I could expect to find the subjects on my list. I questioned everything with the curiosity I learned from my three-year-old daughter. I left no stone unturned, and even managed to photograph the sunset while checking into the hotel. I spent the evening reading all of the local publications that I could get my hands on. This not only gives me the information I need to get the images that I am looking for, but now I feel inspired.

February 25, 2008
I woke up early, hours before first light, like a giddy school kid raring for an adventure. Sunrise found me on the beach of the Gulf of Mexico, shooting directly down the waterline as the sun came up over the horizon. I watched the waves roll in and out and began to see patterns develop between the wet sand left from the waves’ movement and the water itself. The images that I created had a sort of “inkblot test” look to them.

Once the sun got a little too high to shoot landscapes, I shot some detail images of dune grasses. These images led me to shoot doves that were flying overhead, which led me to the discovery of a flock of American coots in a pond on one of the golf courses at the resort.

At sunset I found a great egret fishing near a pier. I utilized the pier railing as a blind; shooting through the railing’s gray color created an ethereal fog effect. I discovered some brown pelicans at a fishing wharf about 20 miles from the hotel, and will look for them again tomorrow morning.

February 26, 2008
I shot thousands of images, which includes many of the ones on my list, and many others that I did not expect. I sat at the bar in the hotel drinking a beer, relaxing, and knowing that this trip, like so many others, has been successful due to hard work and planning. The rest of my week in Destin will be spent meeting with new and old friends, and learning to become more successful at my life’s passion.

May 25, 2008
I installed ten fine art prints in my client’s house—five of the prints were photographed in Colorado, and five in Florida, as planned. As I showed Victoria the images, I saw a tear in her eye and knew that I had succeeded.

Her happiness led to the next client, one of Victoria’s friends who saw my work at Victoria’s house during a dinner party.

I am now totally convinced that what John Shaw once told me are words to live by, and my method of shooting on the fly has allowed me to pursue this passion uninterrupted for more than a decade.

  • What are You Looking at? by Jay Goodrich

    A Blacktailed Jack Rabbit stares gazingly at photographer Jay Goodrich.

Recent Projects

Some of Jay’s recent projects include Gran Farnum Printing’s 2008-2009 wildlife calendar, the cover of DCD Home magazine for the Steamboat, Colorado region with an image taken from a custom residence in Snowmass, Colorado, a finalist in the 2008 Nature’s Best photo competition with an aspen image, the cover of the Villar Center of the Art’s upcoming events brochure, images in the September 2008 Mountain Living magazine, and a finalist in the 2008 International Conservation Photography Awards with the quickly growing in popularity black tailed jackrabbit image.