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 © 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 © 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.

Private Residence Interior, Colorado © Jay Goodrich

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.

Architectural Interior © Jay Goodrich

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.