With a few exceptions, all these photos were taken within the last five years, which is several generations of digital technology.
I began photographing architecture and interiors with a 4x5 view camera, and was thrilled when in 2003 the Canon 1DS was finally released – the first 10 megapixel full frame 35mm camera. It wasn’t good enough to completely replace film, but it was better than film in most situations. A few years later, the superiority of digital imaging was no longer in question. The technology continues to improve at a rapid pace, and the cameras and software I use now are much more powerful than the versions I was using even a few years ago.
Another significant change has been in the way software can be used to composite and edit photographs. Digital techniques have made possible an entirely different approach to lighting which is much faster on site, and requires much less equipment. Previously, one had to light the entire scene, balance the luminosity and colors, and address all the reflections and styling problems for exposure onto a single sheet of film. Digital capture allows separation of each component into individual exposures while working on site, for compositing later in the computer. I use one light fifteen separate times, rather than set up fifteen lights and use them once. It costs nothing to press the button, nevertheless many photographers who switched from film still have trouble warming up to the idea of “bracketing.” Although it is undeniably important to know what a good exposure is, and what effect one is after, there is no longer any penalty for using the shotgun approach – just shoot everything, it will be in there somewhere. I don’t advocate sloppy work, I advocate quickly and thoroughly covering all the bases, then trying a few experiments just to see if something interesting happens. Bracketing is efficient - it costs nothing, and provides flexibility as well as insurance. Laboring over a single, perfect exposure is time consuming, and the result will never look better than results from the multiple exposure technique, or be as inexpensive. For a majority of these assignments, I was able to transport all the equipment and take all of the photographs without needing the help of an assistant, which cut the cost of airfare, lodging, accommodations and gratuities in half. Had I brought fifteen lights to set up for single exposures, that would not have been possible. Of course with traditional lighting techniques there is less post-production time, but spending time on site is expensive. Not only is day rate more expensive than the hourly post-production rate, but there is down time for the staff and idle inventory to be taken into consideration.
The Residential photographs were in most cases taken for either the interior designer or the architect, but there is some editorial work there as well. My work has been published in Interiors, Interior Design, Architectural Digest, Electronic House, Period Homes, Public Art Review, the Magazine Antiques, Travel and Leisure, and Elle Decor, as well as in numerous books and websites.
The Commercial photographs were taken in places that were simultaneously in use by the staff, the public, and the photographer. The restaurant photo was particularly difficult, and is the result of many images edited together in order to edit the many people out. An impossible thing to manage in the age of film, this is why so many of the interior photographs of commercial spaces one sees from the last millennium were taken in the middle of the night.
The photographs in the Hotels folder were all styled by the photographer, with a few exceptions - contributions were made by Kimberlie Bloodworth, Terri Hickey, and, in a stroke of genius, by Mike Suomi, who did the styling for the photograph in the Nixon room at the President Hotel In NYC.
The Resort photographs were taken at the Four Seasons, Nevis. These were styled by the photographer, again with an exception, some excellent assistance from Tara MacIntyre with the shot of the beach cabana. If these are your interest, please visit www.resortphotography.net The same username and password that brought you to this page will access the protected pages there as well.
The Unassigned folder contains an assortment of the subjects I like to photograph for pleasure, which are again primarily architecture and interiors. I am interested in the places where people work and live, the tools and machines they use, and the comforts they provide themselves. If I could, I would travel back in time and do a history of homes workshops starting with the cavemen, but as it is, I’m hoping to be able to represent our own little slice of time in a way that is interesting both now and in the future.