Last week, we had the Novak Residence photographed by the very talented Lincoln Barbour. “Photo shoot” sounds glamorous and fun, and it is to a certain extent, but it’s also hard work for everyone involved. For starters, I arrived at the site at 8am, to go over the shots with the owner, talk to them about what props we brought, and how the rooms might be rearranged (but put back to its original condition after the shoot). The owners had done a marvelous job tidying up the rooms, and since they are both artists and collectors, styling for this shoot was going to be minimal. Still, there are things that we usually don’t notice, that might be captured in a photo. So for every shoot, I go through each room carefully, straightening, moving, or removing things as I go. Then I clean all the surfaces, including counters, cabinet doors, windows, doors, to make sure there are no spots. I start bringing the props back into the room, and that is usually around when the photographer and his assistant arrive. (And I should note that Lynn and I usually work on these shoots together, but I just happened to do this one on my own.)
This is my first time working with Lincoln. I had seen his work on Portland Spaces magazine and fell in love with the composition and quality of light. I thought, someday I will work with him. So it was nice to finally meet, and find out that we were a good fit. He and his assistant Justin were very friendly, and very efficient. As soon as they arrived, they started setting up and got to work.
For every shot, we were able to review the angle, lighting, props, colors, etc. through his laptop. Here, he’s reviewing the shot before he lets me take a look.
Lincoln used reflectors in many of the shots, to get light where he wanted it. The interior of a house can look dark, particularly when it’s sunny outside. I wanted to take more photos of “behind the scenes”, but I was constantly running around, reviewing the current shot with Lincoln, preparing for the next shot, and scrolling through my phone in between to check on other projects. It’s literally non-stop, but since I thrive on that kind of high energy, I loved every moment of it.
So after every shoot, the photographers pack up and leave, and I start moving everything back to its original location, and make sure everything is back in order. Then if I have some time left at the end, I take some photos of my own, particularly of things we didn’t capture in the formal photo shoot.
Here is a view of the kitchen from the interior, as you look out to the back yard. You can see the rich color of the wood pantry wall against the cooler textures of the quartz countertop and the rubber flooring, which I thought was nice. (But boy, I could have used some reflectors in this shot, huh?)
The original window above the sink had a sill and apron, but in the design we proposed that we remove them and make a new sill that acts as a task light and a termination point for the tile backsplash. So here is a shot of that transition.
The sill extends all the way across the kitchen, and here you see the other end. The owners have this magnificent wood figure, which you’ll see in many of Lincoln’s shots. I just liked him so much, both as a piece and also as a vertical composition in the photo.
As I check to make sure we haven’t left anything behind, I leave the owners a little gift and a note thanking them for letting us use their house.
In summary, we got some beautiful shots of a nice project for lovely clients, and I had a great time working with Lincoln. Thanks again to everyone who was involved! And I look forward to sharing photos from the shoot in our next post.
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