December 24 2009 / No Comments

One Last Getaway For 2009

Happy Holidays from Acapulco!

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December 17 2009 / No Comments

Dawn to Dusk

It was 4 a.m.  The alarm was ringing.  The sky was dark and as I stumbled into semi-consciousness I pondered just why it was that I was being roused from my warm bed on a Saturday morning.  Oh!  That’s right… photographs.  I’m going to go make photographs.  Nice.

We were meeting Anne and Randy from Gary Lee Partners at the Sears Tower to start our day with a dawn shot, planning to shoot until dusk.  The project was a refresh of a space they had done in the ’90′s, reusing a lot of the previous elements while reorganizing the space and updating the aesthetic.  The design was classic Gary Lee, elegant but restrained, with thoughtful detailing.  Sometimes finding beautiful compositions is a laborious chore, other times they just line up one behind the other waiting for you to point the camera in their direction.  It was a good day.

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December 16 2009 / No Comments

Who says view cameras are slow?

After finishing a dusk shot, the client reminded me about this detail they’d like to get of the filigree pattern on the office fronts.  Of course it would be nice if there was a pretty view behind the glass, too.  I ran from the last shot to this one, plopped down my view camera, pulled a composition together, threw a couple inkies on the chairs, threw the client in the shot and just barely got this off before the sky faded to black.

Every once in a while all the planets align…..

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December 11 2009 / No Comments

Rick Bayless’ Xoco by Farr

Photographing the design of Rick Bayless’ new restaurant, Xoco, for Farr Associates was quite a challenge.  The footprint of the space is long and narrow with many dramatic elements.  After scouting the project with April and Amy from Farr, I knew that the job was going to require a slightly wider lens than I normally carry.  Fortunately Doug at ProGear was able to provide a 28mm for the 645 which suited the space quite well.  The crew from the architect’s office — as well as the incomparable Patsy McEnroe – made the shoot go off without a hitch.  The restaurant opened for business shortly after our shoot and I returned with Nikon in hand to get some candids of the space being put through its paces.  The lines were long, the patrons anxious to sample Xoco’s wonderful menu and I did my best to stay out of everyone’s way…

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