I’m a little late for an end of year review, but here it is none the less. Speaking purely from a financial point of view, 2011 was a lot like 2010 in that it was way better than 2009, but not quite as good as 2008. However, the photographs I created in 2011 are some of my best yet and I’ve never had more fun being a photographer. I really feel like my style and approach are starting to gel and I’m looking forward to what 2012 and beyond brings. Here are some of my favorite shots from last year.
-
- Kicking the year off right with a delicious hanger steak sandwich cooked up and styled by my friend and chef Kevin Ward. We did a whole portfolio shoot right in his kitchen.
-
- Sweet Nixon watches designed by David Whetstone of Cinco Design
-
- Into Portland’s Forest Park for some mountain biking action shots for Travel Portland. Kevin Ward makes an appearance again, this time as a model (in the orange).
-
- A beautiful kitchen remodel by eM/Zed Design. I shot this for Taunton Press for an upcoming book about built in cabinets.
-
- Bridal fashion and floral shot in the Portland Chinese Gardens for Portland Bride & Groom Magazine.
-
- Andy Ricker, owner of Pok Pok, has a sweet bachelor pad designed by Andee Hess of Osmose. I had the pleasure of meeting Andy and shooting his lair for Portland Monthly.
-
- When I think of dream kitchens, this shoot comes to mind. I would love to cook here. I also really had fun shooting it for Jennifer Baines Interiors. The shoot later ran in Consumer Reports Magazine for a feature about kitchen remodels.
-
- My absolute favorite haunt in Portland. Ground Kontrol is a classic arcade, pinball gallery, and bar all in one. They had an amazing reboot by Jessica Helgerson Interior Design and I was the lucky photographer to shoot it.
-
- If you’ve been to Portland, you know house boats are quite popular here. Oregon Home sent me out to shoot some of the most notable in the area. The shoot even landed the cover.
-
- I never try to pick favorites, but this was one of the coolest houses I’ve had the pleasure to photograph. Edgar Papazian’s curvaceous remodel ups the ante for living art. This shoot was featured on the cover of the last issue of the now defunct ReadyMade magazine. Sad to see it go.
-
- As a proud sponsor of the Team Oregon cycling crew, I took the team photos on a very Oregon kind of day. Rain and clouds made for some excellent atmosphere for the shoot. Plus I got to shoot from the back of a pace car. Not your every day kind of thing.
-
- I head to Southern Oregon to shoot this awesome high school gym addition for DLR Group. Did you know DLR is one of the top 10 architecture firms in the US? With great additions like this, I’m not surprised.
-
- EasyStreet knows a thing or two about colocation servers and cloud computing and their new data center is state of the art. I worked with them to make it look impressive for their marketing materials and website.
-
- Now that it’s cold and rainy, I’m really missing this summer food story I shot for Portland Monthly. The LGBLT with pickled asparagus by Bingo! Sandwiches was one of the top 5 things I ate last year.
-
- Another cover feature for Oregon Home, this time a custom home with an authentic Chinese kitchen. Wontons anyone?
-
- Interior designers should take note, these concrete planters by Terrene are super chic and would look great in any space.
-
- This Auditorium Addtion for Scappoose High School by DLR Group is just amazing. The lighting, the design, it really is something special.
-
- Jessica Helgerson does it again. Look at that table! The top of it is one single piece of wood. Unbelievable.
-
- This shoot was really fun to do and the folks at Columbia Machine and Columbia Okura are top notch. I shot so many photos for this job, it was hard to pick just one. But, I think this one just about says it all. Robots, dramatic lighting, function and form. Ingredients for a great shoot.
-
- Chaos reigns when stay at home Dads have a meet-up with their kids at the Oregon Zoo. Shot for a story in Redbook magazine.
-
- If you can’t tell a Jessica Helgerson kitchen by now, then you really should start paying attention. Her kitchens are amazing and this one is one of my all time favorites. Mediterranean inspired awesomeness!
-
- I shot some beautiful handmade window treatments by Hartmann&Forbes at a Street of Dreams in Tigard, OR.
-
- A little two for one here. Mike Novak is the art director at Portland Monthly and I got to shoot his kitchen remodel for Ogawa Fischer Architects. I love the big sliding window that can bring the outdoors in.
-
- This is a teaser image for an upcoming blog post. Twist is a unique store in Portland offering amazing collections of jewelry and home decor. For their soon to be released new website, I shot a fashion lifestyle shoot in the West Hills. More to come soon…
-
- Another favorite shot for the year. This is one of those where everything came together. Great design by Mahlum architects combined with a cute kid and great light and you get something special.
-
- My third outing to shoot this building for Mahlum and I think we really nailed it. Right time of day, right light, and great place to set the camera. These straight on elevations really test your mental as an architectural photographer. It’s really tricky to be perfectly square on from this distance.
-
- September is a great month for shooting architecture and Mahlum certainly kept me busy. This international residence and classroom building is called INTO at OSU. It really had a European kind of feel to it and I loved all the natural light streaming in everywhere. Everyone in this shot was staged and I have to say thank you to the OSU faculty and students for being so helpful.
-
- For this year’s Willamette Week Restaurant Guide cover, art director Carolyn Richardson hand cut letters from gold foil and mounted them to plexi. We then hung the plexi on a window of a coffee shop in NW Portland. Like an old school paste up, no Photoshop or InDesign when into the final output.
-
- For this shoot, I got to fly to Spokane with SRG Partnership to document this new Science building at Spokane Falls Community College. SRG is famous for the daylighting and you can see why in this shot.
-
- Chanelling my inner Avedon, I get all high key and hard shadow for another bridal floral and fashion shoot for Portland Bride & Groom. Props to Samantha Gardner and her awesome art direction for both shoots.
-
- I spend the day with members of the Abundant Life Center in Jeffereson, OR. ALC hired me to create an image library for the church’s marketing and upcoming website. Really nice people who like to laugh and hug a lot.
-
- One of the coolest features of the Chemeketa Community College designed by SRG Partnership is that the building breathes. Vents automatically open and close to let fresh air in. Another cool feature is the windows in the skylights automatically tint to the changing sunlight for optimum natural lighting.
-
- Jessica Helgerson certain has been busy this year. This modern remodel features a lovely wide open kitchen with just the right touches of sophistication. Shots like this take a long time to set up. Every book, pot, plate, plant, and so forth was strategically placed and arranged to look natural. Ironic, isn’t it?
-
- This pair of photos was from an incredible shoot I did for Northwest Pipe Company that had my traveling to 7 seven cities all over the country. My assignment was to document their pipe making process, installation, and just to take cool artsy photos. Dream job!
-
- Ah Paris… it really can’t be beat. I have an upcoming collection of work from my latest trip to Europe and this shot is just a taste.
-
- Seems fitting that I end the year with a personal project with my buddy Kevin Ward. This image I shot for my client holiday card. It’s architecture, food, and lifestyle all in one. Just like me.
Thank you to all my clients for making this year so great. You all are a truly a pleasure to work for and I look forward to many more projects together.
Also, thank you to all the stylists, models, assistants, art directors, photo editors, art buyers, and marketing directors I’ve worked with this year. The success of all these shoots wouldn’t have been possible without your collaboration.
Finally, a special shout out to Justin Tunis and Daniel Cronin for being two excellent go to assistants. Thank you for your hard work, your professionalism on set, and being easy to travel with. I’ll be calling you soon.
