As you may or may not know, I’ve been a PhotoShelter customer for several years now. I love their service. It is, by far, the BEST way to show proofs to clients and deliver high rez finals. It also easily fits in to my digital workflow with Lightroom via a plugin, so using it saves me tremendous amounts of time and energy. Time and energy that I now spend focusing on my business, rather than mundane tasks that waste countless hours like creating Adobe web galleries, FTPing files, or (cringe) burning DVDs.

Every job I’ve delivered since 2010 is online high rez. Not only can my current clients redownload their images at any time, but I can quickly share and relicense available images to new customers. As a bonus, it also serves as an offsite backup in case something every goes terribly wrong at my office (knock on wood).

Anyway, when Lauren Margolis of PhotoShelter asked me to do in an interview about my architectural and interior photography, I jumped at the opportunity. I was totally flattered and I think the interview came out really great. Click the link below to read it on PhotoShelter’s blog:

Architectural Photography: Just Like Playing Tetris…Right?.

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.

I am beyond excited to share with you the good news about my first major photo contest win. For the 1st Annual PDN’s Objects of Desire photo contest, I won in the Food & Still Life category for this sizzling shot of bacon. The shot, art directed by Michael Novak, was originally taken for Portland Monthly as part of a breakfast feature story.

This was my first major photo contest win and I am really proud to finally make it.

To see my shot online and the other winners, go to www.pdnobjectsofdesire.com/gallery/winners2011/

I have to give a little shout out to Molly and Michelle of Hinged Strung Stitched here. Not only did they custom build my case for me, but they also create many of the products my wife offers to her wedding clients. Lauren also did a really excellent lifestyle shoot with the two of them in action and goofing around.

Here are some more photos and details about my new portfolio.

I went with bamboo and cloth for my book/case combo because so much of my work has that natural kind of feel to it. I didn’t think leather, plastic, or steel really fit with how I shoot. But, my work is also very clean and composed. The simple design of the book and case mimic that perfectly.

Laser etching my logo turned out way better than I thought. I contemplated screen printing, but my logo is just black and grey. It would have looked dull on the cover. The relief in the wood creates a really nice lighting effect, subtle but noticeable. This compliments how I shoot with natural light.

For years, I was stuck with single sided paper and doing only one spread per page. I could have used acetate sheet protectors to hold my photos and do full spreads, but because the feel of the paper is so important to me, I just went one sided. Finally Moab came out with a really beautiful and thick double sided paper that works. Most double sided paper is too thin and you see the back photo on the white areas of the page. The Lasal Matte doesn’t do that. And it’s prescored and drilled to fit my book. Double bonus!

It’s the little things that matter. Every good portfolio presentation I’ve seen has some sort holder for leave behind promos. Molly’s idea to put a little off center window in the holder was brilliant. I love the effect and how it frames the promo almost like a web thumbnail.

And here’s the promo made from the same paper that’s in the book. Consistent look, color, and feel.

Now I’m ready for some portfolio showings! Please contact me if you’d like to see the real thing in person.

I don’t usually make big changes to my portfolios halfway through the year, but after some soul searching and various feedback, I realized I needed help in refining my vision. It’s easy to get personally attached to your own work and lose site of it’s marketability. After reading and listening to many photo marketing experts, I decided it was time to ask someone who really knows the business.

Enter Suzanne Sease. I’ve known about Suzanne for many years and always respected her opinions and advice. She was an Art Buyer at The Martin Agency (GEICO, Hanes, PING, etc.). She helped my mentor refine his portfolio years ago. And she’s a featured contributor to A Photo Editor. She also helped me bid on a job for Diet Dr. Pepper and which I would have been lost without her guidance.

As a photographer, I’ve always considered myself a generalist with a unique style, rather than specialist. I like shooting lots of different subjects, but I shoot them all in a way that’s my own vision. I gave Suzanne over 800 images to weed through. I included my current portfolios as well. When she edited this massive collection, she reorganized it in a way that identified one trait I had never thought of: product. Lots of my work has product in it, though it’s not a product shot per say. It’s interiors with furniture. It’s people with ice cream. It’s ingredients in food. The products in place are natural and real. Something you can identify with. When her edits of my portfolios came to me, I saw this new trait right away and was amazed that I missed it before. Now I have a focus and now I know who I should be marketing to. If you need help with your portfolio, I highly recommend Suzanne Sease.

In addition to new portfolios, Suzanne suggested I create a Work section to highlight projects I’ve shot for clients and tearsheets. Though many of these are on my blog already, this puts it front and center and easy to find. This is my new favorite addition to the site.

So, what are you waiting for?

Click Here for New Portfolios or Click Here to See Some Work!

If you’ve worked with me anytime over the last few years, you’ve probably interfaced with my Photoshelter Archive. It’s the best service out there for online delivery and storage of photography assests. All my proofs galleries and high rez files get uploaded to Photoshelter. This gives my clients 24/7 access to their photos without having to get in touch with me. Plus it’s great way to see what I have available for stock. It also integrates perfectly with my website and it’s super easy to sync with my Lightroom catalog.

Recently, the staff of Photoshelter interviewed me for the featured photographers section. Click here to read it and learn more about me and why I think Photoshelter is so great.

An interview of yours truly on A Photography Blog. Check it out!

It’s that time of year again. Time to refresh the portfolios, website, marketing materials, etc. Keeps it interesting and keeps me busy during this slow time of year. I don’t consider myself to be niche photographer. Rather, I have a style of photography that works well across several genres and I focus on my favorite things: food, architecture, lifestyle, and travel. Each genre compliments one another. Whether it’s the food shot in a restaurant, people acting out life at home, or the hustle and bustle of an airport, everything I photograph relates to how I perceive life and how I capture moments that are real to the viewer. I don’t use a lot of lights. I do use a lot of creativity to make the best of a situation and deliver great photography every single time.

Enough of my blathering on. I’ll let the new portfolios speak for themselves:
Food / Beverage, Home / Interiors, Lifestyle, and Travel.

As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated. Have a great week!

PS: This Hangar Steak sandwich was finely crafted by my good friend and chef / food stylist Kevin Ward. More tasty food shots coming soon with recipes! Get to know him. He’s a great guy!

But, getting people to hold still in a natural pose for 3 to 4 seconds can be a challenge (interior exposures are always long). Often, I just let them go blurry. But there’s good blur and there’s bad blur. Getting good blur takes forethought, practice, and patience.

Here’s how I got some kids to hold still just enough for a shot at Otto Peteresen Elementary designed by DLR Group. It get’s pretty funny once they start “playing.” Who loves their clients? I do.

(video shot by the very talented Jake Stangel)

And here’s how the final shot came out.

Interiors

Exteriors

Based in Portland, OR, Lincoln Barbour is a multi-disciplined photographer specializing in residential and commercial architectural photography for editorial, advertising, and client direct.

Since 2002, Lincoln has shot for clients such as Jeld-Wen, Schoolhouse Electric Company, UBS, Elle Decor, Garden Design, and Portland Monthly. He’s easy to work with, loves to collaborate, incredibly thorough, and ready to travel.

For more awesome pictures and info, visit www.lincolnbarbour.com