It’s been a little quiet on the blog front lately. Apologies in full, just a very busy summer. I’m pleased to show you this latest set of tearsheets for a feature I shot for Oregon Home magazine.

This was a really great shoot and I had fun mixing up the architectural shots with some lifestyle moments and food details. I really enjoyed documenting the homeowner and her daughter preparing a traditional Chinese meal. Which we the got to eat during the lunch break. (It really seems like many of my shoots feature eating food. This is a good thing).

The home was designed by Richard Brown Architects and the shoot was styled and art directed by the one and only, Jon Taylor Carter. Enjoy!

The May 2011 Portland Monthly is out and there is a great feature story I shot of Andy Ricker’s place in SE Portland. Ricker, the restaurateur responsible for Pok Pok, Ping, Whiskey Soda Lounge, and, Pok Pok Noi; has one of the coolest bachelor pads I’ve ever seen. Designed by Andee Hess of Osmose, the space has a ton of character and truly reflects Ricker’s personality and esthetic.

Check out Amara Holstein’s article on Portland Monthly’s website to hear what I mean. Better yet, get off your butt and go pick up a copy of the magazine right now. Jason Blackheart art directed the shoot and did an amazing job with the layout. Here are the rest of the spreads PLUS the shots by themselves.

First tearsheet of 2011 and it’s goody! I actually shot this house in December of 2010 on a really crappy weather day. It was looked like night when we showed up and was raining really hard. Fortunately, by the time we were set up and ready to shoot, the rain lifted and clouds got brighter. Using long exposures and fill flash from my monolights, I was able to create the bright and sunny look on what was a pretty typical Portland winter day.

I’ll share a little secret with you: I actually prefer shooting interiors on cloudy days. Sunny days are a pain in the butt because the windows get too hot and I usually have to photoshop them in later. All these shots were single exposures.

For you interior design lovers, it was another fabulous project by the talented Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. They’ve just launched a new website and it features a lot of my work I shot for them over the past few years. Check it out!

Here’s the rest of the feature that ran in the February 2011 issue of Portland Monthly.

It’s been pretty busy summer here at LB Photo. Some great editorial work is coming out soon, but in the meantime I thought I’d recap some recent commercial work.

The Works is an amazing contractor and remodeler based in Portland, OR. They’ve been responsible for making some of the wonderful glamourous interiors designed by Jessica Helgerson come to life.  They recently hired me to shoot some of their own work and it was a pleasure to photograph. Here are some of my favorite shots from two shoots we did this summer.

Portland Tudor Remodel

This total remodel of a Portland Tudor turned out fantastic. Just the right amount of modern in a classic styled home. This house was for sale, but it sold quickly after we shoot it. You snooze you loose!

West Hills Addition

I really enjoyed shooting this classic remodel of a mid-century home. The cool tones of the bathrooms really went well with the warm tones of the rooms. The dusk shot was one of the best of the year, too.

The August 2010 issue of Portland Monthly just came out and I am really excited about this tearsheet from it. This custom built modern home, nicknamed Harpoon House, designed by Matt Kirkpatrick and Katherine Bovee has only 704 square feet of livable space. Shooting was really cool experience because it felt much larger than that. It also made the shot list really short. I think the high ceilings and big windows really helped the space feel open. It’s amazing what you can do with good design.

Matt and Katherine did a fantastic job making the most of their 2500 lot, as well. The house is only 16 feet wide and 28 feet tall and that leaves space for a garden plot and a small yard. And the upstairs bedroom has an outdoor space with a green roof. Smart and eco-friendly. I’ve included an outtake that didn’t run in the magazine after the rest of the tearsheets.

• AIA Southwest OR Chapter Peoples Choice Award
• AIA Southwest OR Chapter Peoples Colleague Choice Award
• AIA Southwest OR Chapter Honor Design Award
• AIA Portland Chapter Merit Design Award
• IIDA Portland Chapter Honor Award
• IIDA Portland Chapter Juror Top Award

And here are the shots that helped win all those awards.

Mahlum’s press release below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Oct. 20, 2009

SPRINGFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DESIGN WINS FOUR  AIA  AWARDS

Mahlum, in association with Robertson/Sherwood/ Architects, has won three awards from the Southwestern and Southern Oregon chapters of the American Institute of Architects for the design of two eco-friendly elementary schools in Springfield, Ore.  The design also received a Merit Award from the Portland Chapter of the AIA.

In  bestowing  the 2009 AIA Certificate of Honor award for design of Thurston Elementary and Maple Elementary schools, the jury panel paid tribute to the contrast between “elegant refined wood detailing” in the public spaces and the large-scale exposed tilt-up concrete panels in the classroom wings.  It also applauded the integration of sustainable features, responsiveness to the scale of the students themselves, and the use of wood-framed glass walls that allow the outdoor learning gardens to flow into the building.

In addition to the top Certificate of Honor, the schools received two other awards from the AIA SWO  chapter – the People’s Choice Award voted on by several hundred visitors at a display during  the Eugene Celebration in September and the Colleagues Choice Award voted on by chapter members.   It is unusual for any project to receive all three awards from one chapter. The Honor Award is given, on average, every three years – it was last presented in 2005.

Targeted for the equivalency of a LEED Silver rating, both schools make use of natural day lighting, passive solar heat, displacement ventilation that allows classrooms individual access to outside air, and bioswales and landscaping that control storm water runoff.

The design team relied on a “kit of parts” approach that uses elements that can easily arranged to fit the topography of the sites.  Construction started on both schools in May 2008 and was completed in September 2009.

The schools have sloped elevations that parallel the surrounding hills and are divided into five distinct parts – three solid elements that respond to the scale of the hills and two transparent public zones enclosed by wood-framed glass walls that connect the entry, library and commons to the courtyards.

Thurston is sited in the middle of a long narrow site that slopes up to provide a natural amphitheater at the entry.  Maple is sited to create a community park around a grove of existing trees.

The Mahlum team responsible for the project included Diane Shiner, AIA, principal; Rene Berndt, AIA, project designer, and Amy Noe, IIDA, interior designer.  The local architectural team from Robertson/Sherwood included Jim Robertson, AIA, and Dave Guadagni, AIA.  The contractor was John Hyland Construction, of Eugene.

Springfield Public Schools, with 11,000 students, is located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley within the City of Springfield.  Thurston and Maple are two of 16 elementary schools in the district.  Funding for the two replacement schools was made possible by a November 2006 bond measure.

Founded in 1938, Mahlum is an architectural  firm of 100 people with offices in Seattle and Portland.  The firm is committed to creating enduring

architecture that enriches the human experience.

#

CONTACT:

Bill Strong
Mahlum Architects
206-441-4151

or

Monty Dennison
Dennison Communications
206-264-1468

So far, it’s been featured in Portland Monthly (US), Home Beautiful (Australia), and now the photographs are running as a cover story for UK magazine Spaces. If you’re in the US, I think you can pick up a copy of this February 09 issue at Barnes & Noble.

I’m really happy to see Jessica’s work be featured in so many places. And it’s certainly nice to get my photos published all over the world, too

Spaces has also run my bio on their website and I’ve been interviewed for a Q&A that will be coming out in their April issue. Will post that when it comes out.