If you need a pair of shoes, I know a great tree just outside of Madras, OR.

If you’ve never been to Portland, you might not know of the copious amounts of houseboat communities. For this cover story for Oregon Home magazine, I got to visit three communites in the area. Each one was very different with it’s own set of character and charm. One common thread between them all, really nice people who love being on the water.

Oregon Home was one of those magazines I’ve always wanted to shoot for since moving to Portland. When Jon Taylor Carter (of Bend Living fame) took over as art director and called me in, I jumped at the opportunity. As my first shoot for them, I pulled out all the stops to make a summer story look bright and happy, even though we shot in typical overcast and drizzly March. With a little bit of luck, timing, lighting, and Photoshop,  we got some great shots that went into these spreads. Enjoy and pick up a copy today!

(*Couple shots are not mine: 2nd spread, 2nd from the left. Sidebar, 3rd spread (but man, do I want to shoot that place!))

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.

It’s snowing in Portland today and that reminded me of the time I went to Bend in December to see the 2010 USA Cyclo-Cross Nationals. Cold, wet, mud, all combined with fierce competition to make this a truly exciting event to watch and shoot. I shot it for fun, but I like how these shots came out.  I use to BMX when I was a kid and then mountain bike in my early 20s. I never did anything competitive, but I could see myself totally getting into Cyclo-Cross. Maybe I’ll try out some of amateur races this next fall. Maybe…

Speaking of cycling and racing, I’m sponsoring the Team Oregon this year with donations of photography and discounts on prints/downloads. I’ll be shooting some documentary work of the Elite team as well as shooting some of the races. Stay tuned for more cycling action!

UPDATE: Take a look at all the best shots from the day in my Archive: http://bit.ly/2010CycloCross

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.

I love the coast in Oregon. This was shot in January and it looks warm and pleasant as a mid-summer day.

Available in the Archive

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.

I’ve gone back a few times and never could quite get the same light quality. This is pretty close though. A wee bit more reddish.I had a hard drive failure a year or so ago and lost a whole chunk of personal work. Some of the shots were from my first trip to Smith Rock in Eastern Oregon.

In case you’re wondering, I shot this with my point and shoot in JPEG mode. No adjustments or photoshoppery here!Lauren and I just moved to the Piedmont neighborhood of Portland. There’s some great restaurants and bars nearby including the infamous Florida Room. The sign really sums it up nicely.<br/><br/>In case you’re wondering, I shot this with my point and shoot in JPEG mode. No adjustments or photoshoppery here!

Back in my early web design days, I worked in this tiny 800 square foot office with five other guys whose ages ranged from 21 to 60. Our wood laminate desks were back to back in rows, so you felt isolated even though you were two feet away. We had a white drop ceiling with fluorescent lighting and two windows that didn’t open. It was also in a loud industrial park for a phone company. Needless to say, it was a miserable place to work, but it was my first “real” job, so what did I know.

Fast forward 11 years when I go to meet Chris Erickson at his top notch design firm’s office in the OMCC Building. My jaw just dropped. Parliament is an amazing space and I was just blown away by how cool it was. If my office looked this good back then, I would never have quit.

The space is true a reflection of Parliament’s aesthetic of quality, clean design, and superb execution. A lot of thought went behind every detail in the spaces all spearheaded by Chris’s great design sense and collaboration with master carpenter Kyle Sharp. Everything from the slat walls to the pizza oven work table was crafted with amazing amount of care and effort. I really had a great time shooting the interiors and think we got some really good stuff. Check it out:

All the posters are original screen prints. Chris has a huge collection. This isn’t even a quarter of them.

How cool is this table?!?!