Recently, I photographed a remodeled home for my newest architectural client, Jessica Helgerson Interior Design. Jessica’s clean and modern design aesthetic was perfect for a young hip family relocating to Portland. From what she tells me, it was a pretty striking change between what the house was and what it is today. It was a real joy to photograph and we got some great shots.

An article about Jessica and the home was published today on Design*Sponge, a website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney.

Here’s one of my favorites from the shoot.

UPDATE: Design*Sponge’s Grace Bonney spotlighted one of my photos of the EMP Museum at the end of last week. Thanks Grace!

These are always fun to do and it’s so nice to be a regular contributer to a magazine. I have now shot three of these product features for Portland Spaces in my studio with Jen Davison and Rachel DeSchepper.

This tearsheet is from the most recent issue where we focused on handmade objects by local Portland artisans. The challenge with the opening shot was getting it to look like a studio product shot, but a little bit more natural. We also had a tight layout, so the positioning of the branches and the bird feeder was super critical. I’m really happy how it came out.

Dear Readers, Clients, and Friends,

When I started this news blog, I didn’t have a clear idea of what it would do or what kind of feedback it would get. I wrote a bunch of articles on what I’ve been doing and also some technical and business articles. I’ve learned that people (and Google) really like my technical/business articles.

So, in order to focus this New blog, I’ve moved all my technical/business articles to a new blog:

Check out PHOTO PRO TIPS www.photoprotips.com

Keep watching this blog for news and recent work.

Thanks!

-lincoln

Recently on my photoblog and a personal email sent to my friends, family, and colleagues, I asked that they nominate me to be given a scholarship from Chase Jarvis to fly to Chicago and attend the ASMP Strictly Business 2 Conference. The SB2 conference is something I wanted to attend to sharpen my business skills. I am basically self taught and just about everything that I know about business, I’ve learned from my father Jeff Barbour, Philip Beaurline, John Spiro, ASMP and EP. I’ve made many mistakes and learned a lot over the last six years, experiences that I pass on to my close-knit group of young photographers and self-employed entrepreneurs. By going to SB2, I knew I would learn more skills and share that knowledge in return.

(more…)

I’m pleased to announce I have a new 20 screen portfolio on Workbook.com. Check it out!

I’ve also updated my portfolios on AltPick and CommArts Creative Hotlist.

Since moving into the studio this summer, I’ve had a number of very cool still life assignments and some fun personal projects. I’m really proud of this new work and put some of them in my BOOK 3 portfolio.

I think what I like most about the new shots is that the don’t look like a typical studio shot. They have my natural edgy feel, even though the shots were totally set up. Some more more complicated than others, but the challenge of each was half the fun. I also found a bunch of great resources in Portland for props and backgrounds. The Rebuilding Center on Mississippi is an incredible place full of reclaimed building materials from old houses and buildings. Everything from kitchen sinks, to doors, to giant wood beams 2 feet thick. The folks at Anthropologie in the Portland actually turned me on to this place. The use it to find materials for their window displays.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the new work! Thanks!

-lincoln

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being a guest lecturer for Jen Brinkman’s photography class that she teaches at Mt. Hood Community College. This is the third year that I’ve done it. For the class, I go over architectural photography basics and lighting techniques. We usually do a demo and then I give a prepared presentation on daylight lighting, tungsten lighting, and Photoshop techniques. Architecture photography is one of the more difficult disciplines to learn. Long exposures, depth of field, color balance, mixed lighting, and perspective are just one of the many things you have to think about when taking an architectural photograph. I know it’s taken me many years of trial and error to be at the point where I can at least teach the basics.

Due to some technical difficulties with my laptop, I had to improvise my presentation that I had used the past two years. I’m so glad that happened because the experience was so much better for me and I hope for the students. I went through my web portfolio (BOOK 2) and talked about my experience with each shot. Why I took it, how I lit it, when I scouted it, how I predicted the weather, and so forth. During the two hours, the students would ask me questions ranging from technical details to business practices. Since everything was so candid, we went over a lot in the two hours I was there. At the end of the lecture, I briefly went over some gear I typically use and my general lighting approach. Good times!

In case any of the Mt. Hood Students missed some of the links I mentioned, here they are:

USNO Sun or Moon Altitude/Azimuth Table
This is a great web tool to figure where the sun will be (azimuth) and at what height (altitude). I usually set it to 30 minute intervals to create a smaller chart and make sure you have a compass that has the degree marks on it with you. Any sporting goods store will carry these.

NPPA Cost of Doing Business Calculator
If you want to be a photographer full time and professionally, you must use this tool every year. Knowing your CODB will help you establish your day rate. Once you calculate your overhead and how many shooting days a year you’ll do, you’ll then realize every time you shoot something under your Overhead Cost for a Day of Shooting, then your are losing money. It’s that simple.

Professional Architecture Photography - By Michael Harris
This is an excellent book on the basics of architecture photography. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants learn more about the subject.

I’m definitely looking forward to more teaching in the future .

-lincoln

As of today, November 12, 2007, you can now license much of my work as stock imagery through the PhotoShelter Collection. I’ve made a direct link to my microsite on my site’s navigation system (STOCK) and you can also click here.

PhotoShelter Collection is a brand new stock agency based out of New York City. Their search system is really great. It’s intuitive, logical, and fast. The pricing model is unique, too. There are three levels (High, Medium, and Low) of Royalty Free pricing and Rights Managed pricing. There are also three levels of photographers in the collection, so there’s a wide variety of imagery at various prices. The collection is edited by PhotoShelter staff and they rank images into three categories: Pro Stock, Contemporary, and News.

A lot of my work was ranked editor’s choice and fell evenly into Pro and Contemporary categories. I’m reaching close to 200 photos, so there are lots to choose from. And if you don’t license one of mine, I’m sure you can find some great work from the thousands of other photographers on PhotoShelter.

Please let me know what you think by making comments here. Thanks!

-lincoln

I have sort of love/hate feeling about email marketing (a.k.a. spam). On one hand, it’s great to be able to send out promotions to thousands of potential clients and not have to waste paper or waste the fuel it takes to have each one delivered. It’s very green, all things considered. But, on the other hand, spam is a nuisance. 90% of the spam I receive is deleted on entry. I’m trying to calculate how many hours per year I spend deleting spam, but it’s got be a least a full day.

So, I feel this weird sense of guilt when I send one of these out. I mean, you kind of have to. How else are they going to know about you? Plus, printing direct mail pieces is expensive.  I have a tight budget for advertising and every penny counts. In cost vs. value, you can’t beat email.

Anyway, here’s my latest emailer in case you missed it or it got in your junk folder.

LINCOLN BARBOUR PHOTOGRAPHY Portland, OR 503-467-9470 info@lincolnbarbour.com Want to be removed from this mailing list? Click Here. It’s that easy! Having trouble seeing this email? Click Here.

Welcome to the newest version of my website. Regular visitors will notice that this is my third redesign this year (which is really crazy) and my eighth redesign total. But the reasons for this latest rehash are simple:

1. It was time to merge my photoblog, ides-of-may.com, into the main look and feel of my website. I originally kept them separate because I didn’t know how one would effect the other. But, as the year has gone by, it just seemed silly to keep up with two separate brands for the same thing. My photos are my life and there’s not much difference from my commercial work and my personal work. It’s all stuff I love to do.
2. I wanted a better way to talk about what I’ve been shooting and who I’ve been working for. It’s been a great year and I’ve had some really cool projects. There’s no better way to do this than through this News Blog you’re reading now.
3. I wanted to separate the design from the content. As life rolls on and the web keeps becoming more dynamic, there will be many new features, standards, technologies, and aesthetics that I will want to take advantage of. Having a static flash site didn’t allow me to do this easily. This new site is all template driven. So with a few quick changes, I can totally redesign the site as need be.

Anyway, I will start posting some news here shortly. First I gotta work out all the bugs

-lincoln