Circles and Straight Lines

It’s 3:51, on the morning of a 3-day trip to Las Vegas.  Sometimes it’s hard to accept 3am as really being “morning”, but I know that on a technicality it actually is.  The fact that I have a large tumbler of coffee in front of me further solidifies the fact that it’s the start of another day, as opposed to when I laid down 3 hours ago, thus having officially separated yesterday from today.

We have an assignment documenting the amazing work of one of our clients over the next couple of days.  And though my mind is far from calm, I’m thoroughly enjoying the silence of my office, the only sound being an occasional gurgling of the coffee maker and the slight hum of the computer monitor.  The bags and cases are loaded, boarding passes printed, and in a few hours, we’ll be at Denver International, stepping onto a plane.  And two hours after that, onto a whirlwind.

Spending the last days of 2012 in Arizona was a time to soak in the warmth of 65-degree, sun-filled weather, family, desert palms, and the combination of a seemingly endless grid of streets mixed with inner city mountains making up my home town of Phoenix.  A place that feels woven into the daily fabric of my life and the way I see my work.

View west from Coolidge, AZ

It was also a time to reflect on the many great projects we got to photograph during the year, the places we were able to visit, people we got to meet, new friends we made, and of course finally, on a tragedy in a Connecticut classroom, that as a father of two young sons, felt more personal to me than any of the other recent and heartbreaking events that have become too frequent an occurrence.

Looking to the new year, with high hopes for both professional and personal growth, January’s calendar looks like a promising start with projects scheduled in several states, as well as in our beautiful Colorado.  But I also carry hopes for our economy, the health of our society, our capacity for love, the education and safety of our youth, and an upcoming year of peace.

View west from Florence, AZ

Gaining another hour of sleep per night, this summer, would be great too.

To accompany the time spent on location shooting a project and the massive amount of hours in post-production, is the valuable time spent before the shoot.  On one hand there’s nothing like seeing a project for the first time and shooting it with complete spontaneity and abandon.  It can be a visceral experience that relies on an intuitive handling of exposure, composition and a dealt hand of luck.  Some people refer to it as serendipity – that is, creating your own good luck.  I like the term “happy accidents”.

Nelson Atkins Museum by Steven Holl Architects

When it’s not practical though, and as time permits, scouting a location should be considered.  It can be worth your own weight in gold, or any other securities you can think of, because there aren’t many redo’s for most commissions.  This is the time to make decisions on things such as furniture possibilities and furniture placement, the type and color of any flowers that may be added, how many, if any, props should be brought in, and to establish a degree of relationship/familiarity with the office staff, the homeowner or with security.  Most importantly though, it leaves you with a good sense of orientation, an expectation of what changes in light will occur and at what times, as well as subconsciously imprinting possible compositions for the day of the shoot.  My iPhone is typically up the duty of shooting a walk-through.  For one thing, it’s not very intimidating to the occupants since the location is probably not “photo-ready”.  Plus it’s a non-committing way of documenting some good usable reference images.

Scouting shots for an upcoming commercial space project:

An upcoming residential project:

Whenever in Phoenix on assignment, I invariably find myself at some point in the Tempe Town Lake area (a “lake” that didn’t exist until 1999).  A recent project brought me 6 days in my old home town, getting acquainted with all the changes and growth that seem to come at a head-spinning pace, eventually leading me to the new pedestrian bridge by T.Y Lin International Group.  A few days into the trip I did a complete photographic study of the project, but while scouting it for the first time, this small, B&W iPhone survey became a valued look at the lake’s newest development.

Years ago, I became conscious of how architecture and design awaken the spirit.  And once the eyes open, we see the miracle of what happens when both the gesture of mechanics and light marry and become one.  When grace and form turn the utilitarian into the sublime.

In this case a bridge can figuratively connect one across the chasm of everyday life, to an inspired thought or way of seeing.  Or at the very least to an inspired morning in a photographer’s desert home town.

Driving to Ft. Collins from Denver is, unless it’s after a large snowstorm, always great.  On one side of I-25, looking east are the plains and big sky and on the other, to the west, the Rocky Mountains.  While on a recent scouting trip, I finally made myself take the time to stop by a building I’d seen from a distance countless times.  It was often, at best, a regularly extended glance as I began my ritualistic panic of looking for, and always missing, my exit when coming to town for a project.  Since I was in the area earlier than usual, I had to time actually stop and see what this building was.

RNL designed the Environmental Learning Center for Colorado State University, the City of Ft. Collins and the Colorado State Dept of Parks and Rec.  In addition to housing several school and municipal offices, the site also allows students and visitors walk the grounds and experience samples of the various local Colorado environments.  A great time to pull out the iPhone and see what was possible photographically, and of course a way to inevitably wind up screeching in to my scouting meeting, with not a minute to spare.