My Days and Nights with a Nikon D800E - part I

When NPS Canada received the first D800E camera in Canada, they sent it to me.  I immediately began plotting and scheming some challenging scenic locations in Vancouver to put this highly anticipated camera to the test.  I had played a little with the previously released D4 and D800 and was super impressed with the resulting images.  So you can imagine my delight when asked to test drive this awesome camera!

Being a corporate/commercial photographer who is dominant in architecture, I wondered which building I should photograph first.  Well, I thought, why choose?  Why not shoot ALL of the buildings in Vancouver?!  So, with the great cooperation of one of my most fabulous clients, up the flagpole on Harbour Centre I climbed.  600' above the ground, on a dry and windy afternoon I captured 15 images to create this 360 degree panorama.  See the cruise ship on the right?  You'll see the tip of it's bow on the left.  Kind of a mind freak, yes?

D800e 14-24mm (24mm) f11 1/200 ISO 100 - given the D800E is a 36 mega pixel camera, this image is best viewed as a metallic print measuring "unbelievable x astounding".

One of the challenges in this project was the preparation.  All the gear required to shoot with needed to be carried up a precarious series of ladder rungs, which meant it also needed to be tethered, for the safety of those below.  Everything is taped, strapped, anchored and tied.  No loose earrings, lens caps or glasses and no coins in the pockets.  It's a tough and exhilarating climb! 

Left, Harbour Centre.  Middle, zoomed in on flagpole.  Right, Anna climbing.  Image courtesy of Craig Minielly.  

The other challenge in creating this image lay in the mechanics of capture for panorama.  Photographing from the upper crow's nest I worked my way around the flagpole, replicating as best I could, the camera position as if it was rotating on the correct nodal point.  Thankfully there were struts I could stand on, but the existence of the flagpole prevented the use of any pan heads, so I relied solely on lots of in-depth technical knowledge, experience and a steady hand!  Times like this make knowing fundamental "old school" stuff totally worthwhile.

Thankfully there are struts to stand on

There is a sturdy safety cable to tether on to while climbing

It's windy up there which was challenging for the twilight session.

Getting that bird's eye view during the day wasn't enough though, so I gratefully accepted the offer to return at twilight and capture the twinkling lights of Vancouver.  My expert climbing guide, Luke, was so gracious and helpful.  The challenges of a twilight capture up there were obviously the low light, slow shutter speed and flagpole sway from the wind.  Yes, it sways in the wind.  Mind over matter counts, BIG time!  So I pushed the ISO to a respectable 400, rigged up a tripod, pulled back a little on the zoom and the D800E came through with flying colours.

D800e 14-24mm (19mm) f3.2 1/13 ISO 400 on a tripod - given the D800E is a 36 mega pixel camera, this image is best viewed as a metallic print measuring "ridiculous x something stupid".

One of the unique characteristics of this 36 megapixel camera, same model as the D800, BUT with the D800E there is no anti aliasing filter built in, it is (apparently) susceptible to moire.  Not once, not even with all my random snap shots did I encounter moire.  And I was trying to find it! I was prepared to deal with it.  Check out Lightroom 4 and in the gradient and brush tools you'll see a sider to reduce moire, if you can find it.  Sweet.

Unbelievably rich colours, fabulous image detail in the shadows and in the highlights, sharp responsive auto focus in low light and easy to hold with intuitive placement of the buttons and wheels.  The D800E gets my vote! Stay tuned for more D800E adventures.

Thanks to Christopher Winter for a great souvenir photo!  This is me with my expert climbing guide, Luke, taken AFTER the climb and I've clearly loosened my harness.  Just thought I'd mention that so my
safety friends don't freak out! 

Million Dollar View

This time of year (December in the Pacific Northwest), that drinkable blue of the twilight sky only happens for about 12 minutes.  Yes there's tricks to bump it up in post production but getting it straight out of the camera looking like this takes skill - and setting up cameras in multiple locations to fully leverage that 12 minutes in as many rooms as possible.

1100 sq ft apartment with one bedroom and a den on the 16th floor right beside the charming Sylvia Hotel in English Bay, Vancouver.  Boutique living with only 4 suites per floor. 

This is a stunning full condo renovation overlooking breathtaking English Bay in Vancouver, Canada.  The Designer, Tom Bakker, had many constraints to work with in this 50 year old building yet still he created clean lines that make sense.  Take for example the way the dining area divides the living space - it's the ceiling that makes the subtle difference.

Meridian Pacific Construction Inc. executed this open design with precision and quality workmanship, using the finest ceramic, quartz, marble and wood.  Look for surprising touches like wenge wood veneer gracing all the cabinetry.

This home is currently listed on MLS with an asking price of $1,675,000.  If you'd like to take in this million dollar twilight view every day, contact Liz Crawford 604-533-3491.  

Steel Trusses are very Sexy

For my indulgent eye, steel trusses are eye candy.  You know, just like Victoria's Secret ads with silky lingerie.  Like Ryan Kessler in his ripped-ab splendour.  Like chocolate and red wine.  Yes, steel trusses are very very sexy.

Take for example this image of Vancouver's Burrard Bridge.  There's strength and showmanship and leading lines yet the delicate details sharply contrast the bold expanse of heavy metal.  It's a work of art!

For this image, I waited until night time so the sky would be dark and the light would come from the car deck, rather than the sky above. From below, the light accentuates the X's and lends detail to the hardware.  At ISO 200, a ten second exposure ensured even light on all the trusses and an f-stop of f8 on my 200mm lens gave a good depth of field to capture what I was seeing.  Fortunately, the Nikon D700 has a low noise sensor so there wasn't much clean up to do afterwards in Lightroom.  A simple conversion to black and white using Craig's Actions preset for Tri-X 3200, then a slight adjustment in exposure and brightness finished it off.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Burrard Bridge, the architect, George Lister Thornton Sharp, had a unique vision to connect downtown Vancouver with Kitsilano and he executed that vision with a distinctive art deco style.  His attention to detail with torches and sculptures and towers give this bridge a warm personality.  He even made sure that the cutouts of the concrete railing give a stroboscopic effect so that when you travel the bridge at a speed of 50 km/hr, you are treated with an uninterrupted view.   Not sure how safe that is for drivers though, lol, but an interesting detail nonetheless!

Amidst all those architectural details, I still return time and time again to the steel trusses.  They inspire me.

Enjoy.

What's in Your Windows?

Photographers frequently ask me about windows... should the interior light balance with the outside, do I use HDR or layering, are blown windows okay?   Well, it really depends on the purpose for the photograph.  Are you wanting to keep the viewer's eye inside the room to focus on the decor or the finishing details?  Do you want to evoke a mood?  Or maybe you want the viewer's eye to wander outside to learn about the setting and the neighbourhood.

Photographing interior spaces when there are windows in the room means you must also consider the outdoors.  Architects, designers and stagers have spent a great deal of resources to get the inside looking it's finest.  How can you control the window view to best match the interior and the intention of the image?

This luxury Coal Harbour condo was decorated with the sleek, modern look of furnishings from Roche Bobois, so in keeping with that, I made sure the details in the windows were blown out and left vacant.  On this cloudy day, the oversized soft-box in the sky provided soft shadows and even light so that with the proper exposure I could achieve clean window views.  Heaven!  

Fairmont Pacific Rim

The trees and greenery that surround this home in Deep Cove lend it a very warm, cozy feeling so I waited until the declining light at end of day to make an exposure that allows us to see what's outside and how it creates a sense of privacy.  The rich foliage pairs up nicely with the wood cabinets and speaks to the personality of this neighbourhood, something prospective home buyers are eager to learn about.

reVISION Custom Home Renovations

The Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver is nestled on a hillside and it's design brings a magnificent blend of outside/inside.  Here I waited into the night and balanced my exposure to bring out the blue cast of the evening light.  This yin/yang, inside/outside approach works exceptionally well here.  Why?  Because the blue is contrasted by the warm wooden tones of the theatre doors - opposite neighbours on the colour wheel.

Kay Meek Centre - West Vancouver's Performing Arts Centre

The home below was decorated by Maria Killam using beautifully bright sunshiney colours, so it was appropriate to give the windows an equally bright sunshiney feel.  The left window is intentionally blown out (with a dragged shutter) and has a specific purpose as such - it completely supports the personality of this space.  

Maria Killam Colour and Design

Windows play an important role in the overall message an interior photograph is communicating and by making the extra effort to interpret and include that, your images will stand above the rest.

Please keep your questions coming!

Learn how to Master Lighting Interior Spaces

I have been asked by several photographers to offer a workshop on how to light interiors.  It's tricky business to properly balance different light sources and control colours and how do you know when to use hot lights or when to use flash?  Is the available light enough?  Learn the key distinctions to all these questions and more in my newly released workshop.

Over the course of 2 days, you will learn how to effectively light and photograph interior spaces for Realtors, Developers, Architects & Magazines as well as learn vital points about the business aspect of this niche.

In addition to learning key distinctions about light direction, colour and control, you will also discover how to determine the best angle from which to photograph a room, how to balance conflicting sources of light and how to improve your composition skills to capture the personality of each space.
  

You will create images with your own gear in as much hands-on shooting time that we can squeeze in.  Practice essential post production techniques that will set your images apart and walk away with some amazing portfolio images (Oh, and practical business knowledge too!)

Participants will get treated to working in the finest locations possible, those that hold multiple challenges and are a treat to the eye.  If you've got any questions please call me.  I look forward to seeing you there!

What’s included:

• Design, Lighting, Colour control

• What Realtors, Developers, Magazines will buy

• How to balance conflicting light sources

• How natural/existing light works in your favour

• When to use hot lights, flash, natural light

• Staging and styling

• How to determine the best room angle

• Property releases, contracts and other essential business processes

• Lunch both days & lots of giveaways!

October 15-16, 2011

$595 per participant
Limited to 6 participants
subject to HST

anna@annabeaudry.com

www.annabeaudry.com 
604-616-9712

Is it a Dead Mutant Spider, or a Birthday Cake?

At first it looks like a birthday cake waiting for the wish.  But after a moment, the model of the new roof on Vancouver's BC Place Stadium really is quite enchanting.  Nothing like the dead spider the real life version looks like now.  The model is currently on tour and Saturday was at the Vancouver Lookout for a special appearance. 

Let's get back to the spider. Currently the structure looms menacingly over downtown with it's gangly arms and awkward angles.  I cringe every time I drive under it because it reminds me of one of those spider-bots in Minority Report.  Only bigger.  Much much bigger.  And upside down, lying on its back.  Dead.

Photo SFUVancouver, 2010

Sure, it's an engineering feat but really, in the construction phase it's gotta be the ugliest eye sore ever to dominate a city and in comparison to the soft pillow that once sat there, it's harsh.

My only hope for redemption in this multi-million dollar makeover due to be complete in time for Grey Cup 2011, lay with a brilliant and talented Lighting Designer.  Every drive-by I would pray to the lighting gods for some sparkle, some pizzaz, some mystery, some .... something.

And voila!  Redeemed it is.  The lighting not only sparkles and glows, it's fully customizable to indicate which event is going on. Orange for a Lions' game, blue for a White Caps' game, not sure what colour for a concert. How many times have you been stuck in event traffic and wondered who's playing?  Soon you can check the stadium lights for a clue.

They've also done a major overhaul on the inside.  Washrooms, ramps, swanky guest suites and new sound & acoustics technology. Thankful for that!  I remember being at a Bob Dylan/Tom Petty concert in 1986 and without looking at the stage I honestly couldn't tell who was singing. New club seats, lounges and expanded concession options are great upgrades to look forward to as well.

See the green spot on the top?  This model is of the roof fully open.  Yup, open.  The seats will always be covered so the retractible part that makes the opening will only be over the centre, which by the way, is bigger than it looks.  That opening in the middle I'm told is the size of GM Place.

So this is what the new roof will look like come November 2011, from the Vancouver Lookout.  Doesn't look at all like a spider now, does it?

If you would like to discover more ways to enhance your business through photography, email me today.

www.bcplacestadium.com

Architectural Photography: What do your clients really want?

Every client wants something different and photographing interiors produces challenges unique to architectural photography.  You know what I'm talking about, you can't move the subject, you sometimes can't get the vantage point you'd like, there's random reflections, vibrations, colour shifts, uncontrollable light sources, weather and on and on!  So to deliver outstanding images that your clients will love it's crucial for you to determine beforehand what the purpose of your images will be.  Knowing this actually helps narrow down many of the options and variables and will give you some firm ground from which to build and design your images.  

For example is your shoot for a client or is it a self-directed creative project? If it's a creative project, you can use unfavourable variables like uneven light, overly expansive space or clutter to your advantage.  You can have fun experimenting and pushing limits. In this interior shot, done as part of a creative, I selected a dead centre vantage point for symmetry and a wide angle lens to represent the full extent of the busy-ness in this room.  Afterwards, I saturated colours, over sharpened edges and added a light vignette, all for an unrealistic dreamy effect.  The heightened colours chopped and de-cluttered the space into readable sections.

However, if the shoot is for a client, besides the variables I mentioned above there are other influencing factors to take into consideration and many of them differ depending on what sector the client is from and what the end usage will be.  Let me elaborate.

If your client is an Art Director of a magazine, then your images should take on an editorial/lifestyle feel that fits with the theme of the magazine.  Although you will have some latitude to mess around with the rules, there will also be some orientation restrictions such as shooting vertical to suit a cover or horizontal to suit a two-page spread.  This can become fairly mathematical, calculating and anticipating the layout.  You can see below where I left negative space for the name of the magazine and some content-type.

BC Home Magazine

Same room below, shot for an inside feature, 2 page spread.

Design:  Maria Killam

Is your client an Architect?  The demand will be more about spacial orientation and project-oriented problem solving.  Notice how the emphasis on the structural details below demonstrates the separation of an open living space.  Architects often prefer minimalist staging and bold lines and spaces.

Architect:  Ken Fung, M Arch

Are you working for a Designer?  Then it's all about the mood of a room, the details, the personality, colours, textures.  Often, Designers prefer vignettes or what I like to call textural collages as in this image below.  Carefully juxtaposing crucial design elements can say more about a room sometimes than a full room shot.  It's cool too to play with depth of field giving the images a sense of intimacy.

Design:  Christina James

Realtors?  You should be focusing on key features of salability and spaciousness.  Images will tend to be more of a record of what's there, plain and simple, uncluttered but with a lived in air.  In this character home below we showcased the built-in cabinets, unique window and detail mouldings by selectively shooting just the dining room area of a large living space.  Keeping the sunshine as a hot spot adds to the lived-in feeling and is a giveaway for the southern exposure.

Realtor:  Simon Chao, Prudential United Realty

Builder or Renovator?  Be sure to know if their intent is to use your images for an award entry as there are some guidelines and restrictions in Georgie and Sam award photography.  For example, no digital manipulation is allowed and the "before" and "after" shots must be from a similar vantage point if the project is a renovation.

Builder:  reVISION

before

You are now equipped with the crucial knowledge required to deliver what your architectural clients really want.  Don't be intimidated by all the variables, embrace them and your clients will love you and the outstanding images you deliver.

If you would like to discover more ways to enhance your business through photography, email me today.