Studio Livingston » Art Direction

Photography: Lighting Interior Photographs

David — Mon, 25 May 2009 21:31:51 +0000

A photograph holds a composition and captures light. Throughout the years, the lighting style in my photographs has been soft, natural and light handed. Whether working with digital cameras or film cameras, the need is the same: to reduce the contrast between the highlights and shadows. I like the analogy of what we can see versus what a cat can see. A cat sees in the brightest of day and the darkest of night whereas we need sunglasses at day and a flashlight at night.

For the camera, the photo print or the monitor, we need to compress the light range of shadows and highlights to a narrower range. Compressing this light range can be done by filling in the shadows or controlling the highlights. Lighting for photographs needs to first address this compression.

The second part of lighting is capturing the fall of light into a space, making the photo inviting. Working with the sun, I watch how the light plays in a room and I seek to be shooting when a natural glow is present. I often still need to bring my own lights to fill in the shadows and maintain a “natural” lighting feeling.

The third part of lighting is defining form and keeping color rendition true.

Here are examples of photographs that have a natural, available light quality yet all needed some of the two hundred pounds of equipment that I bring to my photo shoots.

Art Direction: Cropping

David — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:47:13 +0000

Re purposing photos for the web requires making the perfect crop. I have always taken pride in my balanced compositions and how they would stand on their own. For many years I sought to make vertical compositions that worked great for the covers of books and magazines and excelled as a full page bleed. Now with website templates favoring square and horizontal compositions, vertical photos need to be re-cropped to fit these templates.

Like the principals of a good painting, re-cropping a photograph seeks to maintain balance, create quiet tension and keep a strong focal point. Years ago I would visit the great museums and study how old masters dealt with the edges of the frame, a skill I use today.

Andrew Fisher and Jeffrey Weisman make up the very chic San Francisco design firm Fisher Weisman. In their wine country home above the Russian River in Sonoma County they bring city elegance to country casual. Here I have made examples of photos from their original vertical format by cropping them into a horizontal format with a 3 to 4 aspect ratio. Vertical or horizontal this home is always a treat to see.

These photographs were seen in the San Francisco Chronicle and Paper City magazine.

www.fisherweisman.com

Here are the original vertical images before they were cropped into a horizontal 3x4 format.

Hotel Renew Honolulu

David — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:21:17 +0000

The hotel photography of this Waikiki boutique property wanted a clean departure from the traditional Hawaiian mindset. Situated a block off the beach, Hotel Renew is providing a modern oasis in the land of tiki torches. Less than a year after it was re branded as Hotel Renew the property ran at the top of Tripadvisor’s picks for Honolulu hotels.

Hotel Renew has an urban vibe of a W Hotel without the attitude. The smallish room plates from the seventies were kept but the room interiors were fully outfitted with precision mill work. The interior designer Jiun Ho’s elements are sophisticated and simple with a nod to the understated principals that might be found in a Kyoto Ryokan.

My hotel photography used this clean and understated approach with minimal photo styling. The collection of photographs below match the art direction style of Interior Design Magazine where these photos were submitted.

www.jiunho.com

www.hotelrenew.com

Interior Design Magazine

Trip Advisor

Product Photography on Location

David — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:40:00 +0000

Brownstone Furniture is a mid-size furniture company embracing today’s global market realities. They commission fresh designs and work with a range of quality manufacturing partners. They then layer on stylish marketing and provide timely distribution fulfillment. Brownstonis on steady 20% growth path year over year.

For this two day photo shoot I brought my gear to the Las Vegas World Market and Brownstone’s showroom. On the last day of a trade show we set up 12 foot wide seamless white paper and created a photography studio on location. Working quickly with a couple of guys, the furniture was placed on the paper, I then worked with the lighting and camera to frame these compositions

Working in today’s compressed product to market cycle, the photography is crucial to marketing efforts. By bringing the studio to the product we shaved of weeks getting these photos to Brownstone’s clients.

Photo Styling: Real Simple

David — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:17:38 +0000

Following the lead of magazines like Real Simple and Dwell, here are examples showing a minimum use of styling elements. Florals are non traditional and not floral at all. Items are tidy and not placed askew. Quiet restraint, with a touch of the natural, rules the day.

Photo Styling: A Harmonious Palette

David — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:58:27 +0000

Styling interiors is much like finishing a puzzle, putting in the last piece to create a whole. Here are some examples of styling elements that blend in, add life, give texture and feel natural.

For me the elements of scale, color and texture need to come together supporting the balance and harmony of the space.

Art Direction: Samantha Lyman

David — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:34:20 +0000

These photographs showcase an editorial and graphic perspective of Lyman’s work with a San Francisco home in a series of duets.

Samantha, who has had her practice for three years in Ross, wanted me to create photographs that would be paired together on her website samanthalyman.com. She sought to showcase the broad strokes and tasty details that make a room.

Careful consideration was given to the aspect ratio of the compositions so the photographs could work in a one third two third arrangement as tall verticals and horizontal rectangles. With pre-planning and attentive art direction throughout the day we created these perfect takes.

Restaurant: Le Colonial in San Francisco

David — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:46:40 +0000

When restaurant Le Colonial wanted to update their website they needed a photographer who understood the food, felt the mood and could deliver photographs that are inviting. A lean team of just photographer and assistant created over a dozen shots in a day. The photographs had multi uses for Web, Print Ad & PR along with in-house banquet sales.

Here are some of the tasty offerings with more seen at lecolonialsf.com

Restaurant: Brix in Napa Valley

David — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:18:11 +0000

Brix Restaurant, the Napa Valley staple, recently under went a fresh and colorful face lift. The interiors were transformed in ten days and the menu is now farm to table fresh. The creative director heading up the change is David Gingrass with noted chef of Hawthorne Lane (now Two Restaurant).

Photographs for the website, magazine stories, and ads were created with close attention to capturing the feel of freshness and wine country casualness. Over two days of shooting, the tricky art direction required the same photographs to stand alone as either wide panoramic banner for web use or a traditional square/rectangle for print.

David Gingrass sought out my abilities to work collaboratively, be versatile and make fresh inviting photographs quickly.

www.brix.com

Real Estate: Hillsborough, California

David — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:03:24 +0000

A Palladian inspired estate with expansive grounds with excellent detailing sets the story to be conveyed in the photography of quiet entitlement and perfect relaxation. Listing agent Anne Riley.