Happy 2016!!!!!! Time to get to work!

Petersen Auto Museum

Hopefully all of you have spent sometime reflecting on the last year and have put some thought into what your goals are for 2016.  This is the moment where we start to take that first step and look to the future.   The true secret to accomplishing any goal is to first know where you want to go, and start taking little steps to get there everyday. That is it. Something so simple but yet so hard to do at times.

As we "go for it" in 2016 here some helpful tips that help get all of us where we want to go.

1. Try and do *one thing* related to your goal everyday!  Weather that is watching a tutorial on the subject, working on photo processing, doing some location scouting, making that cold call to potential clients to find new business,  reaching out to someone you respect for help that guide you, or even spending some time thinking about what to do next.  Do "something" everyday. 

2. Understand achieving your goal is going to be a slow process. Success doesn't come over night. It happens by deliberate steps that add up over time.

3. If you have a bad day or experience struggle, understand that is part of it.  Every goal worth pursuing is going to involve struggle. It's the people that don't understand this that give up and never accomplish their dreams.  Try and accept that it is going to be hard but so worth it.

4.  Take a minute and try and enjoy what your learning or where the journey is taking you.  As you walk down the path you may be surprised by where it takes you so try and enjoy it rather then stressing about getting to where your going.

5.  It is ok to change your mind, adjust your goals, and start again.   As you pursue something you may find out that you actually don't enjoy it as much as you thought, or discover something else along the way that feels better to you.  It is ok to adjust as you go.  The point is that your going somewhere, and that is more important then the destination.

All right lets make 2016 the best year yet!  Let's get to work!!!!

San Fernando High School Teen Center

SF Teen Center Before SF Teen Center After

Before and after post processing example above.

Another exciting architecture project completed. This one for San Fernando High School Teen Center. This is a really cool pilot project where they are providing health care services on the campus of the San Fernando High School for students who wouldn't have access other wise. What an amazing way to help the community have access to health care.  You can find out more info here.  News Article

This project had its challenges. As you can see from the before and after example above, there was a lot of photoshop work needed to remove a lot of unwanted objects.  Speaking of unwanted objects, I would have loved for the fence to not block such a cool looking building but sometimes there is nothing you can do and just have to work around it.  In the end I really liked how the image turned out even with the fence. 

The other big challenge was the size of the main lobby.  Most of the images of the lobby were achieved by stitching together multiple images in photoshop into mini panoramas. This made for some complicated editing to retain details in the windows but worked out well to capture such a large space. What a cool waiting room right?

I really enjoyed shooting this project and supporting such a great cause. It is nice to know the images will be used to promote the health care services at the high school for those that really need it!

Check out more images from the project below!  

Abbott Construction - Simi Valley Hospital Emergency Room

I'm very excited to share this new project with you.  These images are of a brand new emergency room completed by Abbott Construction for the Simi Valley Hospital, and Devenney Group Ltd., Architects.  This new emergency room is absolutely beautiful. It is not only extremely functional but also aesthetically pleasing which is a hard balance to achieve for a medical facility. Abbott did an amazing job on this project and I'm sure the hospital is really enjoying it. Check out the interiors below to see the space. 

Interiors

Exteriors

I also had an amazing time working on the exteriors for this project. As always, any chance I get to shoot blue hour is tons of fun. I'm so excited with how these turned out and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for blue hour. It is not very often we have great clouds in LA.

I couldn't be more excited about how this project turned out. I just love creating images I know the clients are going to love!  

I also wanted to personally thank Melissa and Ben from Abbott Construction. Their help on this project was invaluable and I can't thank them enough. Melissa and Ben, you are awesome!

Cornerstone Construction - Remodel

George from Cornerstone Construction contacted me again to shoot a recent remodel project he just completed. This was an interior remodel of a home, including the kitchen, living spaces, and both bathrooms.  I was excited to have the opportunity to create some images featuring Cornerstone's amazing work.

This shoot was not without its challenges.  Balancing the natural ambient light with the artificial light was tricky. Not to mention balancing the exposure of the windows to retain good detail.  Also I did quite a bit of accent lighting using small flashes to bring out certain details. Check out my before and after example below to see what I started with and what the final resulting image was.

Before and After

before after

Move the sliders left and right to see the before and after

Overall I'm really happy with how this shoot turned out. These images will be a huge asset for Cornerstone Construction and their marketing efforts. It is so wonderful to be a part of supporting their amazing work.


Beach Life - Podiatric Laser Center

I had the wonderful pleasure of shooting for the Beach Life Podiatric Laser Center this week.

They contacted me through Cornerstone Construction who had just completed construction on their new office design. The clinic turned out beautifully and they were really excited to get some pictures for their website

This shoot was pretty straight forward but was not without its technical challenges. There was plenty of experimentation on site to discover how best to capture the space for the look I was trying to achieve. I wanted to make sure to show off the natural light coming into the space rather than the typical "clinical over head lighting" that most doctors offices have.  In the end I captured it both ways, once with lights on, and once without so that I could blend them together in post and get the best of both worlds.  The final images turned out wonderfully and in the end really showed off the essence of the space.

Also, while I was there I did some head shots for Dr. Michael Eskarous as well. It was fun to take off the architecture photography hat for a minute and do some portraits.  The one I included in the gallery I thought turned out really well.

Overall the client was really please with the final images and so was I.

Abbott Construction - Glendale Adventist Hospital

Abbott Construction - Glendale Adventist Hospital

J. R. Abbott Construction contacted me to shoot another one of their healthcare projects over at Glendale Adventist Medical Center. They recently finished construction on a new Cardiac Clinic and needed some images of the interior as well as some exterior images of the recently finished "Lee Hughes Medical Building."  I was really stoked to be working with them again and capture yet another amazing project from Abbott.

This was an super fun project to shoot. The design and look of the clinic was exceptional. You could tell the designers spent a lot of time and effort into making the space exciting and fun to be in.

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Cornerstone Construction

George Abraham is a contractor/owner of Cornerstone Construction in Los Angeles and he does amazing remodels of homes in the LA area. He asked me to create some images showcasing some of the remodel work he has done in his home to be able to show future clients.

Above: One of the most amazing features in George's home is an unbelievable 1000 gallon salt-water reef fish tank that he designed and installed in his house.  Its one of those eye catching features that you just can't help but walk over and look at for hours. It truly is magnificent!

Above: Who needs to watch tv when the fish tank can be viewed from either side wall making it a beautiful focal point to the common areas of the home.

Above: Beautiful Kitchen Design

Above: He also just recently finish a remodel of his backyard which includes a top of the line outdoor grill, and fire pit that is to die for.

George is just an amazingly talented contractor/artist and is a joy to work with. If you ever have a need for home remodeling in the LA area, Cornerstone Construction is the only choice!

Abbott Construction - Centinela Hospital

Abbott Construction - Centinela Hospital

I had the wonderful pleasure of shooting on behalf of J. R. Abbott Construction and Centinela Hospital Medical Center this week. It was a full day shoot with many projects to capture in various locations around the medical center.

My work included the building exterior, interiors of a new laboratory, a power and emergency generator facility, and some in-progress construction reference of earthquake retrofitting being done to the outside of the building.

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