Willow Homes Craftsman - Birmingham AL Architectural Photographer / September 8, 2017 by Tommy Daspit

As with most of my images, this one is a blend of strobe and ambient light. I really liked the quality of light and shadow being created by those fantastic plantation shutters. My assistant Crys is actually outside with a large strobe on a light sta… — As with most of my images, this one is a blend of strobe and ambient light. I really liked the quality of light and shadow being created by those fantastic plantation shutters. My assistant Crys is actually outside with a large strobe on a light stand shooting light into the window. This allowed me to embellish the natural light and give it more contrast.

Another great house by Willow Homes and Willow Design but this one was a little bit of a departure for them. Until this home in Crestwood area of Birmingham, I’d never photographed a home of theirs outside of Homewood. It’s great to see them expanding beyond their niche market and into Birmingham, Mountain Brook, and beyond! Wherever it is, I’m always thrilled to work with Jason, Katherine, Allison, Lizzy, and the entire Willow team. Every project has great portfolio opportunities for me and I love seeing them grow as a company! This Craftsman inspired home was no exception. I loved every aspect of this project but I must say that the master bathroom and kitchen were some of my all time favorites. I am super jealous of the matte finished appliances. They just look amazing and are much easier to maintain than stainless steel. Then there’s the contrast of black and white for the master bath. I’ve never seen a tub like that and how it all came together with simplicity and class is so impressive!

Silde back and forth to see the straight out of camera image and final edited image

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Each final image is a composite of multiple images. I blend ambient images with ones lit by my strobes. In this case I have a strobe outside the left window to add contrast to the natural light. There's another one behind the camera filling in the foreground. In Photoshop I remove anything that distracts from the finished design and balance the colors with a calibrated reference target.

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View more of my residential interiors and exterior architectural portfolio.

Office Environments - Birmingham AL Commercial Interiors Photography / August 30, 2017 by Tommy Daspit

Click on image to view larger - Conference room at Office Environments in Birmingham. This shot was particularly difficult due to the large windows and all the reflections in them. I utilized several techniques to control them. The final image is a … — Click on image to view larger - Conference room at Office Environments in Birmingham. This shot was particularly difficult due to the large windows and all the reflections in them. I utilized several techniques to control them. The final image is a combination of multiple ambient and strobe exposures.

I recently photographed the newly remodeled showroom of Office Environments in downtown Birmingham. This is a shoot that I’ve been looking forward to working on and showing off for some time. When I first saw the remodel late last year I knew it was a project I wanted to capture. My residential portfolio is quite extensive but my commercial work is more limited. This is especially true for interiors. Fortunately for me one of Office Environment’s reps is in my BNI (Business Networking International), and we were able to work out a deal!

I really loved every aspect of this space. It’s in a historic downtown building and showcases some of the very best in modern office furniture design. As a Herman Miller dealer everything is top notch quality and style. It was my job to capture the feeling of this showroom and business in photographic form. These images would be used by Office Environments on their website, social media, marketing materials and advertisements. These images will represent them to potential clients and partners. I needed to make sure they captured the quality of not only the furniture, but Office Environments, and the great people that work there as well.

This was to be a little different as well because we did the shoot at night after they closed. This gave me a great opportunity to have some images with a very different look from the rest of my portfolio. Most images I create are done with a mixture of sun and ambient light. Night images take out the sun variable but add a new layer of complexity. There’s much more heavy lifting to be done by the strobes and I had to be careful not to make the images look too “flashy”. The resulting images are a blend of multiple shots blended together. Some are as few as three all the way up to the office overview which is about twenty.

In the end with a lot of help from my assistant Crys and Blake Stringer from Office Environments we were able to pull it off!

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See more of my commercial interiors portfolio.

Gabby Home Veranda Magazine AD Shoot / June 26, 2017 by Tommy Daspit

The finished product in the February 2017 Issue of Veranda Magazine.

I’ve been pretty behind on my blogging. Last year was one of my best years as a photographer and this year has gotten off to a pretty good start. As a result, I haven’t had very much in the way of free time. Between shooing, meetings, and editing there hasn’t been a lot of room for other things. However, I have made this blog a priority. In the coming weeks I’ll actually be expanding it’s role from just one of showcasing recent projects, to being a resource of trends, personalities, and insight for the area’s residential and commercial scene. So, if that’s something of interest to you, and I hope it is, be sure to hit the subscribe button, to get automatic updates!

As for this post, it’s really long over due!

Last year I got a call from Gabby Home (the indoor premium furniture line from Summer Classics). They were putting a full page ad together for Veranda Magazine and needed it shot on short notice. Of course I was happy to help out! The location was the hunting cabin for Summer Classic’s CEO, Bew White. Chris Hutchens, the amazingly talented creative director at Gabby, ran the shoot. It was the second time I did a location shoot with him so I already knew this was going to be a good one. The results certainly didn’t disappoint! We spent nearly the entire day taking out the existing furnishings and brining in new furniture, accents, a mounted elk head, and even multiple dogs. Every aspect of the shot from staging, to lighting, and composition were scrutinized and thought through. This was for a full page ad in Veranda Magazine, one of the premier home design publications in the country. It was an expensive ad and it had to be attention grabbing to make a return on that investment. I appreciated the trust placed by Chris and the entire Gabby team in me to execute their vision. The finished product came out in the February 2017 issue. Take a look and let me know, did we accomplish our goals?

I had a little fun with Chris as he was orchestrating the shot!

Final image. Space was left at the top and bottom to accommodate the logo and copy. This final image is a composite of 8 individual images 14 total layers in Photoshop for a 1.2GB file!

Gabby Catalog - Birmingham AL Interiors Photographer / December 5, 2016 by Tommy Daspit

This shot is a blend of strobe and ambient light but mostly strobe. That allows me to more precisely control the color, shadow, and depth of light. Even with strobe the goal is to create an image that looks natural and truly represents the feel of t… — This shot is a blend of strobe and ambient light but mostly strobe. That allows me to more precisely control the color, shadow, and depth of light. Even with strobe the goal is to create an image that looks natural and truly represents the feel of the space.

A few months back I did a photoshoot for Gabby, the luxury indoor furniture line of Summer Classics. They wanted me to shoot their upcoming “Illuminate” catalog images. These weren’t the individual item shots done against a solid white background. Rather, these are what are called “Cadillac” shots and vignettes. I was to create the images that would show the furniture, lighting, and accessories in use and in a space. My job was to give the catalog viewer a better sense of how the items would come together in a real home. This is very similar to an interiors shoot that I might do for an interior decorator or designer. Now that the catalog is out I can share some of the images we created (see the catalog here).

For two days we took over the home owned by Jana and Danny McEachern of J&D Farms, in Gadsden. The Gabby team took out most of their furniture and replaced it with the catalog pieces. Each vignette was carefully crafted and staged by the amazingly talented Chris Hutchens, Gabby’s creative director. He really appreciated one of my favorite pieces of kit, my Camranger and iPad set up. Normally, the photographer gets the shot basically framed up and the designer goes back and forth to look through the camera as the shot is being arranged. Move a couch, go look through the lens, move it again, go look through the lens. On and on this goes. It can be a little less that ideal. With the Camranger I’m able to set the camera up, turn on live view, and hand an iPad to the designer. They can see in real time as they move things around, add and subtract props, and know exactly how the shot will look when put together. It has totally revolutionized the process. We can now get more shots in and the results are more inline with the artistic vision the creative team has!

I loved working with the entire Gabby team. The opportunity to collaborate with so many talented creative minds, with a great setting, and fantastic subject matter is amazing. It’s why I love what I do for a living so much! Be sure to check out the December issue of Veranda Magazine for a shot I did with Gabby for a full page Ad!

A capture from the catalog. It never gets old seeing a caption and page number along with your images! Again, this is a blend of strobe and ambient exposures. The chandelier was added from a separate image in post.

Chris is doing some finishing touches on the styling while I'm getting a color reference target shot. I'm triggering the camera from the iPad with the Camranger. The graycard I'm holding will be used in Lightroom to set the color temperature. That w… — Chris is doing some finishing touches on the styling while I'm getting a color reference target shot. I'm triggering the camera from the iPad with the Camranger. The graycard I'm holding will be used in Lightroom to set the color temperature. That way the colors of the products are accurately represented in the final results. The chandelier was added in post on this image too.

See more of my residential interiors photography portfolio here.

Jones Orthodontics - Birmingham AL Commercial Interiors Photographer / November 1, 2016 by Tommy Daspit

Dr Jones put a lot of thought and effort into making every part of his practice instill confidence in his patients. It was my job to capture that photographically. This image is a blend of multiple ambient and strobe exposures.

Recently I had the opportunity to photograph a brand new orthodontics office in Pelham. Dr Jones has been a practicing orthodontist with another group for some time but this is his first venture out on his own.

Not having an established clientele, Dr Jones needs to attract new patients. To help do this he knew that he had to establish credibility. Every detail from form to function was carefully thought through in the creation of the waiting, consultation, and treatment spaces. The practice was very well done but if know one saw it then that work would be wasted.

Dr Jones contacted me about creating images to do just that. He needed photos for his website, social media, and marketing materials. Having been a small business owner, and having started up business from scratch, I could relate to the stress, apprehension, hope, and excitement involved. I was honored to help him begin his practice and to help him become successful!