While working in Los Angeles, you get to see a very, very wide variety of different architecture and interiors, and every now and then something comes along that you know you'd just never see anywhere else. Such was the case on a recent shoot with NYID, KLEAN, and White Rabbit Partners. Natalie Younger designed a gorgeous, unique, and jaw-dropping space for KLEAN and White Rabbit and I was excited to have been able to photograph it.
A soft, inviting, pastel palette at KLEAN was contrasted by an unusual and striking combination of dark wood with grey and black flooring at White Rabbit. Custom made fixtures and furniture throughout created a very interesting setting for these offices.
Photographing the White Rabbit "wing" of the building presented numerous challenges, and it took nearly the entire stable of grip and lighting equipment to pull it off. In order to retain the balance between window views of LA and dark interior, some serious thinking went into composing and lighting. For the darker and moodier shots towards the end of day and at twilight, I ended up using heavily gelled Profoto B1 lights to add warmth to the wood and keep a light brown/red hue in them, and complimented it with bare lowel hot lights to add texture and a little bit of depth here and there. The daylight shots were achieved using just the Profoto B1s, naked on a stand or with an umbrella where appropriate.
Fighting the setting sun on this image was more difficult than the end result makes it look! There were about 2500 watts of light being pumped into this scene when all was said and done.
One of my favorite images from the shoot, above. Lit with a single hot light, it brings the texture of the hand-made cabinetry to life. What's amazing is that cabinet is made from hundreds of individual pyramids of wood which were handmade and arranged randomly, the depth of the piece is just incredible and I tried to bring that out with the lighting.
Lit with a single Lowel GL-1, and one of my favorite recent shots!
Stay tuned for more, I was quite busy right before the Christmas break and have plenty of blogging to catch up on. Looking forward to a new year and some great opportunities coming up!