I've photographed a lot of things in Los Angeles, heck, and things much further afield. And this was hands down one of the coolest things I've shot. BluHomes, a San Francisco-based company that specializes in prefabricated homes, just completed one of their flagship homes near Malibu and I was given the assignment to photograph it.
Set in an epic landscape of rolling hills and dark green shrubbery, the setting was serene and the home just fit so well into the landscape that photographing it almost felt like cheating. There were so many great angles, and I wish I had more than just one day to experience and photograph the home.
Working alongside Courtney Lake of Monogram Decor and Lynne Andujar of 805 Living, we shuffled furniture around, played a few perspective tricks and added just a touch of lighting here and there to make this place come alive via photography.
With such an open and flexible floorplan, the composition options were really endless. Being able to open and shut entire sides of the home to position the camera pretty much anywhere was a dream. I not only loved photographing it, I'd move in here in a snap.
And we capped the night off with what has to be one of my favorite shots of all time. I think this sums up the house, the landscape, and the architecture so well. Leading lines pull you right in and through, just as the breeze would with all those windows open (this model of house is aptly named 'Breezehouse' after the defining characteristic: two walls of glass that seamlessly slide open to allow a natural breeze to meander through the center of the home. Sublime!)
Happy to say that after a couple weeks of waiting, I discovered that we got the cover image in 805 Living, to boot. Looks pretty good, eh?
The images from this shoot were also picked up and licensed by BluHomes for a two-page spread national ad campaign in the September (and subsequent) issues of Real Simple magazine.