Walton Arts Center Interior Renovation

This week I’ll feature some of the interior photos of the Walton Arts Center Renovation.  The new facility is incredible to say the least, I know I bragged about it previously, but it’s worth saying again.  The lobby is jaw dropping when you walk in.  The JB Hunt staircase is encased in beautiful wood and frames the East side of the lobby and can be viewed from outside at any angle.  The spacious area gives so much room for many events or extra space for performances.  The center piece of the room is the gorgeous chandelier the demands your attention, even if you’re driving down Dickson St.

The Walmart Lobby entrance, on West St, showcases a lighting system that transitions to several colors, always giving the interior a different feel.  They can program the lights to show colors based on the performance.

Just like all commercial photography I create, I take them personal.  By personal I mean I put myself in my client’s shoes and take on the role of owner and look at it from my perspective as a potential client.  First, how would I want my architectural photography to look or be perceived.  Secondly, I look at it from a client’s point of view and what would it take to get my attention if I were to see it in advertising.  According to my activity on my phone/watch, I walked about 5 miles photographing the interior.  You may think, ‘how did you walk so much inside a building just taking pictures?’.  To give you a brief idea, I’ve made “progression” photos that show a sampling of what goes into creating some of the interior photos, the Youtube link is below some of the photos below, please take a few seconds to watch, like and subscribe.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

Walton Arts Center Exterior Renovation

It may seem I’ve spent a lot of time at the Walton Arts Center lately, well, you’d be right, but every minute was a pleasure.  To be a part, in my small way, of something so great for NWA and Fayetteville, was such an honor.  Part of being a photographer is the privilege to go and see things that I would normally not have the opportunity.  The Walton Arts Center took on a huge task in 2016 of renovating the facility to give more people the opportunity to be a part of it’s shows and events.  One way they did this was to expand the front ‘lobby’ considerably with large window walls so that not only could the people inside enjoy the view but that the people enjoying Dickson St could be a part of the events by simply passing by.

Twilight photography is my favorite for architecture.  It takes considerable more time but so worth it and rewarding with the results for the client and myself.  The building pops and gives a surreal feel through transforming the reality of what is normally scene.   The colors are more vivid the contrast of the interior against a dark sky gives for a very inviting feel.  This accomplishes the goal of making the viewer want to visit the location and be a part.

Now for the technical side.  This particular twilight photo of the exterior was one of my favorites but also the most time consuming.  I have included below a “normal” view (what it looks like in normal view) compared to my finished image compiled of several photographs and eliminating distractions, how ever minor they may be.  Remember those pictures in the paper that challenged you to find how man differences you could find?  Just to name a few things, reflections on glass walls, proper color temperature of building and sidewalk, replacing bare trees and grass, images showing proper exposure of interior, cleaning shadows and marks on sidewalk and sky background properly exposed.  To say those things in one sentence is easy, but many hours of dedication were put into the final image. I enjoyed the process because I knew what the final image would represent and be viewed and enjoyed by thousands of people across the country.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

Voted Very Best Commercial Photographer by Celebrate Magazine

Branch Photography has been voted Very Best Commercial Photographer in Arkansas and NW Arkansas by the readers of Celebrate Arkansas magazine again for 2016!  This is the third year we have received this award from the readers of Celebrate Arkansas and just as proud to be recognized.  Thank you to all who voted and value quality photographic creations, specifically the images Branch creates!

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

 

Tyson World HQ – Discovery Building

I have always admired the architecture of the Tyson World Headquarters Discovery Building, located in Springdale Arkansas.  I commend the contractors and architects for the building and design, I know Tyson is very proud of this addition to their world headquarters campus.  That being said, I’ve been wanting to photograph it for some time.  While I have photographed it during the day for Celebrate Arkansas Magazine, I wanted to get an image at night where the building really stands out.  After a few emails to the right people, I managed to get permission and notify security what I would be doing.  I would never attempt to photograph such a property at suspicious times of day without their knowledge.

I’m thrilled with the final image, all areas of the image are properly displayed with correct colors.  I’m looking forward to seeing Tyson use this image world wide.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

Hunt Tower

The Hunt Tower in Rogers Arkansas was recently completed and, as the tallest building in NWA it is very impressive.  It stands at 10 stories with 230,000 sf and has many tenants quickly wanting in to enjoy this space.

As impressive as it is, I wanted to photograph it as soon as possible.  I went one night and it couldn’t have been a more perfect an evening (except for the one car I had to remove from the image, but that’s ok).   After that night, I spent some considerable time making sure every element was taken care of with no distractions.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

Courtyard by Marriott – Front View

A month ago, I posted the previous blog about the photos created for the Marriott, except for the exterior.  Since the hotel is so busy it took some time to get a night where they could block off the appropriate parking spaces so cars would not be in the way.  I couple of weeks ago I got to finish the project.  At first I wondered how we would take out the cones and still keep people from parking there while I was taking the images for over an hour.  Then I figured, why try, just do it in photoshop.  As you can see the images turned out great!  The parking lot was cleaned up, obstructions and distractions removed to make the hotel shine!

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

 

Courtyard by Marriott – Fayetteville

Photographing the Courtyard by Marriott in Fayetteville was an honor.  An honor to help them nationally promote their new renovations!   To be a part of helping a national corporation market themselves to help them grow and gain recognition with their clients, is something I take seriously.  This shoot was exciting, full of a variety of lighting techniques to draw out the rooms natural beauty, comfort and spaciousness.   

I am very thankful to the staff that helped coordinate all aspects of this day to insure everything was perfect.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.

Legacy Bank – Springdale AR

 Legacy Bank asked me to create several images for their 2016 marketing campaign.  These images included several scenes around NW Arkansas as well as 5 of their bank locations.  I always enjoy the twilight architectural images, they take a LOT longer but they contain so much of a WOW factor.  That WOW factor translates into more attention to the marketing and advertising which increases the effectiveness of the advertising.  One bank in particular in Springdale, their main branch, was a challenge but at the same time, a challenge I enjoyed and they really appreciated.

The difference is amazing!  The goal is to create an image void of obstructions to completely focus on the building, the primary focus of the shoot.

For more Professional Commercial Photography, visit Branch Commercial Photography.