Fisher Fine Arts Library at University of Pennsylvania, Frank Furness, architect.

This winter 2011-2012 has been unusually mild, with warmer than normal temperatures and virtually no snow. While I don’t miss shoveling snow, I do miss snow. So in that spirit I thought I would post snow photos that I have shot in the past.

Detail of gargoyle on Fisher Fine Arts Library.

Miniature snowman.

Table and chairs in the snow.

"Love" Sculpture in the snow. (Robert Indiana, artist)

Statue of Dr. Pepper at Univ. of Pennsylvania. (shot at two different snowfalls)

"Field of Dreams" from Penn Gazette, Nov-Dec 2011

Recently the Penn Gazette ran a long feature on Penn Park, the University of Pennsylvania’s recently completed development of twenty-four acres for use as a public park and athletic fields.

Greg was given the assignment to photograph for the article. The assignment gave him an opportunity to capture a place and the people using it.

To illustrate the many uses of Penn Park and show it from many angles, Greg visited the park on four separate days. He also photographed it from a helicopter to show how the park sits in relationship to Penn’s campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Joggers using Penn Park.

Penn Park is a welcome addition of green space to this section of Philadelphia.

Soccer practice.

Rainwater that falls on the artificial turf of the athletic fields flows into underground cisterns that will store 2 million gallons of storm water annually. This water will help irrigate trees and grass on the site.

Penn Park offers many ways of enjoying the trees and open air.

Penn Park supports a series of athletic activities.

Spread from Pennsylvania Gazette's article on Penn Park.

Penn Park sits between the Penn Campus and Center City Philadelphia.

For Penn Gazette’s coverage of Penn Park, photographs from the ground are not able to tell the entire story. Greg hired a helicopter to gain a higher angle in order to show the size of the site and how it sits in relation to the Penn campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Penn Gazette Nov-Dec 2011 cover

Getting good images from the air is an exercise in team work between the photographer and the pilot. To photograph from a helicopter it’s best to fly with the door off. The cabin is very noisy and once in the air the only way to verbally communicate with the pilot is through a headset. The pilot also needs to stay attentive to any instructions he may receive from air traffic control, so chatty photographers need to keep their talking to a minimum for the sake of safety.

Greg getting ready to feel the wind in his hair.

Prior to hiring a helicopter, Greg shot the park from nearby high buildings, like Franklin Field. The view from there has power lines and the railroad line is prominent. The limitation of shooting this project from the ground led to using a helicopter.

View from the top of Franklin Field, Penn's football stadium.

For all the complications, costs, and considerations, aerial photographs show angles that photography from the ground cannot. Satellite images, while showing a view from above, do not have the same spatial quality.

Penn Park in relation to the rest of Center City Philadelphia.

For more on this assignment, see our post about photographing Penn Park from the ground.

New Entrance to Morristown Medical Center's Trauma Center.

The architects and construction company, who designed and built the new Trauma Center at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, hired Greg Benson to photograph the new facility.

One of the challenges with this project was shooting the exterior, which is located on the north side of the building that does not get direct sunlight in August. Twilight proved to be a dramatic time to photograph the façade.

Hosing down the pavement helped add visual excitement to the photograph.

On the night of the shoot, the “Ambulance” sign was not lit up because the old Emergency Room entrance was still in operation. It would be confusing and potentially dangerous to have ambulances drop off emergency patients at a not yet functioning area. Using Photoshop, we were able to illuminate the unlit sign and made it glow red.

Treatment rooms at Morristown Medical Center's Trauma Center.

An emergency room runs on a 24/7 schedule. Scheduling the photo shoot before a busy facility opens is crucial for being able to take photographs of uncluttered spaces without people.

In a trauma center, utility and function are key, but good visual design can make a clinical place more welcoming and comfortable.

Nurses' Station.

Operating Room.

Entrance Vestibule.

Waiting Room.

King of Prussia Mall on left and plant detail at One Plymouth Meeting on right

When S&H Interiorscapes worked with their design agency to develop a web site, we were hired to photograph several of  their clients’ spaces. S&H provides and maintains plants for commercial environments, including offices and malls. Our challenge was to show, at web size, how their plants not only add texture to these spaces, but transform them.

S&H Interiorscapes' Homepage

We scouted the prospective locations before scheduling final photography. Visiting the locations ahead of time helped us determine the best places to photograph, and helped us figure out what time of day and weather would be appropriate for the final shoots.

1055 Westlakes, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Brandywine Realty Trust

Orchid in lobby of Brandywine Realty Trust

To highlight the quality of their work, we shot close-ups that show S&H’s subtle attention to detail.

1205 Westlakes, Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Radnor Financial Center

Townhouses on American Street in Philadelphia.

On May 28, an urban residential project that I shot a few years ago for Doug Culbert and Daryl Rothmund of Materiality was featured on the “world’s most visited architecture website,” Arch Daily.

This project in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties section has sleek modern design with metal panels, in contrast to the usual red brick Philadelphia rowhouse.

Balcony Detail.

Bi-level interior space.

Second floor bathroom.

Broad Street facade of Pennsylvania Convention Center.

My photographs of the interior are here.

The new expansion to Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center adds a dramatic facade on Broad Street near City Hall.

View of Convention Center with City Hall in the background.

Photographing in a busy urban area is a challenge. Cars, trucks, buses, bicycles, and pedestrians crowd the streets, creating visual distractions. Minimizing their presence allows the building to stand out.

Wide view of Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion.

As part of my preparation for photographing the center’s exteriors, I received permission from the Philadelphia Film Office to mark the 1300 block of Arch Street as a “no parking” zone for the day of the shoot. This enabled me to take photographs of the south-facing facade without parked cars distracting the viewer’s attention.

Arch Street facade of Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion.

Bridge that connects the new expansion with the existing Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The new $700 million expansion to Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Convention Center brings the total size of the center to one million square feet.

I was selected to photograph the new spaces for the two construction companies, the architect and the owner.

My photographs of the exterior are here.

Atrium of new Pennsylvania Convention Center expansion in Philadelphia.

The soaring atrium on Broad Street has a ceiling ten stories high.

View of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, designed by Frank Furness, and the city skyline.

During two days when the Center was unoccupied, I photographed the spacious interiors with three assistants and a client representative.

Arch Street corridor interior.

Banquet room for more than 7,000 people.

The Exhibition Hall now stretches for three city blocks.

Sheraton University City Hotel at Twilight

The AIA provides an exhaustive checklist to help their members prepare for photography. The list was compiled with help from ASMP and is definitely worth reading if planning a large shoot, with a lot of interested parties. This list is our executive summary – a “greatest hits” of what our past experience shows are the basic, most important points.

1. Make a Shot List

As it is with most pursuits in life, good photography depends on good planning.

If you provide your photographer with a list of specific rooms and areas to be photographed, it will help him or her better plan for the shoot and provide an accurate cost proposal.

Calvary Church, Souderton, PA

2. Discuss photos’ ultimate use with the photographer

How the images are to be used will have an effect on the scope of the licensing, and on the licensing cost.

Also, the ultimate uses of the images will affect how the photographer chooses to create each image. For example, photos intended strictly for web use may need to be shot in landscape mode and may not need the exact detail of a photo meant for a large display print.

Huntingdon Valley Country Club Exterior

3. Determine if the building is ready for photography

The shoot may have to wait until all construction or renovations are completed. Additionally, for exterior photographs it is best to shoot when the landscaping looks best, and when there is no scaffolding visible.

Private Residence, Elizabethtown, PA

4. Provide the photographer with an on-site contact

This person may be in charge of the facility, the building’s engineer, or the manager or owner of the business. The contact should be familiar with the building and be able to balance the photographer’s needs with the building’s occupants’ needs.

It is essential that the photographer has this person’s phone number and that they be able to talk ahead of the shoot to make arrangements and learn about where to park and, if the shoot includes interiors, how to move gear into the building. This person will be invaluable if during the shoot it becomes important to be able to turn certain lights on and off.

Hiway Theater, Jenkintown, PA

5. Make sure the occupants know a photographer is coming

This is a specific issue for office or retail space. When the photos are commissioned by the building owner or management company, it is important that they inform their tenants and obtain tenants’ permission for photography of their space.

Sang Kee Restaurant - Sheraton University City, Philadelphia.

6. Provide a site plan.

Buildings are like people; they look their best when light flatters their features. We use as much information as we can get from our clients ahead of time to identify the best time of day to photograph a given building. Site plans, satellite images from Google Maps, and information from people familiar with the location are all helpful.

Wellington Apartments, Hatboro, PA

7. Plan for a scout or walkthrough with the photographer

The walkthrough, and ideally a separate scouting day, will answer any questions that could not be answered with site and floor plans, or discussing the location over the phone. Also, scouting allows the photographer to pre-visualize possible angles, lighting, and identify things that may have to be moved in or out of each shot.

Justison Landing, Wilmington, DE

8. Determine if props are needed

When the space is either unoccupied or recently constructed, the interior will often be a series of empty rooms. While it may be appropriate to photograph an empty warehouse as is, a completely bare living room or bedroom is not likely to sell any condo units.

Warehouse Interior

Cardiac Access Nurses' Station, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

Every interior space has its own set of scheduling restrictions. A photographer must find a balance between quality and convenience, which means choosing a time when the space still looks its absolute best while not interfering with the business of its occupants. The guidelines for scheduling the shoot can seem like a series of contradictions:

• Shoot too close to the completion date and the construction crew may still be racing to deal with unfinished punchlist items;
• Shoot immediately after construction and you run the risk that spaces are devoid of furniture and equipment;
• Shoot too long after construction and you may find that high-traffic areas are already beginning to look worn.
• Also, once the space is open for use, the shoot can prove to be an unmanageable inconvenience to a 24/7 operation.

Sitting Area, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

There is no steadfast hard rule, and no one-size-fits-all answer. The best time for photography will be different for every project. Previous planning and discussions between the client, the occupants, and photographer are critical to getting the best interior photographs.

For example, photographing a restaurant requires scheduling a time not during service, but after the tables have all been dressed and the cleaning staff has had a chance to tend to the floors, windows, etc.

NICU Patient Room, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

When Greg photographed a series of new additions to the Morristown Memorial Hospital for Buckl Architects, we had the benefit of working within a perfect time window for each phase. For this project, the ideal time to schedule the photo shoot was after construction had completed, furniture had been moved in, and most of the equipment and computers had been installed – but before those portions of the hospital opened their doors to patients.

Intensive Care Unit, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

The last aspect is probably the most important. People are usually glad to be accommodating during a photo shoot, but it might be inconvenient for an ICU patient to leave their room just so the photographer can set up his shot.

Nurses' Station, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

On all the projects we have worked on for Buckl Architects they have always been actively involved in the process, and have done a great job providing and styling plants for each of the spaces. Lee Tamaccio at Buckl is a kick-ass stylist.

Nurses's Station and Hallway, Morristown Memorial Hospital, Morristown, NJ

This project was featured in the Architectural Showcase of Healthcare Design Magazine.