We were able to salvage the shoot with some nice timing, the roof of a moving truck and a little post production. So, all that being said, I thought I’d share a couple before and after shots.

Entrance - Before

Entrance - After

Front - Before

Front - After

Nothing beats a few adjustment layers in Photoshop and some clouds from our own stock library.

Look for a later post with interior photography from this particular job.

- Kyle

Probably the most interesting aspect of this shoot was getting into scrubs to enter the surgical area. We were quite the site. The technology in the bi-planner room was amazing. I can only imagine what it’s like while actually being utilized. See the special green lighting in the OR room below which is used to assist during operations.

Critical Care Tower Atrium

Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower Atrium

Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower Atrium

Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower - Nurses Station

Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower - ICU Room

Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower - bi-planer operating room

This facility is amazing. I enjoyed photographing it. However, I hope that I don’t have to go there for any other reason.

- Kyle

Most architectural photography assignments land me in relatively benign situations. There are times where I might be dangling from the edge of a building, walking on a steep roof or even navigating a dark mysterious basement. I’ve been in questionable places at questionable hours. (Oh, and contact with poison ivy … but that’s a whole other story.) Who would have thunk that photographing the new headquarters of the Nashville Opera at the Noah Liff Center would have produced a bloody fat lip, two loose front teeth and the headache of the decade.

Enter me, surveying the wonderful light coming into their Patron’s Lounge. I’m captured by the break in the clouds that are producing nice clean light shining through the skylight ceiling and casting sharp shadows with the typography on the perimeter.

In full-stride and mid-sentence I am stopped dead in my tracks by … what was that! Oh, I remember, we closed (and cleaned) the large glass doors for the previous shot. Ouch! A bit dazed, I receive sympathy and ice from everyone around me … my assist, my clients and some of the opera staff who come from their offices after hearing what sounded like a 175 pound man hitting a 4 x 7 foot glass door.

From examining my pristine face-print on the previously invisible glass door I could see that it was likely my less than shy chin that saved me from greater damages. One of my first thoughts (aside from “what was that!”) was “darn, no more corn-on-the-cob for me this Summer.” Ironically, my wife prepared corn on the cob for dinner last night. Needless to say, I had corn-off-the-cob.

This particular architectural photography assignment was to highlight an extended care facility which was a complete redesign of an existing structure. This particular architect client joins us on each shoot with the marketing director and the lead interior designer for the project.

I enjoy being an architectural photographer. It certainly has its challenges but that’s really what keeps it fun. This particular assignment we had to shoot into the wee hours of the morning when the residents were asleep. It made for a long day, but we all hung in there.

For me, my day started at 6:30 am loading gear into my SUV. I picked up my assistant at 8 am. We drove to Lexington and were setting up for the first shot by 1 pm. By the time we got our shots, packed up gear and checked into our hotel it was 1:30 am. But, we shot everything we needed.

It’s kinda funny how different skills overlap. We actually had to create some fake ice cream for one of the shots. We turned to the old powdered mash potatoes and Crisco for this task. It’s not my favorite recipe for fake ice cream but it did the trick for what we were trying to do. (My favorite recipe involves a bag of confectioners sugar and frosting. More at the another time.)

So, here are the results. Nothing glamorous but certainly what we set out to capture.

Stay tuned for the next shoot …

- Kyle

While I was there to shoot the facility in use I took a moment as I was packing up my gear to shoot a little of the performance – Amahl and the Night Visitors. It’s a neat show. I love the costumes … and the story line is fun.

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors

Amahl and the Night Visitors

You’ll just have to wait to see the architecture. We’ve got 3 shots and 5 or more to go. We’re simply waiting on the final touches from the interior designer.

– Kyle

lone biker along the trace.

Covenant Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN

Hilltop Mansion in Williamson County, TN

Stay tuned for more aerials in the near future.

– Kyle Dreier