New Vanderbilt Hospital Critical Care Tower

Looking at the campus of the Vanderbilt Hospital you’d think there wasn’t any room to fit a new building. Somehow Earl Swensson Associates managed to fit this 200+ critical care tower and integrate it into existing facilities. Betsy and Ken were great to work with on this project, as was my first assistant Rory … always the can-do man on the job. Sandy, you were missed but you deserved a little break.

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

Food Network Southern Food & Wine Festival

Well, it’s just a few days away from what will be an fun weekend. I’ve actually got a booth for the exhibitor hall at the upcoming Southern Food & Wine Festival at Gaylord Opry in Nashville. I think I’m looking most forward to seeing who the other exhibitors are. I wonder what fun kitchen utensil I’ll fall in love with. Will it be the lemon zester or the ceramic knife set?

At my booth passers-by will have the opportunity to be “shot with food”. I’ve got a couple fun photos that are large with a hole for people to stick their heads through. One is a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and the other is a Le Crusset stock pot. It should be fun.

So, stay tuned. I’ll post photos after the even. For now, feel free to see my food photography site dreierstudio.com.

Dangerous Photography

Over the years I’ve managed to avoid many of the physical dangers of being a commercial photographer. Sure, there’s the paper cuts from sending invoices and the occasional burnt tongue from power lunches, but yesterday delivered a blow equal to that of Rocky Balboa.

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.

Rotier’s Hamburger – Nashville

I received an assignment from Charlotte Magazine in North Carolina to photograph a famed burger from Rotier’s in Nashville, TN. How could I resist … that’s a dream assignment!

This is one of the outtakes from the food photography session. You’ll have to wait to see the selected food photographs until it is published.

Rotier

I sure love being a food photographer in Nashville.

- Kyle

Do You Hear What I Shoot?

I was on location at the new Noah Liff Opera Center … the new headquarters for the Nashville Opera. I have been commissioned to shoot architectural photography for the architect Earl Swensson. One of the features of their new space is that they can setup a complete dress rehearsal on site rather than having to go to the performance venue (TPAC – Tennessee Performing Arts Center).

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

On the Run

Well, I got to spend the day with a great group of people … runners and spectators … all supporting the Tug McGraw Foundation. Tug McGraw was Tim McGraw’s father who died of a brain tumor.

We started out the day for the Nashville Country Music Marathon with a chili rain. That didn’t dampen the commitment of these folks to run for a great cause.

Here are a few of the shots from the day. The complete set can be see here: Nashville Country Music Marathon

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The Team.

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The Start.

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Leaders of the pack.

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A spectator.

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The Cheering Section.

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Mile 7.

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Mile 13.

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Tug’s motto … “Ya Gotta Believe.”

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– Kyle Dreier