Project Type: Residential Architecture, Design, and Build
Commissioned by: Phillips | Collins Construction Group, cost shared with Kingdom Woodworks
Location: Atlanta, GA
Scope: Renovated pool house interior/exterior and main home kitchen, laundry room, and primary bath
Phillips | Collins Construction Group invited me back for a new collaboration to photograph this Buckhead pool pavilion and residential refresh project, with their cabinetry partner Kingdom Woodworks joining in to cost share the interior images. We had a very tight window for the shoot to minimize disruption for the homeowner and meet an award submission deadline, making our scheduled shoot day locked in, rain or shine.
We kicked off my Signature Process with the scout where we developed a shot list that told the story with highlighted details the client wanted to resonate for an award jury and for target clients. What emerged was a story of bringing together quality craftsmanship, curated materiality, and added livability across three distinct scopes.
Our set opens with the pool pavilion, rebuilt on the original structure’s footprint with added height to hold more presence over the outdoor entertaining space. We start with a balanced front elevation view for its symmetry and at a low angle to emphasize the added scale. From there we explored closer in to highlight the outdoor kitchen, indoor/outdoor entertaining areas with ceiling finishes, and the pavilion’s echo of architecture and finishes relative to the home’s exterior.
We continue inside the home, opening the second scope with establishing views of the kitchen’s layout and its relationship to the adjoining laundry room. A couple follow-up images explore the wall of additional cabinetry, revealing the hidden coffee bar and integrated refrigeration to demonstrate tidy solutions within the expanded storage.
The adjoining laundry’s slightly triangular footprint was a special challenge, with its tight space and asymmetry leaving few options for a pleasing perspective that avoids super wonky distortion. My solution was to place the camera across from the work surface so its function, surrounding practical storage within the limited footprint, and relation to the kitchen are punctuated by the window’s natural light and its front garden terrace view.
The third scope closes out the set with the primary bath, starting with the a full layout view followed by exploring the vanity, slab shower, and free standing tub. Mill work of the vanity and ceiling bring rich warmth against the silky smooth materiality of the marble shower and vanity surfaces.
Our shoot ended up on an overcast day with autumn leaves beginning to fall. For the exteriors, we embraced the seasonal feel down to leaving the fallen foliage undisturbed on and around the pavilion as a natural side effect of the surrounding tree canopy.
While soft cloudy daylight can be nice for photographing interiors, its flatness muted the materials and textures that were key to our storytelling objectives. To solve this, I crafted lighting with modified flash to cleanly lift shadows for detail and color, and created harder directional “sunshine” to make shadows that accentuate depth and texture for added sensory appeal. The goal was make clear the natural look and elevated feel in keeping with the spaces’ experience.
Styling for all scenes was with restraint, using what was available from the homeowner as a hint of “lived in” without competing with the core elements of the client’s story.
Project Type: Residential Architecture, Design, and Build
Commissioned by: Phillips | Collins Construction Group, cost shared with Kingdom Woodworks
Location: Atlanta, GA
Scope: Renovated pool house interior/exterior and main home kitchen, laundry room, and primary bath
Phillips | Collins Construction Group invited me back for a new collaboration to photograph this Buckhead pool pavilion and residential refresh project, with their cabinetry partner Kingdom Woodworks joining in to cost share the interior images. We had a very tight window for the shoot to minimize disruption for the homeowner and meet an award submission deadline, making our scheduled shoot day locked in, rain or shine.
We kicked off my Signature Process with the scout where we developed a shot list that told the story with highlighted details the client wanted to resonate for an award jury and for target clients. What emerged was a story of bringing together quality craftsmanship, curated materiality, and added livability across three distinct scopes.
Our set opens with the pool pavilion, rebuilt on the original structure’s footprint with added height to hold more presence over the outdoor entertaining space. We start with a balanced front elevation view for its symmetry and at a low angle to emphasize the added scale. From there we explored closer in to highlight the outdoor kitchen, indoor/outdoor entertaining areas with ceiling finishes, and the pavilion’s echo of architecture and finishes relative to the home’s exterior.
We continue inside the home, opening the second scope with establishing views of the kitchen’s layout and its relationship to the adjoining laundry room. A couple follow-up images explore the wall of additional cabinetry, revealing the hidden coffee bar and integrated refrigeration to demonstrate tidy solutions within the expanded storage.
The adjoining laundry’s slightly triangular footprint was a special challenge, with its tight space and asymmetry leaving few options for a pleasing perspective that avoids super wonky distortion. My solution was to place the camera across from the work surface so its function, surrounding practical storage within the limited footprint, and relation to the kitchen are punctuated by the window’s natural light and its front garden terrace view.
The third scope closes out the set with the primary bath, starting with the a full layout view followed by exploring the vanity, slab shower, and free standing tub. Mill work of the vanity and ceiling bring rich warmth against the silky smooth materiality of the marble shower and vanity surfaces.
Our shoot ended up on an overcast day with autumn leaves beginning to fall. For the exteriors, we embraced the seasonal feel down to leaving the fallen foliage undisturbed on and around the pavilion as a natural side effect of the surrounding tree canopy.
While soft cloudy daylight can be nice for photographing interiors, its flatness muted the materials and textures that were key to our storytelling objectives. To solve this, I crafted lighting with modified flash to cleanly lift shadows for detail and color, and created harder directional “sunshine” to make shadows that accentuate depth and texture for added sensory appeal. The goal was make clear the natural look and elevated feel in keeping with the spaces’ experience.
Styling for all scenes was with restraint, using what was available from the homeowner as a hint of “lived in” without competing with the core elements of the client’s story.
