livebooks blog

Alan Karchmer has been a freelance architectural photographer for about forty years. His life in photography began while studying architecture. He got a camera and found that he had a good eye for form and space, and photography came naturally. Karchmer completed his Masters degree and began a career in architectural photography at that point.

He brings to his work an authoritative sense of space, form, texture, light and use. He hones in on defining angles in photographs that capture the spirit, life, and poetry of the architect’s vision. Karchmer’s photographs have been published in the architectural press worldwide, and appeared in major museum exhibitions.

Q&A with Alan Karchmer

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

Image-centric, simple, engaging

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

Not as often as I should, about twice a year.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

First priority is strength of image. Then I look to represent the range of my portfolio and importance of the projects shown.

Q4: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

The ability to filter and find images within the Image Library using keywording.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

Think about what your prospective clients are looking for.

livBooks is a great platform for showcasing photography. The EditSuite interface is robust, intuitive, and easy to navigate and there is tremendous range to customize to tailor to your needs and aesthetic preferences. During the development stage when transitioning from the old Flash site to liveBooks8 I found support to be prompt, responsive, and thorough.

See more of Alan Karchmer’s work here.

T-2 Tanglewood House 2, West Stockbridge MA, Architect: Schwartz Silver Architects

Chad Chenier returned to his home state of Louisiana after receiving photography training in California. Upon returning he quickly started freelancing for local area magazines and getting my name out. He was hired on as a full time photographer at Louisiana Homes & Gardens Magazine. It was a state wide publication that featured Interior Design Homes all across the state – New Orleans, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Alexandria, etc. He says, “It was great to go back to my home state and be able to express my love for architecture and interior design with photography. New Orleans in particular has so much character and mixes of different styles of architecture. It was wonderful!” 

Eventually, some of the home owners also inquired if he could photograph their commercial businesses. That launched his freelance career as an architectural / interior design photographer and now he services all of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, New York City, and Sante Fe, New Mexico. He is really excited about the future and being able to work with talented people all across the United States!  

Q1: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

CC: Stunning Visual Presentation.

Q2: How often do you typically update your website?

CC: I update my website at least once every week.

Q3: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

CC: I choose photos for my home page that highlight the best of what I can do. Images of work that I would like to create more of – only the best.

Q4: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

CC: My favorite feature of liveBooks8 is showcasing new work to all my past clients quickly with a stunning web delivery.  I have really enjoyed my photography journey with help from liveBooks.

Q5: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

CC: Refine the type of photography you want to create as your niche and build towards being the expert in your field and in your area.

Check out Chad Chenier Photography: www.chadchenierphotography.com

Article reposted in partnership with Wonderful Machine.

Wonderful Machine is a production company with a network of 700 photographers around the world, including many photographers who use liveBooks. Today we’re featuring Wade Griffith Photography and one of his latest projects.

“A few years ago, Cinemark contacted Dallas-based photographer Wade Griffith about photographing their first Luxury Loungers. He shot a couple of chairs and one model in-studio, and they used those images for several years for all their marketing and branding needs. This year, Cinemark reached out to Wade again to do a much larger shoot using six models and featuring their updated Lounger design in two different Cinemark theaters located in the Fort Worth area. Wade was excited when he received the call and was thrilled to expand what he had started in the first shoot.

The goal of the campaign was to advertise and market these new Cinemark Luxury Loungers to a diverse audience. The photos were aimed to help show that the updated recliners are electric-powered, plush and oversized and that they also have footrests and cup holders. The tagline of the project was “The Best Seat In Town,” which reinforces the notion that these chairs are the most comfortable and enjoyable way to view a movie anywhere.

Once Cinemark contacted Wade about the shoot, he put them in touch with his producer, Kaylah Key, who then handled all the details and coordination of the project.

After several emails and phone calls back and forth with Cinemark, we were able to put together an estimate and timetable that was mutually agreed upon.

Days before the shoot they scouted both Cinemark theater locations in Plano and Allen, Texas to review the shot list and discuss the strategies that would make this shoot a success.

The shoot was completed over a two day period. The goal was to get 40 final images of the Luxury Loungers with and without models and props from various angles. The crew arrived each day at 8 am with the shooting scheduled to begin around 9 am and wrapping up at 6 pm.

Wade enjoyed working with both the models and the production team.  The Cinemark staff was also very nice to work with, as they helped stage and approve the images as they were taken. In addition to the scheduled shots, Wade also captured some wide angle shots of the entire theater to supplement what he had.

Overall, we had a great team and we were very happy with the results of the shoot.

The main challenge to getting the best images possible was setting up the lighting equipment in the theaters. When they got there the first day they realized they had underestimated how long it would take to set up.

We had a very large scrim that we were using as a shoot through and putting it together ate up most of our setup time. So, there was some pressure to make the time up once we started shooting, which we did.

The campaign has just been released to the public and all the feedback Wade has received from people has been very positive. The client was very happy with the photos and Wade believes they captured exactly what they were hoping for.

I love being on set with a great team of creatives and interacting with the models all day long. It’s an exciting experience, and I enjoy the collaboration that takes place to create great images.

Currently, there are no future plans with Wade and Cinemark. However, Wade is hoping that this successful campaign will lead to more work with Cinemark. As the popularity of these Luxury Loungers grows, he is sure it will create a demand for more marketing and advertising of this type of products in the future.”

See more of Wade at wadegriffithphotography.com