Iconinc Architecture: One of Kansas City's Best Known Modern Homes

If you have lived in Kansas City for a few years or more, chances are you have seen a glimpse of the Bixby Residence located near 65th Street and State Line Road. It hides behind a gated entrance with enough landscaping to hide the front from passing traffic. Your eye catches small pieces of the home while driving by. It has always pulled my eyes off the road for a split second and made me go "Wow I wonder what the rest of the home looks like?"

Designed by architect Edward W. Tan­ner, the home was originally built for insurance executive Walter E. Bixby. The Bixby Residence was meant to suit Walter Bixby's taste and achieve the goal of being much different than the surrounding classic styles of homes in the neighborhood. Tanner was an interesting choice considering his career up to that point consisted of small commercial spaces with traditional styles, some portions of the Country Club Plaza with Spanish styles, and many of the humble ranches in Prairie Village, Kansas.

For this shoot I had about an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to capture what I could. Being an overcast morning actually contributed to the home's style and the nature of the shoot. My job here was just to capture the home as it was. There was no serious staging of any kind. Even with the sprinklers being on about half the morning and flower pedals and small plant bits spread across the walks the mood of the home still comes through strong!

How to Capture Tall Ceilings

Have you ever been on any of the Parade of Homes tours around Kansas City? What are some of the features each of the homes have in common? There is one feature in new luxury homes that is very popular. I'm talking about tall ceilings.

I was recently tasked with shooting a living room that features 18-foot ceilings with a floor-to-ceiling window. Usually with tall ceilings there will also be beautiful wood beams at the very top. Capturing these beams is important for showing what the room is all about.  The beams add a luxurious character to the room that is just as important as any other detail.

Challenge

How do you photograph tall ceilings in a way that shows the overall space without simply pointing your camera straight-up causing goofy distortion?

Solution

Use a tilt-shift lens! A tilt-shift lens is a special lens designed for capturing these type of pictures without making the image look abnormal. The lens allows the photographer to take a "normal" shot and a "shifted" shot. These two shots are then combined to make the final image which shows the entire room as well as the tall ceilings. 

Let the pictures do the talking...

Here is the normal shot. The viewer cannot see the wooden beams or the ceiling which defines the room.

Here is the shifted image. This was captured by using the tilt-shift lens' shift feature allowing me to capture the ceilings and the wooden beams. Since we can't see the living room we will stitch this image together with the normal image to get the final image.

Here is the final image with the normal image and shifted image stitched together.

Modern Design Meets Law Office

Last month I spent a morning with Kelly Lankford (KHL Design Studio) shooting an updated law office. The overall design throughout the office reflects Koprince Law's unique modern feeling brand. The light and bright feel with the cool toned accents makes for a welcoming lobby and offices.

The challenge in shooting the space came down to controlling the colors within the office lighting. Mixed lighting with no natural light is always a challenge. It involves taking exposures with lights off, lights on, and then blending the colors with software after the shoot. A secondary challenge in shooting this small space was to not shoot too wide. With any ultra-wide shot the image gets distorted at the edges making unpleasing and unrealistic compositions. For design it is always important to have believable photos. With a little re-arranging within the frame and some creativity it was possible to get shots without distortion.

Thank you Kelly for your beautiful design and insight on the shoot!

Caught in the act!

A Visit to Hermann, Missouri

This was the second time Jennie and I stayed a weekend in Hermann, MO. Hermann is a historical town backed by German roots. Plenty of German food, beers, and wine. Touring the nearby wineries is the most common thing to do. A day consists of eating at your B&B in the morning, touring the wineries during the day, coming back for beers at Tin Mill Brewery and finding a good place to eat in the evening.

We stayed at the Hermannhof Inn. Each cottage has a variety of amenities to choose from. Tons of character throughout!

This is the cottage we stayed in.

Some cottages have balconies with beautiful views of Hermann.

Loved this door.

Walking along the shops. Mostly antique stores.

Random gardens are everywhere in this town.

Another garden in an alley!

Inside an antique shop. Purchased some root beer here.

Hermann museum in a wonderful building.

Shop in old building. Lots of stuff like this in town.

Spotted some Victorians!

Cool old firehouse.

How cool is this place?

Entrance to a bed and breakfast.

Here is a bed and breakfast tucked in the middle of town.

This is an excellent brewery in Hermann. Tin Mill Brewery has great seasonal beers on tap. I had a sour imperial red ale that was heavy on the oak which was a great capper to the day.