photography by wasim.

Tag: photography

The Columbia River Gorge and Mount Rainier National Park: A Great Pacific Northwest Smoke Out

The last couple of weeks are exactly why I now find myself living in the Pacific Northwest.

Sort of.

So it’s no secret that this region of the country has some of the most incredibly beautiful and inspiring fodder for landscape and nature lovers and overall wanderlusters.

If anything, the region is known for its copious amounts of water and incredibly liberal natural display of every shade of green known to man.

It’s what I moved up here to explore and embed with.

Between the forests, the waterfalls, the rivers, the coastlines, the almost-religious focus on sustainability and conservation and nature-worship, and perhaps the world’s most concentrated populations of tree-huggers on the planet (myself proudly and unapologetically included), it’s enough to occupy infinite lifetimes of discovery.

What we didn’t see coming (well actually we did) was the supercharged effects of climate change, not surprisingly, affecting some of the most heavily forested areas in the country.

From Portland all the way up to Seattle, the Pacific Northwest has been covered in a thick layer of smoke and haze from the wild megafires flanking us in every direction from California up to Canada.

Image by Mark Graves for The Oregonian

It’s just marinating over the city like a modern-dust bowl, and oftentimes visibility is no further than the building across the street. In fact, over the past 2 weeks, this has been a recurring news-story:

“Air quality in Portland ranks fourth-worst among major cities worldwide according to a data visualization tool that tracks air quality.” –KGW

Think about that for a second…that’s worse than Beijing. And that has been the increasing trend for the past half-decade.

And this has now gone on for exactly one month.

Furthermore, we’ve seen more over-90 degree days this summer than not, which is NOT typical for this region. It’s a very disturbing trend that, in speaking to several locals, has increased dramatically over the past several years. Being as how this area is the hub of forestry, I’ve attended (and worked) several symposiums and talks and panels and events centered around this very topic.

However, not one to spread doom and gloom, I wasn’t going to let this hamper my exploration of the region, so while Mother Nature was busy taking care of herself, I figured we’d use the incredible light provided by the fire-smoke-diffused sky for photography and sunsets and sunrises that look like sunsets and over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to put a good dent in my list of ‘things to do’ up here in the Pacific Northwest. First off, a cousin came to town to escape the big city life of Los Angeles, and wanted some ‘nature time.’ We only had 48 hours, so figured we’d make the best of it.

We started off in Beacon Rock State Park along the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area, where we hiked by the Pool of the Winds up to the semi-treacherous trek to the summit of Hamilton Mountain. While it was a fairly decent burner, about 1700 feet elevation over the course of 3 miles, the air quality certainly had a hand in it hurting as much as it did. We did, however, get some pretty incredible views and colors because of it. After that, we made our way through Hood River’s fruit loop and picked up some fresh cherries for the ride back down the mountain through Mount Hood to Portland.

Then, just last week, along with a photographer friend Rob Dweck (check out his stuff…seriously…especially his black & whites!!), I made it up to one of the locations that has been on my photographic bucket list for a decade – Mount Rainier National Park.

Typically known for crystal clear summer skies and crisp contrasted majestic mountain – peak, driving into the park, due to the thick haze, we hardly even knew it was there.

Legend has it a majestic mountain lies in there somewhere…

Even at sunrise the following morning, I had to use a polarizer on my lens just to cut through enough haze to identify that a mountain even existed over Mirror Lakes. It eventually cleared enough for her to show off her grand self, but throughout much of the rest of that day, we were avoiding the grand viewpoints because…well there were none.

This did, however allow us to focus on the forests and waterfalls and use the haze to the best of our advantage as we can – contrasty black & white images and landscapes, more focused compositions in heavily forested areas as we hiked down portion of the Nisqually River and up through the forest towards Comet Falls, the park’s largest waterfall.

On our final day, we got somewhat lucky. We arose for sunrise again to try to catch Mount Rainier in all her beauty from Paradise. Unfortunately, the fog, mixed with the haze, covered her up completely and we were unable to get a glimpse. That unfortunately turned quickly to fortunately because due to those very conditions, I did manage to capture what turned out to be my favorite images from the trip. They weren’t the images I imagined I’d capture from Rainier, but I can’t complain at all – with the fog slowly lifting and the tops of the trees ever-so-gingerly monochromatically poking their way through – I feel like they were pretty unique images.

And, well, it was fun.

Finally, on the day we were leaving, the haze lifted enough to show us Rainier in the glory she was meant to be seen in. We figured we’d hike the Sunrise Loop, a 7-mile loop trail that took us through the forests, above the treelines, almost up to the basecamp of where the crazy-folks that climb the whole mountain prepare and acclimate to the elevation before beginning their awe-inducing ascents up to the summit, and back down through the idyllic meadows and streams and wildflowers caused by the glacier runoff back down to the Paradise Lodge.

Easily one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever done.

And can’t wait to do again.

Anyhow, below are some images from that trip up to Mount Rainier National Park. Hope you enjoy:

And for more of the riff raffs and scabber dabbers:
instagram: @wasimofnazareth
ello: @wasimofnazareth
google+: +WasimMuklashy

Finally, if you enjoy these posts, please feel free to subscribe to my mailing list at top right of this page, and I’ll deliver each post to you as I publish them, and if you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, I’m a poor bastard, so your little helps me a LOT.

August 24, 2018
Guanajuato – Millions of Gallons of Happy

I hate dogs.

I’ve always hated dogs.

And if you were living with the trauma of being been bit by numerous dogs as a child, you’d hate dogs too.

So when a friend’s friend asked if I wanted to dog and house-sit for her, my immediate internal reaction was ‘NO chance!’

Then she threw a curveball – a Google Images link for ‘Guanajuato.’ This triggered my self-diagnosed compulsive wanderlust disorder (and unreasonable addiction to tacos) and my fingers found themselves frantically replying “YES ME!”

It was beyond my control.

Regardless, I was now faced with the reality of a stranger’s dog, in a foreign country, under my supervision and responsibility.

A half-week of self-pep talks, frantic Googling, revived attempts at meditation and Tony Robbins clips helped quell my nerves enough to reach out to a friend who happens to run a professional dog-training and sitting service. I asked him to draft a ‘How to Love Dogs for People Who Hate Dogs” handbook, to which he borderline-begrudgingly, yet thankfully, obliged.

48 hours later there was a ticket with my name on it from PDX to BJX.

I (think) I was ready.

When I landed, I was greeted by Mosa, the dog, and the wonderful woman whose house I’d be sitting, Miriam de Uriarte, an extremely prolific and well-decorated writer, poet and artist, who also founded the Berkley Child Art Studio during her time in the Bay Area. She has called Guanajuato home for the past 15 years, and there’s absolutely no wonder why.

If you’ve never heard of Guanajuato, upon first sight, your immediate reaction might be a quaint Spanish town was airdropped smack dab in the middle of Mexico, then carpet-bombed by millions of gallons of red, blue, orange, pink, purple, yellow, and green happy sauce!

Founded in 1558, this UNESCO World Heritage city has a rich mining history – at its height, over two thirds of the world’s silver came from the veins in these very hills, and with mining, came money.

Lots of money.

And with lots of money came ornate haciendas scattered amongst seductive theatres, fountains, churches and museums.

The colonial influence is inescapable, and with manicured tree-lined plazas dotted with courtyard cafés surrounded by centuries old rainbow-colored sandstone structures, conjoined by an endless matrix of cobblestone pathways, roadways and alleyways, why would you want to?

However, lots of colonial influence eventually led to lots of inequality.

And with lots of inequality came revolution.

And Guanajuato was ground zero for revolution – it was here the first battle in the Mexican War for Independence was fought.

The Monumento a el Pìpila, where the following 360˚ image was taken (if you scroll the picture around, you’ll see the statue of Juan José de los Reyes Martínez Amaro, better know as El Pipila, overlooking the city) pays homage to one of the heroes that led that battle.

Though its prime mining days have waned, the region’s draw has not. The old mining tunnels are now an impressive network of roadways beneath the city. There are tunnels upon tunnels leading to more tunnels that start new tunnels as each tunnel ends into a tunnel. Heck, even the river that used to run aboveground was diverted into…yup…a tunnel underneath the city.

What this does is help lessen the congestion of cars aboveground in the city, which is absolutely necessary being as the city is so old, most of the roads are of the small cobblestone variety that don’t exactly allow for most of today’s cars to even fit through them – they were designed for donkeys and small carriages and mining carts and such.

Regardless, that just adds to the charm of the modern-day version of Guanajuato, as this leaves most of the aboveground for walking.

In fact, when you arrive and first lay eyes upon her, the first, and only, thing you want to do is walk.

Every vibrant path, plaza, twist and turn just leads to another insanely stunning all of the above.

Each day, I would just drop myself off at some corner or plaza and just start…walking. It didn’t matter which direction and there was never a destination in mind, and that was the absolute beauty of it. Where you ended up wasn’t the goal, concern, focus, or even part of the plan. The best plan in Guanajuato is to have none, because you will discover something, somewhere, everywhere, all the time.

And if you happen upon something that you particularly like, chances are you’ll never find it again, so you better stop and grab that enchilada or torta or sopa or those zapatos or that shot or whatever it is that caught your eye (or other senses), for once you turn that corner and you find yourself in a whole other beautiful maze to navigate, that location will be long gone.

The colors, the charm, the aromas, the food, the food, the food. Oh my.

This was an absolute photographer’s, and curiosity seekers, and hopeless romantic’s paradise.

How Guanajuato isn’t a more popular destination absolutely blows my mind. At the same time, I’m hesitant myself to divulge the secret that is this gem simply for blowing its cover and contributing to turning it into something that it’s not. This is not only one of the most stunning destinations in Mexico, but one of the most beautiful locations on the planet. Period.

It’s as authentic as authentic gets, and if you’re not charmed by Guanajuato, have the carnitas. And if you’re still not charmed, then, well, you’re just not human and I simply don’t trust you.

Needless to say, the last thing I expected was for a dog to be the impetus that led me to one of the most beautiful destinations I’ve ever been.

Oh, by the way, did I mention, I love dogs…

A full gallery of images from the trip is above (including the lovely Mosa bidding me farewell…)

Here’s a panorama taken from the Monumento a el Pìpila (check this one out in full screen!):

And not to worry, a 360 video in virtual reality for Superswell VR is coming soon as well…

And for more nonsensical yehawwws and weeheewaas:
instagram: @wasimofnazareth
ello: @wasimofnazareth
google+: +WasimMuklashy

You my dawg Mosa!!

And if you enjoy these posts, please feel free to subscribe to my mailing list at top right of this page, and I’ll deliver each post to you as I publish them, and if you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, I’m a poor bastard, so your little helps me a LOT.

April 2, 2018
TreyUSA Does L.A. – Trey Ratcliff’s Photowalk Tour Found It’s Way To Santa Monica

So that was a super fun evening! The one, the only Trey Ratcliff from www.StuckInCustoms.com and TheArcanum.com fame made his Los Angeles stop of his TreyUSA photowalk tour across the U.S. last weekend. There were at least 300 photographers crawling the Santa Monica beach and pier area, all of us learning, laughing, and snapping away.

The event even proved to be a night of firsts for me – not only was it my first ever photowalk but it was also the first time I finally got to meet my Arcanum master Robin Griggs Wood in the flesh, which was a very special thing for me. I also ran into Ibarionex Perello from The Candid Frame, in my opinion the best photography podcast around. Apparently the legendary Karen Hutton was amongst the chaos of the masses, but somehow I missed her!

This was also a big deal for me for Trey was one of the first photographers that I began following heavily on social media when Google+ first hit the scene about 3 or 4 years ago. His path and story have been incredibly inspiring and has helped open worlds to me that I never even knew existed. So to be able to meet, hear, learn from, and shoot with the man himself was one of those highlight moments in my continuing photographic journey. Thanks so much Trey for setting the thing up and hope to see you again soon.

Below is a gallery of some of my favorite shots from the event, all shot on a Samsung NX1 with a combination of the 16-50 S lens and the 50-150 S lens with the exception of the group image, which was shot by award winning wildlife and aerial photographer Laurie Rubin. Click on any of them and it’ll open up a lightbox slideshow.

And if you’re jonesin’ for some more stuffwhats and thingnots:
instagram: @wasimofnazareth
ello: @wasimofnazareth
google+: +WasimMuklashy

If you enjoy these posts, please feel free to subscribe to my mailing list at top right of this page, and I’ll deliver each post to you as I publish them, and if you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, your little helps me a LOT.

August 24, 2015
A Whirlwind Summer 2015 Trip Up The Coast Of Maine And Through Acadia National Park

As I mentioned in the previous post, I just got back from a few weeks in Maine. The main purpose of the trip was to work on a video for Camp Skylemar, one of the most beautiful, efficiently run sleep away summer camps in the country. I’ll post much more about this insanely incredible experience once we’re done with the video in a few weeks, but this post is a quick focus on the 5 days after we were done. Since I had never been to Maine before, I tacked on some extra time at the end of the job to explore the State for a few days.

I had reservations at an inn just outside Acadia National Park, about a 3 hour drive from Portland, Maine, and the idea was to immediately drive up the coast to fire a few shots of lighthouses and coastlines. While circumstances prevented me from driving up the first night, this offered me the opportunity to explore the “most photographed lighthouse in the world,” the Portland Head Lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, just outside downtown Portland. I entered Fort Williams Park, the property upon which the lighthouse stands, just as the fog was rolling in and the sun began to make its descent. Unfortunately, they kicked everyone out of the park before the proper sunset, but I was still able to set up the tripod and capture a few shots of the lighthouse as the beam cut through the increasingly dense fog. The header to this post is that image, which is actually two exposures. I took one at 1/80s (samsung nx1 | 16mm | f2.2 | 1/80s | iso500), fast enough to freeze the light beam, and then another at 6 full seconds (samsung nx1 | 16mm | f22 | 6s | iso500} in order to capture a smooth milky water.

The next morning, I grabbed a cup of coffee and got on the road. Acadia National Park, here I come. While it added an extra couple of hours to the drive, I opted to take the Highway 1, which tended to stay close to shore, rather than the 95, which would have had me on a highway through the center of the state. Well worth it. I was able to roll through towns like Rockland and Camden, stopping along the way to appreciate the classic New England architecture, feel, ice cream (yeah, I said it), and vibes of these classic New England towns. Not to mention my second lighthouse of the trip, Owls Head, just outside of Rockport.

I ended up pulling into Trenton, the town just at the tip of Mount Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park, where my room was, around 6pm. I checked in and had just enough time to try to capture my first sunset in Maine. When I realized that I was within striking distance of Bass Harbor, just 20 minutes away, I knew that’s where it had to be. I picked up a delicious pesto chicken sandwich at the Cafe Drydock & Inn in Southwest Harbor, about 10 minutes from Bass Harbor, and continued on my way.

The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse is one of the most popular lighthouses in Maine. It sits right outside Acadia National Park and is situated along a steep rocky outcropping right on the coast. It’s absolutely beautiful and, although it’s one of those token iconic images, I knew I had to capture it to get it out of my system. And for good reason. Just as I made my way down the trail to the shoreline, I saw about 8 or 9 photographers already set up. And there wasn’t much room to maneuver. So I had to settle for perching on the top of a rock overlooking the other photographers as well as sharing the space with a family vacationing in the area. In the end, this turned out perfectly OK, especially since, as the sun broke through the early evening clouds, we were treated to a perfectly stunning cotton candy sky. The colors ran the gamut from purple to pink to orange to magenta to red to yellow. And the streaks couldn’t have been more perfect, as they mimicked what would normally have been radiating beams of lighthouse light.

Now that I had my ‘lighthouses’ out of my system, I had the next 2 days to completely explore with absolutely no agenda, and Acadia National Park to do it in. Those 48 hours included driving around the park on Park Loop Road to get acquainted with the premises. Spent about 90 minutes hiking a part of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the North Atlantic seaboard and the first place in the U.S. to see the sunrise (sadly I did not get the chance to capture a sunrise there this time around) before heading into various parts of the park including a walk around a sizable portion of Jordan Pond, a trip down to the Wildwood Stables where I began a 3 hour hike on the old Rockefeller Carriage Roads – a 57 mile network of stone gravel roads designed especially for hikers, walkers, and horse drawn carriages by John D. Rockefeller in the early 1900s, a drive down the bayside Sergeant Road, snaking through the various harbors, from Northwest Harbor to Southwest Harbor to Fremont, and a final sunset in Maine which I enjoyed and captured at the end of the Wonderland Trail at the southernmost tip of the island.

My first foray into New England will absolutely not be my last. Maine was everything I imagined it to be and more. Beautiful. Charming. Quaint. Comfortable. Spacious. Green. Perfect. The uniquely vibrant aquatic architecture, the fenceless neighborhoods where you could rarely tell where one grassy property ended and the next began, the creamy home-churned ice cream on every corner, the stacks of lobster traps and buoys dotting the driveways, the random 5 minute outbursts of rain, the village-like atmosphere and old-school red-roofed Post Office on every Main Street up and down the coast, the smell of fresh seafood everywhere you stepped, and the wide smiles of those well out of the throughs of the winter months happily serving it all to you.

Maine, you had me at hello. I can’t wait to get back.

Below is a set of images from those 5 days, all of which were taken on Samsung NX1 and Samsung NX500 cameras. Click on any of them and it’ll open up a lightbox slideshow.

And if you’re looking for yet more instagoogastuffs:
instagram: @wasimofnazareth
ello: @wasimofnazareth
google+: +WasimMuklashy

If you enjoy these posts, please feel free to subscribe to my mailing list at top right of this page, and I’ll deliver each post to you as I publish them, and if you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, your little helps me a LOT.

July 26, 2015
Yosemite Oh Yosemite, Alas, We Meet Again. A Spring 2015 Journey Into America’s Greatest Valley

So this is a little uncharacteristic of me, but this time, I’m going to try to go easy on the words and let the images tell the story. Yosemite is just one of those places…the type that no matter who or what you are, will be affected by it. It’s simply impossible to turn that final curve on Highway 41 and exit that 1/4 mile tunnel 30 miles past Yosemite National Park’s South Entrance, without feeling like time slows down, at least for a split-second, to work out whether or not your eyes and senses have failed you as you try to come to grips with the sheer scale and beauty of the surreal valley that lies before you. Or as you drive up Glacier Point Road for 16 miles through dense pine and redwood forest before turning on that final S Curve just before Glacier Point and essentially slamming head-on into the world’s most magnificent chunk of granite, Half Dome, as it rests gloriously upon its perch, keeping a watchful eye over Yosemite Valley 3000 feet below. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend last week in Yosemite with my cousin, her family (including her photographer husband Stephen Chiang), and my aunt – the exact same crew that put up with my shenanigans last year on the Big Sur trip that I wrote about here. While our cabin was at Bass Lake, about 45 miles from the Valley, we spent every day within the borders of the park. Each day proved to be quite different than the day before. On the first day, we were treated to a mild snowstorm, leaving a nice blanket of fresh powder through the park for the next 24 hours. After those first 36 hours, it turned immediately to Spring, as the clouds cleared and the sun shone down upon us for the remainder of the week.

This afforded us the ability to enjoy everything from a showing of “The Spirit Of Yosemite” in the Museum’s Yosemite Conservancy Theatre to a snack at the stately Ahwahnee Lodge and a stroll through the Ansel Adams gallery in the village, leaving us with ample time and inspiration to visit all the usual suspects along with a few spots and moments we were able to call our own.

We began with a quick stop at Bridalveil Falls before indulging in a leisurely stroll through the meadow across from the village, where I came face to face with a family of deer as they grazed just before the Yosemite Valley Chapel for an impromptu photo shoot as the sun made it’s way behind the valley walls. On our way out of the park, the final rays of sunlight were hitting Bridalveil Falls just perfectly, so we had to stop at the Merced River to snap a few shots on our way out of the valley back to the cabin. Not a bad first day!

The next couple of days were consumed with activity after activity that was sure to keep the kids busy and curious. As my cousin and her family biked through the valley, my aunt and I decided to hike our way to Mirror Lake. Then we spent a good half of a day making our way the Mist Trail to Vernal Falls, part of the John Muir trail. The falls were spectacular. We arrived as they were perfectly lit by the early afternoon sun and the perpetual rainbow displayed herself in all her glory. We then strolled through Mariposa Grove, where giant sequoias that are as old as Jesus, some of which that had trunks that reached 100 feet wide and that have survived close to 100 fires, towered proudly above us all.

We managed to make it to Glacier Point two evenings in a row for sunset. The first night we barely made it in time due to missing the turn onto Glacier Point Road, which, actually turned out for the better as this gave us our one and only bear sighting of the trip (I apologize in advance for the blurry picture, but, well, it was the best I could manage given the circumstances and our distance at the time), and to everyone’s delight, my cousin’s older daughter, the 8 year old, practically begged us to return the next night, our final night, for a proper showing. After a relaxing 4-mile ride on the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad‘s #10, the largest narrow gauge Shay steam train every built, we gladly obliged.

Anyhow, needless to say, photo opportunities greeted us every step of the way. Below is a gallery of some of my favorite images from the week, all of which were taken on either the Samsung NX1 or the new Samsung NX500, their latest 4k shooting mini-beast. That video below? Yup…shot on the NX500 with it’s kit 16-50mm PowerZoom lens (make sure to hit that little gear thingy icon and choose 4K). And to check out Stephen Chiang’s captures, many of which showcase his family and children in a very heartwarming and uniquely idyllic way, check out his Instagram feed. That’s one you’ll want to follow.

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So yeah, I know, I said I’d try to go easy on the words, but…well…uh…yeah…

Canvas prints of some of these are available on my Crated site or my Fine Art America site. If you don’t see the one you like, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll prepare it for print for you.

Also, click here for a background wallpaper for your mobile devices from that trip.

For more blatherings and nonsensical incoherencies: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: +WasimMuklashy

If you support the kind of work I’m doing and the things I’m sharing, please consider ‘subscribing to me’ on Patreon.com. Yup, subscribing to ‘me.’ You can even set the price. Literally, $1 per month if you want. No joke, your little helps me a LOT.

April 16, 2015
Shooting Tattoo Artist Jun Cha’s Monarc Studios Opening Gala

A client I’ve been doing some work with the past few months that you may have seen me post about here a few times, tattoo artist Jun Cha, had the opening gala for his new design/tattoo studio, Monarc Studios, last Thursday at The Well in Downtown Los Angeles. Whether you like body art or not, check him out, he’s insane: www.MonarcStudios.com. At the very least, I’m quite confident you’ll appreciate his work as an artist.

Anyhow, just wanted to share a few images from that evening, which consisted of a pop-up gallery showcasing Jun Cha’s work, both on human flesh and outside of it. And if you look close enough, you’ll see some of my images from the studio space displayed on the pop-up wall underneath the Monarc movie screen in a few images. The same sort of intricate attention to detail, as well as elements of the monochromatic Greek and Roman mythological theme, were given to this showing as he gave to his studio when I shot it back in August. He’s definitely got a work ethic that’s a rare commodity in this day and age. And to think… the cat is only 25…

The wide shots were shot on a Nikon D7000 with a Tokina 11-16mm, and the vignettes were shot on a Samsung NX1 with the 85mm/1.4.

As always, for more stuff things whats and knickknacks: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

January 30, 2015
5 Tips For Shooting Commercial Real Estate Photography

While there are definite similarities in regards to methods and approach when photographing any sort of real estate, there are also important differences to keep in mind, especially when photographing commercial real estate and properties. In the residential real estate realm, they tend to use the images for a few weeks or maybe months until the space is sold, but in commercial real estate, these images are used to sell the business for perhaps years and years, and they might live on a website for just as long, offering the potential client or customer a visual representation of the space.

While that’s a huge responsibility for the photographer to capture that in a way that the business owner is proud of, that doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be any more difficult. Like anything else, if you spend adequate time getting a feel for the space and the business and do your homework, you’ll naturally start to gravitate towards the best ways to represent them in photographs that’ll make both you and the business owner proud. Here are a few tips for commercial real estate photography that I’ve learned on a few recent commercial shoots:

1. Scout – Make sure to scout the space at least a few days prior to shooting, or if you’re unable to make it yourself due to location (there should be no other excuse really), have someone take simple shots from different corners into the space so you get a sense of the space and get an orientation of the space, which direction are the windows facing, when will the sun be where, are there obstructions to natural light, are there reflective surfaces (if so, check out my post How To Minimize Reflections In Interior Photography). If you can make it to scout the location yourself, which is preferable, shoot a few shots from different angles. Typically the corners of the room, even just on your phone, that you can take with you and marinate on for a few days. This time will give you a chance to formulate a mental shot list and idea of how to and what you’ll need to execute a successful shoot without the day-of stresses of getting all the shots you need and figuring it all out on the fly. This will also give you some time to play with ideas with the client, helping to build a rapport and a trust between you.

2. Communicate – Make sure to talk to the client at length about what they feel are the strengths of the space and what they like and what they’d like to convey. Ask as many questions as you can. This will help break into the emotional connection to the space and it will give you a good idea of what space to be in as you map out how to approach it. Unlike real estate, where the agent is not particularly intimately connected to the property, most times, when working commercial real estate spaces, you’re working with the owner or manager of the business, and, for the most part, they are extremely emotionally tied to their space – they know the quirks, the strengths, the weaknesses. Play off of that. If you listen closely enough, they’ll tell you EXACTLY what shots to get that will ensure their satisfaction with your work. And of course you’ll come up with several of your own ideas, and throw those in there. Sometimes it’s neat to see their reaction to a shot, a view, an angle that they themselves perhaps have never paid attention to.

3. Team Up – Encourage them to provide ideas and input as you move thru the space on shoot day. It will help make them feel like a pivotal part of the project, hopefully setting them up to be as emotionally attached to those images as they were when speaking about them in tip 2.

4. Mix It Up – As was also talked about in my post 7 Tips For Real Estate Photography, mix it up. Yes, wide shots and crazy angles for the sense of space, but don’t discount the extreme value of vignettes and tighter shots, within the 35-50mm range for a more intimate feel. These shots aren’t as intimidating, and instead instill a sense of feel, aura, and connectedness with the space. A person’s vision can’t relate to a wide angle shot, but they can definitely relate to a detail or a vignette or a section of the space that gives you an idea of the character of the space.

5. Logos & Branding. If the space has any sort of branding or logos, try to find a way to incorporate those into the images. Whether they be on screens or table mats or windows or pens, try to find at least a few shots where those logos are included. Not only can these sorts of shots help with branding, but they can also be used for other purposes by the business such as social media posts, headers, or physical postcards or prints for marketing materials. Business owners work hard to build their businesses and consequently, they’re very proud of the fruits of their labor. Branding shots are a great pat on the back that they are sure to appreciate.

So there it is. Don’t stress out about it, don’t fret, take it as a challenge, know that you’ll learn something, and, most importantly, have fun with it. If someone else was confident enough in your skills to hire you, then you’ve got those skills. Be confident. Go kill it!

Also, here are a few more entries that can also help you when shooting real estate and properties:

7 Tips for Shooting Real Estate Photography

How To Expose For Interiors And Exteriors In Architecture Or Real Estate Photography – Part 1 – On Location

How To Expose For Interiors And Exteriors In Architecture Or Real Estate Photography – Part 2 – Post Processing

How To Minimize Reflections In Interior Photography

Below is a gallery that has some of the images from my recent shoots at Jun Cha’s Monarc Studios, The Well Salon & Event Space, and a local condominium complex.

And if you’re in need of real estate photography services, whether commercial or residential, please feel free to contact me or check out my Property Photography website.

And as always, for more of my madness, take your pick: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

January 7, 2015
Happy New Year! I’m Going To Be At ASMP Photo LA – Come Say Hey!

Wasim Muklashy Photography_Realtime Lapse_Photo LA 2014_ASMP

Yes! Hope everyone had an incredible holiday season and a very happy New Year! As the (food?) hangovers begin wear off, let’s kick into this one in high gear – let’s do the art thing! Just a few days ago, I got word from the ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers)Los Angeles chapter that two of my images were among the 32 chosen to be displayed at the 24th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition, otherwise known as Photo LA. Photo LA is an international photography and art exhibition that saw over 15,000 visitors last year and happens to be the longest running art fair west of New York City so you can see why I’m so excited about it. It takes place January 15-18 at The Reef in the historic L.A. Mart building in Downtown Los Angeles, a 500,000 square foot monstrosity filled with art and design and food and beautifully inspiring creativity. There will be lectures, discussions, tours, and enough art installations to keep your mind spinning all day long.

“The 2015 edition of photo la will expand its uniquely diverse and far-reaching showcase of photographic art, ranging from 19th Century works to contemporary and innovative photography-based art. Alongside galleries, dealers, museums, and nonprofit organizations, photo la will also expand its acclaimed programming to include more lectures, roundtable discussions, special installations, and docent tours with distinguished members of the photographic/arts community. This year, photo la is pleased to honor Catherine Opie, and the fair’s exclusive VIP opening gala will celebrate her lifelong contributions to the arts. Additionally, all proceeds from the opening gala will go towards photo la’s 2015 beneficiary The United Way of Greater Los Angeles and The Painted Brain.”

For more information, click here to visit Photo LA’s official page. I hope to see you there!

For some other whatnotthingstuffs:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Ello: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

Wasim Muklashy Photography_Yosemite Layer Cake_Photo LA 2014_ASMP

January 2, 2015
My Experience In Trey Ratcliff’s The Arcanum – Level 3: Wasim The Inspired!

So this is where it all got real.
The experiences, the Networks, The Challenges. It’s all part of the process here in The Arcanum, but all of it, at first, seems a bit disconnected, another virtual forum, albeit a more positively engaging one sans the trolls and the, but, still,

I am now Wasim The Inspired!!

And with that, things immediately get a bit more serious. As I started seeing streams of notifications and happenings within the community and cohort, I won’t lie, I started to get a bit overwhelmed and intimidated. People were engaging with each other, Hangouts were happening, weekly challenges were being levied, leveling ups were going on, and I was watching it all, wondering how and where to go from here. Where do I fit into this madness? So as an apprentice, learning from a master, I figured that not only was it was well within my boundaries to ask my master, the one, the only Robin Griggs Wood, for help, but, well, it was my responsibility to do so. So I did, and she responded so graciously and thoroughly, that there was no longer any reason, or excuse, for me to put this off. I was starting to feel the kick in the arse I so badly desired and got involved in this thing for.

Levels 3 and 4 go together…sort of. This is a stage where in one level, it’s my responsibility to put together an album of 10 images, in which I then have to ask my fellow apprentices in the cohort to set up a Google+ Hangout, and in that, they critique my images and help me choose the 5 that I will take with me into Level 4, a critique session with my master, Robin Griggs Wood. Mano a mano. A bit nerve-racking? Perhaps. But exciting? Yes. Definitely. My peers are going to give me critical feedback, and my master is going to finally tell it like it is and guide me to the next level in my creative journey.

So I put together a gallery mixed with some of my favorites and some that I was looking to see what others thought of. Perfect opportunity. While I was about to pop my Google Hangout cherry after just returning from an unplanned visit to the dentist, I was fortunate in that we almost immediately went into a screenshare, sparing my fellow apprentices the sight of my drooling half-numb face in favor of some purty colors and images.

I have to say, this was really really really really really really really really nice. This sort of engagement is something has been missing from my photographic journey completely. I’ve mostly relegated my work to online venues, and the social side of it all, well, seemed a bit of a chore rather than a necessity. Until now. This is the perfect venue where I immediately felt comfortable because I knew that this wasn’t a ego boosting show and tell or a pissing match or soapbox of any sorts (sorry L.A.), but it was a group that was on the exact same journey I was. They were dedicated to improving and growing and evolving in their respective crafts, and it just felt right. Hearing their ideas and thoughts truly brought to light SO many things I never even considered. I even ended up with a few alternate processings of some of the images that I ended up liking more than the originals. Immediately validating the value of such feedback, something that’s can be hard to get on board with, especially in such a traditionally solitary and personal pursuit as photography.

But I loved it. And I have a gallery of images I’m proud of to present to my master. And perhaps most importantly, because of this session with my apprentices, I was able, perhaps for the first time, to succinctly state what my goal and mission in my photography and work is:

To try to induce that childlike wonder back into the jaded adult mind.

To aim to straddle fantasy and reality, and push the fantastical in everyday existence right the point where you have to ask yourself whether or not this can actually be real and come away with an ‘I supposeeeee so.’ And if they’re trying to convince themselves, then all the better, for perhaps it’ll awaken a part of their mind they’ve ignored for a while.

In other words, an attempt to provide a reminder that, in addition to all our everyday worries and concerns and responsibilities – basically, the crap – just outside our bubbles, awe-inspiring beauty and curiosity still exists on a massive scale. Even more so than when were kids. We just might have to look a wee tad harder, but that could only help us appreciate it that much more.

My experience in Level 4, my first face to face and image review with my master Robin Griggs Wood, is coming in a few days. To find out which images I took with me to present to her and what happened, check back here or sign up for the mailing list in the right column to be notified as soon as I post it.

And in case you missed it, click here to read about Levels 1 & 2.

For more of my madness, take your pick: Instagram: @wasimofnazareth Ello: @wasimofnazareth Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

November 2, 2014
5 Black & White Photography Tips I Learned While Taking The Black & White Photography Challenge

So I was recently challenged by a fellow Samsung Imagelogger, the talented portrait photographer Jess Anderson, to take the Black & White Photography Challenge. Basically, I had to post 5 black and white images in 5 days. Anyone that knows me or my work knows that color plays an enormous role in the images I choose to make, so this was definitely a bit intimidating. In addition to a few of my favorites from those recent 5 days, what follows are 5 things I learned and experienced in my little black & white journey. One thing that is immediately apparent is that once you lose the luxury of color, your mind shifts, and it has to. It’s not as easy as just hitting the black & white tab in Lightroom or Photoshop or dropping saturation. You can’t make images the way you’ve known and been used to and you are forced to focus on other aspects. The good news is, once the mind-shift happens, a whole new world that you may not have previously paid attention to, pops up into existence. It’s really quite fascinating.

1. Contrast was HUGE! When you lose the ability to capture color as a main player in an image, you have to look at things completely different, and one of the top factors that can make for a good monochromatic image is contrast. Extreme contrast between shadows and highlights, light areas, dark areas, that’s going to be the main player in the image, no matter the subject. The caveat to add here is that gloomy are also good days to shoot for black and white as well, as the contrast between subjects plays more of a role than the contrast between shadows and highlights. For example, a humanoid dressed in white standing against a dark wall.

2. Geometry! Pay attention to leading lines and shapes. They both seemed to play a huge role. If you can find lines that stand out, curves that are apparent through the scene, that is optimal. Additionally, keep an eye out for shapes. Squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, they all stand out in monochromatic situations when an eye is denied the ability to look for color.

3. Light, more than ever, is perhaps your most important player here. It’s a fact that the brightest spot in the image is where the eye is naturally drawn to, so light that falls in between columns in a building, creating a striped pattern across someone’s face, or just a single ray of light at the end of a dark alley falling on a person’s face. You get the idea. Watch the light, where it’s going, what it’s doing, and know that mostly nothing in the shadowy areas is going to be the main subject or player in your image. It’s what’s going to be in that light.

4. ISO is of the utmost importance! Definitely try to shoot at the lowest ISO possible. I learned very quickly that when playing in contrast and with several dark areas in an image, noise is MUCH more apparent. Minimize the noise-reduction-plugin rabbit hole by shooting at as low an ISO as you can.

5. Minimalism can play a great role here. A few of my favorites from those 5 days use a LOT of negative space – the one with the birds and the one of the woman on the cliff edge overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean.

Bonus Tip: If your camera is capable, shoot in RAW. If you’re used to shooting in JPEG, set it to shoot in RAW+JPEG, but you’ll see how important having that extra RAW flexibility of adjusting shadows and highlights comes into play in post-processing when shooting for black and white. Trust me.

With that being said, I quite liked the challenge, and I thoroughly enjoyed shooting for black and white, so thank you for that Jess! Don’t be surprised to see me post a few more monochrome images in the future.

All the images above were taken on mirrorless Samsung NX30 and NX3000 cameras.

For more of my madness, take your pick:
Instagram: @wasimofnazareth
Ello: @wasimofnazareth
Google+: www.Google.com/+WasimMuklashy

October 19, 2014