Artist Lily Cutler

Spent the other morning drinking coffee, taking pictures, and learning photo transfers with an artist friend of mine, Lily Cutler.  Wasn't sure what to expect when she told me the location (Central District) and sent me a picture of the exterior but I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in, it was like her very own Peewee's Playhouse.  It was "built in the 1920's as a mobile schoolhouse, moved to Seattle in one piece circa 1970's and converted to a recording studio.  Only 2 previous tenants, the prior occupant being a vetran local band of international fame" that shall remain nameless. Can't wait to start working on photo transfers, thanks Lily!

Hemel Board Co

As of recent, I've spent my free time building stand up paddle boards for a company called Hemel.  We hand build SUP's, skate decks, and shape surfboards right here in Seattle.  Walked around the shop the other day and took some photos of the creator, Steve De Koch, and some of the other guys while they were working.  Go to the Hemel blog to check out what we've been up to and stop in to the shop to go for a paddle.

Crankworx Red Bull Joyride at Whistler

This is a long overdue blog post but its been a pretty busy couple of months.  Finally got to attend Crankworx, the annual mountain bike festival in Whistler and it blew my mind.  Many days of bikes, music, and good times.  Hope to make it back every year.  Here are some shots from the main event, The Red Bull Joyride.

Shooting Danielle with Film

Got to spend a cloudy morning shooting with actress/model/photographer Danielle Barnum the other day.  This is the second time we had to shoot together because my old Mamiya RB67 had back focus issues the first time.  Six rolls of film later plus a $70 repair charge, thanks CameraTechs, and this is the result. 

Shot on the new Kodak Portra 160 and Portra 400VC.

Back To My Roots...In Multiple Ways

     My passion for photography stemmed from reading skate and snowboard mags as a youth.  The whole reason I picked up a camera in the first place was because all the friends I skated with in high school kept progressing and I didn't, therefore I began shooting them.  The sun finally came out here in the PNW and my friend Ryan Davenny and I decided to take advantage of it with a little skate photo sesh at the legendary Ballard Bowl.  That is after we repaired a window in my living room but that's a whole other story all together, just don't play soccer in the house.  I really wanted to use the Mamiya I had just got back from the shop so I loaded a couple film backs, yup film, and but new batteries in the light meter and what you see below is the result.   Can't even begin to explain how much fun I have shooting film, especially medium format.  There was no shooting 10 frames per second then choosing the best one.  It was pretty much one shot per trick then do it again.

Hope you enjoy!

Ben

Architect Jim Goodspeed's Condo

Here are some images from a shoot I did a few weeks ago.  Loving shooting interiors right now and hope to be doing more in the future.

Thanks
Ben