Teachers from Rodgers, Lewis & Clark, Ferris, North Central, and Shadle high schools gathered nearly 70 students from within their respective photography classes and bused them to the INB Performing Arts Center today for Festival of the Arts. The JCSP team presented a slideshow and demonstrated various techniques to an auditorium of eager students. Topics ranged from theory of light (and shadows) to one-light portraits. The demonstration was followed by a hands-on workshop guided by the educators from each of the school's photography programs. After nearly 7 hours, the students piled back onto their buses and headed back to school with a breadth of new information and experience.

Here's a few images from the day:

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat

We recently wrapped a location shoot at a horse ranch for SuspenderStore.com. The shoot featured a model (Jerry) wearing suspenders from their Western & Leathers collection. It was pretty cold on the set but you wouldn't know it from the images we got. Here are some behind the scenes images we grabbed while on location.

After we photographed the Ferris family home last summer, Sam Ferris used the images widely, both in presenting the home for sale as well as for a number of historic architectural dispositions including this one at 2Modern Blog in their article Awesome Mid-Centruy Modern Design.

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat

On June 20th 2012 we began production on the Ferris family home located in Spokane, WA. If you are from Spokane then you have heard the Ferris name a time or two.  The home was designed by Bruce Walker in 1954 and reflected the modernist movement of architectural design that boomed in mid-century America.  It is a classic post and beam style and is one of Spokane's finest mid-century designs.

Production lasted four days and featured full supplemental lighting on all interior shots. Exteriors were shot at both dusk and dawn to maximize the quality of light showcasing the unique exterior design of the house.  For our post-production workflow we utilized the industry standard editing tool Photoshop to handle all the interior composites, and Nik's HDR Efex Pro 2 to blend a couple of HDR shots.

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]

Posted
AuthorChase Warnick

Anderson Mraz Design and Marcia Rooney, Senior Curator of History of the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC) put together a fine interactive exhibit about the Campbell House. This exhibit is installed in the adjacent carriage house. It's not a large space, but is packed with artifacts, story, and insight into the likes of these early founders of Spokane.

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]

Posted
AuthorChase Warnick

ALSC Architects and Lydig Construction asked us to photograph a new Fitness Center built at Fairchild Air Force Base. Just completed, it is beautiful and already busy. Access to the site proved "interesting" with the dawn and evening light being the most dramatic, and security being very tight. This was a workout for us, but very fun.​

[Photographed by Craig Sweat and Tony Roslund]​

Posted
AuthorChase Warnick
​

Seattle based creative and branding firm GreenRubino​ paired with us to photograph Columbia Bank's new Wealth Management team in Spokane, headed by Randy Casto. GreenRubino and Columbia Bank have been running a "Blue Couch" campaign which features their customers who best tell the true story of this down-to-earth, community bank. GR wanted to keep this momentum going with this material as well, so we brought the blue couch into the studio and photographed Randy on a white background which was used in the layout seen here.

Congrats to Randy on his new position with Columbia Bank, and bravo to GreenRubino on another great piece in their Blue Couch campaign.​

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]​

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat
​
​
​
​

Avista hired us, along with Anderson Mraz Design, to produce a series of print ads to educate commercial and industrial customers about the efficient use of energy and services available to them. The incentives and services offered by Avista include engineering, financial help with energy saving equipment upgrades, and a collaborative approach to getting the best leverage from these investments. The whole of Avista’s considerable depth of knowledge about energy production, distribution and end-use are made available with this program. 

For our part, it was an enlightening experience to see the inner workings of our city's largest edifices and to work with a fiercely competent group of facilities chiefs and owners. These folks carry a heavy responsibility, daily, with grace and skill.  Our subjects here are capable and confident people and are thus a gift to us as photographers.

​[Photographed by Craig Sweat]

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat
​

We were asked to photograph a series of these polished opals by Becky Lee Osterback- a remarkable woman with a great personal story. They were quite small- most are about a half-inch across. Macro lenses were not enough, so we figured out a new way of extending the lens and increasing the magnification to make the most of these stones. Some experimentation proved that the use of multiple-source polarized light was the way to bring out their richness of color and pattern.

Each gemstone has a story behind it and a name. If you look at this stone with a bit of imagination, the reason for the name "Mother Mary" becomes apparent. There is much more to this story including a shamanistic friend of Becky Lee's named Janet who is currently, and willingly, snowed-in in the northern reaches of Washington State. She acquired these opals through a mysterious series of events which gives them great meaning to her. Janet's story is beyond what can be expressed here. Suffice to say that this profession leads down some very interesting paths indeed.

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]​

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat
​

Most of the crew from Spokane's own Salon Nouveau came to our studio for an afternoon session with five models, our friend Joe as photographic stylist and art director, and a talented hair designer with each model. Terri Brazil's selection of choice period clothing from her personal collection set the tone, and subtle post-production treatment brought the look together.

This work propelled the salon into the finals of a national hair competition. Beautiful models, edgy hair design, and a cohesive sensibility through clothing, set, and lighting made for success.

It is inspiring to work with such beauty and talent.

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat
​

We had an assignment to photograph this CT scanner at Deer Park Hospital for an annual report. It is a massive machine with a diagnostic purpose which can improve and even save peoples lives. By concentrating on the human interaction we sought to tell the story in one image, with emphasis on the compassion exhibited by those in the health care profession. The coolish lighting on the machine served to de-emphasize and give a calming sense to the equipment, contrasting with the warmth of the people and their relationships. Technician Brent Cummings at the helm with Nurse Gail Gibson and patient (stand-in) Carol Henson ably helped us tell this story.

[Photographed by Craig Sweat]

Posted
AuthorJ. Craig Sweat