Portland, Oregon
Every building has one hour when it is at its best.
We find that hour before the shoot, not during it. Clerestory photographs architecture and interiors across the Pacific Northwest for the people who designed and built them.
The studio
A building is not a product shot.
It has a north side and a south side, a season it looks best in, and a time of day the architect was thinking about when they drew it.
Most of the work happens before the camera comes out of the bag. We read the drawings, walk the site, and work out where the sun will be on the day. By the time we photograph, the shot list is already decided and the schedule is built around the light rather than around the calendar.
The result is a set of images that an architect can put in an awards submission, a builder can put on a hoarding, and an interior designer can hand to a magazine, without any of the three needing to explain what they are looking at.
How we workSelected work
Recent projects
What we are for
You spent two years on this building. It deserves more than an afternoon and a wide lens.
Services
Three ways we are usually booked.
Architecture
Exteriors, facades and civic work. Shot across two visits where the building needs it, so the north elevation is not photographed in flat shade because that is when we happened to be there.
Interiors
Residential and hospitality. We style lightly, move what needs moving, and put it back. Rooms are lit to look like themselves at their best hour, not like a showroom.
Awards and editorial
Image sets prepared to a specific submission or publication spec, including the crops, file sizes and captions the entry form asks for. Sent as a single organized folder.
Next step
Tell us what you built.
Send the project address, roughly when it will be finished, and what the images are for. We will come back with the hours the light works, what a half or full day would cover, and a fixed price. There is no charge for that and no obligation attached to it.