Getting the Shot

With architectural photography there are all sorts of considerations – the quality of the light, the completeness of the project, the landscape, how to populate the shot and so on. These are all things I consider when scheduling and coordinating shoots of our new projects. This spring I had a new photography challenge – to coordinate and execute an all staff photo.

Our previous all staff photo is from the early 00’s and set in front of our office building when we were over on Summer Street. Since we moved to our current location six years ago and many new faces have joined the firm, it seemed like we were overdue for a new staff photo.

What better site than our new building at Northeastern University, the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex? It’s got a beautiful and spacious atrium, an enticing spiral stair and showcases one of our specialties – lab buildings.

We decided to stage the photo in the atrium of the ISEC with everyone from the firm standing on the first floor near the spiral stair while the photographer positioned himself on the fourth floor near the elevators. This meant everyone had to (1) get to the building and (2) then casually position themselves around a few tulip chairs in the lobby and (3) look at the camera at the same time.

I worked closely with out photographer, Warren Jagger, to frame the shot and to get everyone positioned just right. With all eyes on me, I then ran down four flights of stairs (on a spiral!) to get in the shot. Luckily I didn’t fall and we now have a fantastic new, updated staff photo.

And, as a bonus, everyone at the shoot got to visit the building.