There's just something about huge walls of glass and beautiful cars that can make a man do strange things. An architectural firm called me and said the magic words, "Jaguar/Land Rover" and suddenly my schedule was free and I was photographing at sunrise in the first really cold weather of the year feeling like a 3 year old on his first fishing trip.

Jaguar Land Rover Dealership - Architectural PhotographyJLR photography teaser

When there are beautiful places to photograph, my job is easy. This past week has brought some stunning homes testing my skills with window pulls, hybrid images and spectacularly wet sunsets. I saw mile long picture windows in Copper Creek with Suzanne Kuntz, to Big Boerne patios with huge views and rustic wood craftsmanship by Curry Creek Homes and hidden New Braunfels Real Estate Gems such as 2.3 Acres close to the river and downtown sold by Lisa Fossum of Hometown Realty Group and Staged by C Good Staging, who always makes their clients (and photographers) look good!

Product photo shoot for Rush Truck Centers' yellow mud flaps. Brilliant!... ;)

The model in this was a great guy and had been there for over 30 years. I tried to thank him twice with a tip and he wouldn't take it. A true testament to one of Rush's mottos, "Our people are our strength." 

Rush Truck Centers - Mobile Service  Shooting these rigs driving down the road and photographing the technicians was an awesome challenge. The setting was chosen for minimal distractions in the background and realistic work site scenarios, direction of the sun and a wide open space so as not to crash the drone into any trees or road signs. Ideally a two man SUA set up would have been ideal, one for the camera and one as the pilot in command. Then the Rush team took the clips and put the footage into their branded video style. Nice work Javi!

Veramendi is a new home master planned community and has a ton of outdoor living aspects with pocket parks, awesome pool area, bike friendly lanes and trails and overall a community centered vision to inspire neighbors to be full of life. This day took a lot of planning and scheduling from location, to direction of the sun, to finding models and props for each scene. We used artificial light towards sunrise and sunset, but overall, just natural sunshine. Special thanks to Lisa Westerbeck Fossum ( a local New Braunfels Realtor, HometownRealtyGrouptx.com) who dealt with most of the coordination of models and props and also posed in several scenes. And finally a big thank you to the models who participated and Veramendi!

All images Copyrighted by Fossum Studios and licensed to Veramendi, LLC.

Cool Topo Chico's, water fall pouring and great sunsets at Veramendi's, The Ledge.

Images copyright Fossum Studios 2021. All rights reserved.

This is photography of the model home at M/I Homes' Sweetwater location at 7009 Empresa Dr, Austin, TX. It's a chill master planned community with hillside views. M/I Homes always has excellent staging and themed bedrooms to show a little local knowledge of the neighborhood. This particular one had a bee room that highlighted the Bee Caves community. They really have beautiful and sophisticated homes with a fun flare for their customer experience. Nice work M/I!

It started at 4:30 a.m. as the dark roast coffee was brewing. I gave thanks for my day, for getting to photograph for Rush Truck Centers and prepared my mind for the opportunity the sun would bring in 2 hours and 10 minutes — sunrise began at 6:40 a.m.  With the drone, portable strobes and back up camera batteries changed, I packed it all up and headed to the site with the schedule fresh in my mind. The watering of the concrete began an hour ahead of shoot time. Photo-hydrology is a crude art that is something between creating a painting and getting solder to flow on an electrical wire. The water has to sink in and absorb on the concrete canvas until it saturates and holds a glossy sheen and if you are working with old decomposing asphalt or pea gravel pool decking, bring a fire truck to spray with. As you go, you watch for the dry spots and work the surface repeatedly with the hose until it all holds a constant saturation for as long as possible and then when the light is right, take the shots.

These shoots went particularly well as the staff on-site was prepared and eager. Troy Ottmer at the Houston Medium-Duty Rush Truck Centers even rented a water trailer for the parking lot. I also came prepared with an 8-pack of Black Magic Tire Shine, the best I've found.  The diesel technicians seemed to have fun with the pics and liked seeing the final shots in camera. But most importantly, my contacts who hired me back at corporate liked them as well.