There are a series of photos I’ve never posted up here for lack of having somewhere to actually put them. At some point I’ll need to come back and reorganize these but here are 2 from a series of 6 I shot back in 2007.

As with any of the images on the site just click on the image to see it larger.

Had always meant to shoot a little something down this tunnel near my apartment. Just for fun went down with a couple friends and shot a few images.

The task was to show the principles of Coates Kokes at work, highlighting the capabilities of the agency. I tried to stylize it and give it some personality and pop, bringing some light on them to try to highlight the thinking that goes into the process of working through a creative problem.

Coates Kokes is working with the city on marketing for the Portland Plan.

The Portland Plan is a people’s plan to help our city prioritize investments and shape what Portland will look like in 30 years. Get involved. Great things rarely happen by accident.

I shot the photo we’re calling Granny Franny. Very pleased with the personality I was able to bring through and how the color worked out. She was fantastic to work with, as well as very focused on making sure we got something to drink on the way out.

As part of the redesign of our Coates Kokes website we wanted to shoot new portraits of the entire staff that shows them in a sort of light and unique way. We wanted to convey a sense of authenticity and honestly while trying to buck the normal corporate headshot style.

I shot them over a couple days and have been happy with how they’ve turned out. Here’s a few selects from the 19 portraits. Check out the rest of them at www.coateskokes.com/people.

Shot this photo in Waterfront Park right outside our old town offices. Has an almost painterly quality to it thanks to a nice angle, some distance, and the sort of strange bokeh signature of the lens I used.

The other to the right here is a Mother’s Day ad for local Portland Boutique shoe retailer Imelda’s. Photography by me, design by Laura here at CK. Imelda’s continues to be the best place to find unique shoes in Portland and is a lot of fun to shoot ads for.

Photo I shot for a 5′ x 5′ rear lit ad placed as you leave the Horizon Air terminal at PDX. Horizon is the leading competition for Portland/Seattle based SeaPort Airlines as they also cater to the quick commute distance traveler, however up until SeaPort the fastest way you could get from city to city took about 3 hours. With SeaPort you can avoid TSA and make the downtown to downtown trek in an hour and a half.

Mike Sheen, the creative director at Coates Kokes and my boss stood in for the initial shots on the SeaPort Testimonial Photo Shoot. The tests started a little darker, on location they seemed too dark so we brought the fill light up a bit more, but there is something very nice and moody about this shot.

The final SeaPort shot had a somewhat subtle cross-processed look to it; the shadows and midtones got bluer and the brighter highlights got a warmer golden tone to them. It helped pop his face away from the background and gave a nice feel to the shot. This setup doesn’t look as good in that color treatment – partially because Mike’s jacket was warm toned as well. When I looked at it with the same treatment it just looked like Mike was going to die from jaundice.

Another year, another Imelda’s Holiday Postcard. This one turned out really well I think, had a nice glossy look and sits nicely in the postcard with the phrase “Imelda’s after holiday sale.” Catchy, pretty, and from what I’ve heard it was effective. Went out in both an email and a postcard.

One of our clients at Coates Kokes is the Pelican Pub and Brewery in Pacific City, Oregon. Piet Vanden Hogen is the executive chef there and along with their head brewer Darron Welch they have made a name for the restaurant with their beer and food pairings.

The steam and fire certainly makes the photo. I used a lone off camera speedlight placed behind him to pop him out of the background. I think it worked although if you look at it too long I don’t think it’s well placed in the setting – I don’t think you could mistake it for being natural. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the streaks of light it brought with it in the metal plating around the stove.

But the client liked it and it’s an interesting enough photo I think to capture some attention.