Architectural Photographer | Russell Abraham
  1700 Webster
  Taronga House
  Spring Rd Residence
  Amara
  340 Fremont Apartments
  Danville House
  Orinda Residence
  Golden Gate Rec Center
  SFO Airport FireHouse3
  Palo Alto Fire Station No. 3
  Santa Clara Square
  The Orchards at Walnut Creek
  Bair Island Marina
  Tahoe Family Retreat
  Willow Glen Colonial Revival
  Santa Lucia Preserve Residence
  Telegraph Hill House
  Hillsborough Colonial
  Pac Heights House
  Alameda Home
  Portola Valley Home
  Sinbad Creek
  Hilldale House
  Politzer Drive
  Los Gatos Home
  One Henry Adams
  Nobu Hotel Miami Beach
  Chateau Tivoli
  California Pizza Kitchen
  The Alise
  COMO Shambhala Estate
  Silicon Valley Courtyard by Marriott
  W San Francisco
  Il Fornaio Restaurant
  Hotel Griffon
  The Progress
  ARMA Museum and Resort
  Francis Ford Coppola Winery
  The Bristol Hotel
  The Orchard Garden Hotel
  Food
  Furniture
Drones, Video, and Animation
Architectural Drone Photography and Video
Russell and Artist Catherine Widgery discussing video shots at the Warm Springs BART Station.
Drones, Video, and Animation

The lines between video and still photography are getting blurred every day.  Most good DSLRs (the cameras most of us use) are also video cameras.  The cameras with full frame sensors are now equipped with cinema-graphic lenses and sound gear to shoot broadcast-quality TV.  Much of what you see today on television is shot with Canon still cameras in video mode.  Working with our favorite videographer, Eric Sahlin, we have tip-toed into the world of video and drone photography with some excellent results.


Warm Springs BART Station

Generally speaking, buildings don't move, but the camera can move around, through, and above a building creating remarkable imagery.We recently completed two projects, one a video and the other a purely drone shoot that we want to share with you. A finished video of an architectural project can be animated stills, live "B roll," and drone footage spliced together in a seamless fashion. Our video of the Warm Springs BART Station, done for Widgery Studio of Boston, was just that, a combination from all three sources. All capture modes have their pluses and minuses as you can see in this video. Some techniques, like time lapse, work best from live video while the drone may make the best long truck shots, and a slow pan shot may work best from a still image. Working with stills and live footage can be a cost effective way to create a video for your website or PowerPoint presentation.

Architectural Drone Photography and Video
This movie, shot and edited by our partner Eric Sahlin, consists of live video, still image pans, and time-lapse footage.

340 Fremont Apartments

Drone photography has come a long way in the last five years.  They have gone from toys to professional tools.  The crafts are much more stable, the lenses better, and the sensor resolution greatly improved. Recently we shot 340 Fremont Apartments for our client Equity Residential. The Fremont St. tower is sandwiched in with a dozen other high rises on Rincon Hill and presented some photographic challenges that were best solved with a drone. We were able to station the drone 75 yards in front of the building and create a boom shot that rose close to 400 feet in slow motion. Breathtaking! And my partner on this project, videographer Eric Sahlin says that the crafts are only getting better with higher resolution cameras and real video shutters. BTW, Eric has taken the time to get the FCC operator's license so we are completely legal. Sometimes, a drone shot may be your best alternative with a tricky building shoot.

Architectural Drone Photography and Video
340 Fremont Apartments. Drone video photographed and produced by Eric Sahlin.