Aaron Leitz Photography

The VA Hospital of Seattle opened it’s brand new Emergency Department last month. Designed by HDR Architecture the new ED is pretty high tech inside and out.

Of particular awesomeness is the sweeping front elevation: a wall of thick glass containing hundreds of LED lights that can all be independently controlled. By day the glass is a calm light blue color, but come nightfall the entire front facade can display any color in any pattern one chooses (that would be the one who knows how to work all the buttons and dials on the control panel of course).

I recently photographed the new Umpqua Bank flagship location on Queen Anne. The interiors of the newly remodeled Umpqua Bank locations are the result of a collaboration between Ditroen and the Miller Hull Partnership and are very cool and “un-bank-like,” with free wi-fi laptop tables, kid friendly play/hangout areas, and a coffee and snack station. The Queen Anne location even has a projection screen hooked up to a Wii!

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Rice Fergus Miller had me ferry out to the peninsula recently to round out the photography of their newly renovated headquarters for the upcoming 2011 AIA Awards. Not only did they take a Sears automotive warehouse that had been abandoned for 30 years and turn in to a tricked out new workplace, but they did it all to LEED Platinum standards.

75% of the existing structure was reused and the building is insulated so well that if the outside air temperature is between 60 and 75 degrees no active heating or cooling of the space is needed. Check out the 15′ Big Ass Fan that manages air circulation within the space.

Well this post has been a long time coming. I had been wanting to photograph the Kolstrand Building since late last year but conflicting schedules and poor weather conspired against me. The interior spaces were photographed early this year but it wasn’t until just a few weeks ago that the weather cleared enough so that I was able to get a good photograph of the exterior.

Located in Ballard Avenue’s Landmark Historic District, the Kolstrand Building is Graham Baba Architect’s revisioning of an old marine hardware warehouse in to an ultra-cool mixed use space. On the ground floor you have the Dutch Bike Company and two great eateries: Ethan Stowell’s new restaurant Staple & Fancy and the coolest oyster bar I’ve ever seen, The Walrus & The Carpenter.

Upstairs are the lovely ladies of Duo PR and a trio of awesome creatives: Wintr, Turnstyle, and Stoke. It’s like a one-stop shopping place to start your unique business. You can come up with your idea, get help with your website, advertising and PR, graphic design, brand management, and take new clients to dinner and drinks all in the same building!

Hand rolled honey water dipped wood fired. Mmmmmmm......

This week I photographed the Eltana Bagel Cafe that just opened in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The interior architecture was done by Graham Baba Architects and features lots of concrete, steel, reclaimed wood surfaces, a clever bagel display and a huge garage door wall that can be opened on nice days. Very cool.

Last week I photographed the newly remodeled Olive Way Starbucks store the weekend before it’s grand opening/unveiling to the public.

There has been a lot of buzz around this store for a number of reasons but primarily because it represents a major new direction for Starbucks. While both “inspired by Starbucks” stores in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood have been serving beer and wine for almost a year, The Olive Way store will be the first branded Starbucks store to serve beer and wine (after 4pm). » Read the rest of this entry «

Here are a few final images from my most recent all-night interior photo shoot of the newly renovated Starbucks coffee store at the top of Queen Anne hill in Seattle…. » Read the rest of this entry «

A behind-the-scenes iPhone shot taken at a recent interior photo shoot for Starbucks.

I’m leaning a little heavy on the table as this was probably taken around 3am on the home stretch of an all nighter – shooting from 10pm till 5am. Much thanks to Tobi The Designer for sticking it out with us for the whole shoot and John Galfano for the fabulous assisting.

Photographed a gorgeous custom dining table this week for Sutherland on location at Interior Environments headquarters here in Seattle. Interior Environments does some of the best custom cabinets, furniture, and architectural millwork around. The table is a beautiful pairing of steel and wood and with extension leaves is almost eight feet long and weighs 700lbs! To give you a sense of scale, the seamless backdrop is 12 feet wide.

Shooting a piece like this on location outside of a studio definitely poses some unique lighting challenges but I think the shots turned out very well.

With the extension leaves attached:

The new 2010 Sutherland Furniture Catalog has arrived, hot off the presses and features a number of images that I have shot for them over the years.

I enjoyed flipping through this catalog in particular because there are a number of images (some taken more than three years ago) that I have never really seen in print.

The shot above of Philippe Starck intensely scrutinizing a prototype design was taken in 2007. I had the pleasure of documenting (on three occasions over the course of a year) his collaboration with David Sutherland as they produced his “Robinwood Deluxe” collection for Sutherland. It was a fascinating experience as Starck is a revered figure in the design world and has to be one of the most interesting and energetic persons I have ever met.

He also has the smoothest, coolest French accent ever: Philippe Starck TED Talk

Some more images from the catalog: