Aaron Leitz Photography

We had a good stretch of sunny skies for our shoot of a new residence in Idaho for architect George Suyama and interior designer Doug Rasar. While sunny, it was most definitely not warm and as I stood outside in the snow and 6 degree temperatures waiting for the good light I kept myself warm by chanting “thiswillbeworthitthiswillbeworthit…” And it was . I’m looking forward to going back out there for some more shots of the project this Summer once the snow has melted.

On final approach above a wintery Idaho landscape. Photography of a new residential project by George Suyama and Doug Rasar is set to begin tomorrow morning at 6am. Temperature will be a brisk 8°F….

Ninebark’s “garden pavilion” that I wrote about last Fall was featured this week on Dwell.com. I have a feeling that you’ll be reading more about Ninebark Design Build in the near future…

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!

[Show as slideshow]

I’ve got a few photos in the new November 2011 issue of Dwell Magazine’s “Houses We Love” section. The project featured is the Ryan Mankoski designed floating home that I photographed almost two years ago.

Ninebark Design/Build has been busy doing some pretty cool stuff since. This past summer I met up with Ryan again to photograph this copper-clad detached studio:

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.

I’m in Seoul, South Korea all this week photographing a very awesome project. We’ve been pretty busy with the project but hope to get some time to check out the city a bit. Lots of interesting buildings here.

Seattle’s “Bummer Summer” ho-hum blah-blah weather has been taking it’s toll on my emotional state so it was a treat to make the quick jaunt east over the mountains and in to the perpetual sunshine of beautiful Yakima Valley for two days to photograph an impressive remodel by interior designer Doug Rasar and architects Sullivan Conard and KDF.

The home is sited with views out over the Yakima Valley and the new landscaping features a massive water feature of large stepped reflecting pools that lead to gardens and outdoor patios.

The challenge was to capture the scale of the grand spaces while also maintaining the intimate feel of the smaller living areas.

Moonrise over downtown Austin, Texas while shooting a new project for Terry Hunziker and Lake | Flato Architects. Air temperature is a brisk 103 ºF …