Prime Build has completed Invocare’s flagship funeral facility in Kew, Melbourne, VIC
I loved photographing this amazing brand new flagship Funeral home built for Invocare who own Le Pine Funerals and White Lady Funerals. Built my good client Prime Build in Kew, Melbourne. Project managed by the APP Corporation. A really great collaboration by all involved. Architect firm TBC.
The grand design, elevating ceilings and open spaces really warms you upon entering the building, especially entering the chapel or communal areas. Each filled with an abundance of natural light, and connected with a gorgeous tranquil central circular hallway area which includes a sculptured water feature.
The architectural photography scope was to photograph the building to show off its key characteristics, all without any one in the photos.
Upon arrival at 1:30pm to work through to dusk around 5:20pm, there was still a flurry of cleaners and other bodies around the facility, and vehicles to be removed from the car parks, so I had some time to feel out some test photography angles to shoot from. I also needed to re-arrange all the tables and chairs in the communal area to form some symmetry, and align a portion of the chapel seating rows.
Due to various bodies in and around the facility, I could not work as methodically as I would have liked, but had to move from one location to another and back again to have clear opportunities to capture great image angles.
With this type of architectural photography, I shoot 7x natural light exposures, ranging from dark to light to ensure I capture enough exposure detail to retain details in the both the shadow and high lighted areas which in Photoshop I blend the layers together in to a high quality composite image where every element is reviewed and adjusted for the best visual outcomes. A single image frame does not have enough dynamic range to capture all the required detail and clarity. I also use a powerful flash which throws daylight in to the scene which becomes a reference tool when completing the retouching within photoshop. With the flash I am adding day light and mixing it with the ambient light with differing shutter speeds to obtain various exposures that help with elements within the retouching phases.
Following delivery of the retouched architectural images, all stakeholders were extremely happy with my completed photography of the facility, which is always great to hear.
Below are some of the 20x final images ordered by my commercial builder client Primebuild. Invocare were also stakeholders in the photography investment, and APP Corporation (Sydney) bought a licence to use the images.
