Saylor Gregg, great firm. I have been trying to get in front of them for a while. However, for local shoots they are very loyal to Tom Crane, a local Philly photography legend (been in the biz for over 40 years and started off with Ezra Stoller).
Funny thing is that I really want to travel for projects, like Tim Griffith, and see the world. But looking at those images you took and knowing that a native South-Westerner captured them, it makes me wonder is someone not native to the Southwest could capture the essence as well as you did. Kind of makes it a hard sell to convince clients to send you to exotic locations. I wonder, do I see city architecture differently because I live in Center City Philadelphia and am I better at photographing it?
Anyway, great job on Sante Fe, Kirk.
Well that's a great question. In the "old" days there were a handful of good architectural photographers so the one that were top tier got to travel extensively. I was fortunate to get my share of that. But frankly for me personally I prefer working closer to home-somewhere I can drive to. I had so many terrible experiences with airlines that I soured on traveling by air for commercial shoots. Toooooo much stress. I love to travel! But not for work unless I can drive. I love to drive and even at 63 don't hesitate to jump in the truck and drive to a shoot 12-16 hours away.
The fact is that there are more good architectural photographers than there used to be. That makes it easier for clients to find good people on location in distant areas. I think because of the internet tech info is easier to come by. You used to have to apprentice or just learn the hard way by making every mistake possible (what I did-there was no one to apprentice with).
I do think there is a regional "sensibility" to regional forms of architecture. It comes from experience with the regional light, contrast, color, skies, weather, materials, hassles etc.