I was asked to take photos for a prominent Audio and Visual installation company working in the Atlanta area named Performance Audio and Video. The photographs were needed for an online industry article written about PAV.
If you are the type of person who gets excited about home automation and advanced control of the distributed A/V, heating, lighting, security and window blind components in your house, then you should consider giving them a call. All the information you need is located at www.pavatlanta.com, which is a web site I completed for them last year.
I got a glimpse into what PAV does by taking photos of various installations in a recently renovated mansion in north Atlanta. At first, this may just look like a regular living room. The great thing about the home automation products is that they work in the background, and are accessed using television screens, iPads, iPhones and wall control panels. You may never even know that they are there, until you need them.
The photograph was tricky because I was mixing several different colored light sources with my large flashes. The room was tight and enclosed with rough hewn divider walls, which essentially determined my choice for viewpoint. Below you can see a little behind-the-scenes of the flashes.
The other shot needed was for the daddy of all outdoor porches. There are a lot of hidden details here so I am going to mention a few. Along with inline heater units, there are speakers faux-painted to match the wood used in the ceiling. You can barely even see them even a few feet away. There is an outdoor television and fully automated floor to ceiling screens that close the porch off from Atlanta’s famous mosquitoes. We lowered the screens to act darkness the brighter outside yard. They acted like neutral density filters allowing me to make the photograph in one shot.
Normally, several images might need to be composited together since the exposure of the darker porch and the lighter yard is beyond the latitude of my camera’s sensor. I used a couple of flashes the light the foreground area. Below is what the camera would see if I just clicked the shutter.
Behind-the-Scenes: How the camera would see the terrace without my flashes
The last room was quite a challenge. Try to make a photograph of an in-home discotheque that has black walls, a fiber optic star ceiling, mirrored dance floor, DJ booth, VIP couch and a professional level of booming sound, lights, lasers and smoke machine. I had my work cut out for me as you can see in the disco video here.
This disco is intimate and everything can be seen in the wall mirrors. Using a wide angle lens meant that it was difficult to hide my light stands, the camera on a tripod and myself. Smoke allowed the laser spots and lights to be seen. I might have breathed in a quart of the oil based smoke. Delicious!
If I cannot light something directly, then lighting the space behind it works even better. I added a remote flash that was gelled with pink behind the DJ booth. This gave a focal point to the room.
I asked Jason Caponi of PAV to program the disco lights to slow down and stay in one spot for as long as possible. This was needed because the long exposure combined with the constantly moving lights rendered the colors that you see in the image above practically invisible to the camera sensor. It was quite a balancing act and I am glad that I was able to get something before our time ran out.
My buddy, Jason, is what I would call a master installer of audio/video equipment in people’s homes and businesses. From simple television installation to full home automation systems, he can do it all. His installations are so clean and neat that it can make photographing his finished work a challenge. The photos below looks like a regular rooms, but they are completely wired for video, audio and home automation… and it does not stick out like a sore thumb.
On closer inspection, you may start to see the speakers in the walls and ceiling. It’s only when you see an interface from an iPad, television or wall module do you realize that you can control any media device or home system with the swipe of your finger. Pretty cool.
If you need expert AV installation and personable service, give Jason a call or check out his web site at www.PerformanceAVatlanta.com. You can also check out past articles about Performance Audio and Video here: past articles.
I have often taken a lot of good natured ribbing about my slow adoption of technology. Back in the day, when everyone else was getting a cell phone, I bought a beeper. When most people were on their second flat screen tv, my wife and I were still watching a 100 lb. tube style behemoth. I drove a 14 year old beater with peeling paint and a leaky trunk probably a few years longer than I should have. If it’s not broke, why fix it was my motto. The only thing that I have never skimped on is camera gear, because you truly get what you pay for.
When it is time to buy some new technological device, I find my self going from dusty antique to shiny new super gadget overnight. For me, it is almost the equivalent of traveling to the future to see how humans will be using devices ten years from now. I agonize over these major purchases… spending untold hours researching and discovering what the best product is for me. That is part of the fun of being on a budget…you are forced to look at cost/value relationships, and wait for the right time to buy.
This is how I came to the point of buying a new 3D flat screen television to replace our “old school” cabinet tv. My buddy, Jason of Performance AV, did the honors of transporting our living room into the future with a wall mounted TV, and a component rack with hidden wires in the wall. We could not be happier with it. You can see the time lapse video below.
Performance Audio and Video is a company in Atlanta, GA that installs flat panel televisions and audio video equipment. I have known Jason Caponi, the owner of the company, for many years. He is an excellent mechanic and guru of all things that require precision.
Last year he officially started installing flat screen televisions and related audio visual equipment in people homes. The business took off and he didn’t look back. Below is the stop motion videos that I made for him of an installation in my boss’s “mancave”.
This installation included use of a special 90 degree wall mounted bracket that allows the tv to be watched from straight ahead where the pool table is or from the extreme right where the couch is.
If you need a tv installed or custom AV work, check him out and give him a call. His website is www.tvguy.net
Performance Audio Visual contacted me to take photos of some of their stereo and television installations. They needed samples of their installations for promotion on their web site and advertising materials.
If you are in the Atlanta area and need a perfectionist to install your television, computer network or car stereo, give Jason Caponi at Performance AV a call or check out their web site at www.tvguy.net.
