Project Pitch: A Modern-Luxe Addition for Kim Smith

Buffalo, New York-based photographer Kim Smith specializes in commercial architecture photography. When she joined Wonderful Machine earlier this year, she was interested in refining her branding and expanding her portfolio to include more residential and hospitality images.

Kim had a Hawaii vacation planned in September. She thought it was the perfect opportunity to capture tropical homes and travel destinations. She reached out to me about looking into some Hawaiian properties she could photograph for her website.

Kim was, of course, hoping to capture some luxe, modern homes and resorts. Basically, I started with a Google search of high-end realtors and architecture firms that had access to the types of properties Kim had in mind. From there, I hit the phones. Since Maui is five hours behind us here on the east coast, I was strategic with the timing of my phone calls.

I told Kim to enjoy her vacation planning and leave the contacting to me. My first stop was the Mill House website. There, I found contact information from several people at the company, but nobody related to marketing or photography. This didn’t deter me though—sometimes you have to call around before getting to the person you need. After several calls on the site, I was able to get in touch with Emily from the marketing department—viola! I spoke with her about Kim’s desire to photograph the property and she was happy to have Kim stop by. I then connected them via email and Kim spent two days during her vacation scouting the resort, then shooting the restaurant and café. Take a look at some of her finished shots below:

And check out some of the other residential areas Kim had a chance to shoot while in Maui:

The properties photographed above were homes in Maui. Liam Ball, the realtor at Hawaii Life, worked with Kim to depict these beautiful properties. Here’s what he had to say about Kim’s expertise:

Kim Smith is first an artist and second a technician. I asked Kim to photograph a modern and unusual house in Maui and she was able to skillfully work with challenging light, clouds, sun, and a limited amount of time to capture the essence of the house and the location. Not only are her images crisp and well-lit, but there is something else captured in the work that speaks to her background in art and design. I highly recommend her work.

Kim returned from Maui refreshed and with fresh photos for her portfolio. She’s eager to use the hospitality images from Millhouse and the other residential shots from the island to attract the attention of some new potential clients. 

See more of Kim’s work on her website.

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