Crafting Portraiture with ZBA Architecture

New Year, New Projects

January 17, 2019 by Alena

Our introduction to the team at ZBA was during SNAP’s annual Ode to Opportunity event in 2017. We hit it off immediately because ZBA also has orange in their logo (kindred spirits, am I right?). ZBA Architecture is now a member firm of EWI, just like we are. It’s something that we love about Spokane: we can look anywhere and find people who share our values like being community-minded (ZBA works on a lot of affordable housing projects and public safety buildings).

Last Tuesday, we stopped by ZBA Architecture’s office in the Paulsen Building in downtown Spokane to get a quick portrait of a new employee for their website and marketing. Say hi to Stephanie!

ZBA Architects Spokane

This headshot joins the rest of the portraits of ZBA’s staff that we’ve crafted together. We’ve stopped by ZBA twice for head shots, and they’re always game to try out new gear that we’ve got or let us play with some behind-the-scenes footage for a minute or two. Because we were at their office already, we took some candid shots that they could use to enhance their website and proposals, but they also were the guinea pigs for our 360 test of our Samsung Gear 360 in 2017. Lookin’ good from every angle!


We love the projects where we get to go out on the road or spend a couple days filming, but most of what we do are half-day projects (that sometimes merge into longer videos), and they motivate us to hone our production procedures. One of our goals this quarter is to create checklists for each camera so that it’s easy for any of our shooters to pick it up and be able to navigate the settings quickly in the field. Currently we have four different types of cameras that might function as a primary camera on a shoot, as well as a number of support cameras like GoPros, drones, and various 360-degree cameras. Our team is also growing so we’re doing our best to get systems and best practices in place.

Another one of those best practices was utilizing production notes from our first shoot to make sure that we matched the look of the first photos that we took with ZBA. As architects, they of course make great use of their relatively narrow office space (you know, historical buildings), so we get to be creative with how we use strobe and natural light to show their big personalities in a small space.

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Spokane Architects

ZBA New Hire
ZBA Architects Spokane

Stay cool, ZBA!

Alena Schoonmaker

Written By Alena

Alena is a writer, filmmaker, and office coordinator who brings a love of organization and a hatred of gluten to the Rogue Heart team. She volunteers her time at the Spokane International Film Festival as a film programmer and volunteer coordinator, where she enjoys bringing stories by diverse directors and writers about underserved communities to Spokane. Though a major cinephile, she also volunteers with animals at Pawsitive Outreach Spay/Neuter Advocates in Newport.

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