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Photography

Notes by Hana · Sunday Office

A bar that glows. Shot the way it looks.

I photographed Public House, a bar and event space in Pioneer Square, for their social media. One question guided the shoot: would the photos feel like standing in the room at night?

For: Public House, a bar and event space in Pioneer Square, Seattle
What I did: Vertical venue photos for their social media
Where: 210 Occidental Ave S, Pioneer Square, Seattle
Find them: @publichouseseattle ↗

Take the tour · Tap a moment

Photos by Hana.

@publichouseseattle ↗

The arch — 01 / 05 · The arch

00 · Where they started

A room with character. A feed that needed it.

Public House is a bar and event space in an old Pioneer Square building. The room has dark wood, foil ductwork across the ceiling and a view straight into a white-tiled kitchen.

They needed photos for their social media. I shot the space itself: the lit back bar, the neon, the bottles and the tile.

The photos · Photos by Hana · Vertical 9:16

The lit arch over the back bar at Public House

Public House, on screen

The Public House sign

Behind the bar at Public House

The bottles on the back bar at Public House

Brief · Rules I set myself

Four rules before the first frame.

The back bar leads

The lit arch is the first thing you notice in the room, so it comes first in the photos too.

Keep the dark

The rest of the room stays dark in person. The photos should keep it that way.

Shoot it as it is

Warm amber and neon, the way it looks when you walk in.

Vertical only

Everything is made for stories and posts, so nothing needs cropping later.

The calls · Decision by decision

What I decided, and why.

01 · Subject

Start with the back bar.

The call: One lit arch with shelves up to the ceiling. The light sits under the bottles, so the whole wall glows.
Why: It is the center of the room and the part people remember. Building the set around it gives their feed one clear picture of the place.

The lit arch over the back bar at Public House — The arch

02 · Light

Keep the room as it feels.

The call: Warm amber under the shelves and neon over the glass, with the rest of the room kept dark. I shot it the way it looks in person.
Why: A bar at night is about the light. Brightening the whole room would make it look like a different place from the one people walk into.

The bottles on the back bar at Public House — The bottles

03 · Details

The room around the bar.

The call: Dark wood, foil ductwork across the ceiling, the sign and the view into the white-tiled kitchen.
Why: These details show the old Pioneer Square building the bar lives in. They give the feed more to post than one view of the bar.

The Public House sign — The sign

04 · Format

Vertical, from the start.

The call: Every photo is 9:16, so it drops straight into stories and posts without cropping.
Why: The photos were made for their social media. Shooting vertical meant every frame was ready to post as it was.

Public House, on screen

The short version

A glowing back bar, ready for their feed.

I shot Public House the way it looks at night, in a vertical format made for stories and posts.

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