DTLA's First Barcade

From the exterior, EightyTwo LA looks like a typical downtown warehouse — a graffiti-splattered purple, blue and turquoise facade. On the inside, owners Scott and Noah have transformed this rundown space into Downtown LA's first "barcade" (a combination of a bar and a classic arcade). Over two days, we had the pleasure of photographing the Darin Johnstone-designed space. From the old school classics like Space Invaders, Centipede, Donkey Kong and Pac-man to the new-school Street Fighter 2, Mortal Combat and Star Wars, this place is a gamer's paradise! But we weren't there to blast aliens or save the princess — we were there to get amazing shots of this unique interior. Arriving well before opening, we set up three tripods and began carefully pre-planning each shot. Coordinating this type of shoot takes collaboration between photographer and architect to prioritize shots and plan for the movement of light through the space. In the middle of the first day it started to rain, requiring a quick change in strategy! We adjusted our angles to maximize the number of interior photographs, and held the rest for day two.Before long, customers started to roll in, itching to get their high score put up behind the bar. We laid down yellow duct tape to protect our tripods, increased the volume on our walkie-talkies and got to work — in an efficient manner that is our second nature. Swapping lenses back and forth, moving trash cans and plants, all while placing people on benches and working them like real models... it was organized chaos at its best.Just another day at the office...