Astro-nomical Focus

As an avid astrophotographer, Bowen Studios founder Brent Bowen diligently spends hours of time trying to capture that one perfect celestial shot.
By Brad Fullmer

(Left to right): Bowen Studios founder Brent Bowen and four senior illustrators—Vic Hoffman, Kiersten Larrabee, Rob Patterson, and Matt Bodell.

What started as a casual hobby for Brent Bowen has morphed into a full-blown passion for astrophotography.

The founder of Salt Lake-based A/E/C illustration firm Bowen Studios, he has always had a good eye for art, and over the past eight years, Bowen has invested much of his free time into taking otherworldly images of celestial objects.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said of the pursuit of optimum images of the moon, sun, planets, and stars. “I enjoy seeing what’s out there. The universe is a big place.” Other interests include physics and quantum mechanics, along with the study of human evolution and early hominids. “I just like learning stuff.”

He’s currently building a 10-foot diameter observatory on a section of property he and wife Danielle purchased four years ago in Boulder—a quiet, remote southern Utah town with a stunning night sky. The structure will allow him to set up a computer system and a powerful 14-inch telescope on a mount that adjusts automatically to the rotation of the earth while improving the focusing capabilities of the cameras. It “tracks the sky,” he said. It’s a lot of work to capture a jaw-dropping photo, but well worth it for Bowen.

“The sky down there is unbelievable.”

One of his signature shots thus far is a brilliant photo of the heart nebula, which he found via some apps and captured with 32 five-minute exposures. He said it took an hour to set up equipment, three hours of taking photos, and three hours to process digital images to get the results he wanted. He’ll take a thousand frames of an object, save the best 5% of those images, and stack them together to achieve optimal results.

“He’s way into astrology and space, and the technical aspects of [those passions] translates to the technical aspect of our work,” said Vic Hoffman, a Senior Illustrator/Project Manager at Bowen Studios for 12 years. “That dedication—spending hours for one shot—does translate into creating and producing accurate images. He has a really good eye for detail.”

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Bowen Studios specializes in architectural renderings and illustrations like this aerial of Sentierre Padre Canyon resort in Southern Utah.

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Celebrating 20 Years

Professionally, 2022 is a significant year for Bowen, his firm's 20th anniversary having just passed on February 1. He looks back with a sense of pride at the impact Bowen Studios has had on the local A/E/C market, and appreciates being one of the first digital rendering companies in Utah.

“There is a lot of satisfaction at 20 years,” he said. “Back in the day, nobody was doing computer-generated renderings. Everything has changed so much. […] I’ve met a ton of cool people along the way and done a bunch of stuff I never would have been able to do.”

Bowen spent six years combined producing renderings (hand-drawn and computer) at Salt Lake-based firms Richardson Design Partnership and GSBS Architects, having also taught himself computer 3D illustration during those early years. He took a year-long detour to design luggage and backpacks for a Taiwanese manufacturing firm, but he quickly realized it was time to start his own 3D illustration firm. He set up shop initially from his house and quickly established a reputation for delivering eye-popping graphic designs. Within two years, he was hiring people and leasing office space from JRCA Architects.

“I started out and was immediately busy working 16-hour days,” he recalled. “I never thought I would hire anybody. I just thought I’d be a freelancer working out of my house.”

He and his now-wife Danielle Bowen met via the industry—she has more than 30 years of experience at two architectural firms, including as a graphic designer for Babcock Design since 2016.

“It’s been really good to watch him grow since going out on his own and trying to make it work, sleeping on the floor of the [home] office,” Danielle said, then mentions their original work at rival firms. “When I first met him, we’d go after the same projects. He’d work late, I’d work late, and we couldn’t talk about those projects. He left [the industry for] a year to do industrial design and decided that wasn’t for him.

“It was scary starting out, to be honest, with a house payment and two boys,” Danielle added. “But between the two of us, we had a lot of contacts in the architectural community. It took about a year before it was comfortable.”

They both marvel at just how much it has progressed, particularly since buying an office in Exchange Place in Salt Lake City and renovating it into a dynamic working space by 2015, which Bowen designed himself, flashing his interior design skills.

“I never thought I’d have actual office space somewhere, especially downtown,” said Bowen. “I mean, buying office space in the middle of the city? It’s pretty amazing.”

“I feel like [the company has] grown a lot—doing more animation, more complex designs,” said Danielle. “Brent has become more business-oriented. He was in an entrepreneur’s organization, and that helped.”

Hoffman said the industry has morphed from 2D CAD modeling to mainly 3D illustrations and animated rendering videos, which allow clients to see every aspect of a project before the first shovel of dirt is turned. Virtual walkthroughs have become more popular with real estate agents and developers in recent years.

“Our team is very cohesive. We mesh well,” said Hoffman. “Brent is very open to new ideas either from clients or within the office.”

Regarding his career and the future of his five-person firm, Bowen, who turned 56 in January, plans to keep grinding for as long as he can doing what they do best. Bowen Studios specializes in renderings in all major building markets, including commercial office, retail, resort/hospitality, education, and high-end residential. Full-blown animations and virtual tours are also popular services, as are custom presentations.

Bowen said Utah-based clients (mainly owners and architects) will likely always be his firm’s bread and butter, with “word of mouth” advertising a critical component to landing new projects. Approximately half of Bowen Studios’ current workload comes from out-of-state clients, a testament to the power of the internet/Google ad words marketing, and Bowen's sterling reputation for delivering top-shelf illustrations/videos in a timely manner.

“It’s been a great ride so far—I have a lot of gratitude for our talented staff and for the great clients we work for,” he said. “We’ve done some great things, and I’m optimistic about our future.”