I don’t wear any jewelry myself, except for my wedding ring, but I do appreciate the beauty of it. A good friend of mine is a jeweler, and I love photographing his work. I’m always amazed that he can start with a lump of metal, a hammer, torch, files, and some other tools and the result is a piece of art. It’s challenging shooting jewelry, with all the shiny surfaces and stones, but I enjoy shooting highly reflective objects. It helps if they are pretty, but shiny industrial parts are fun too. Richard’s hands are a little worse for wear. He uses his thumbnail to check the sharpness of files, and polishing compound gets into all the nooks and crannies on his fingers. It’s a perfect contrast to the brilliant perfection of his jewelry. As always, I am interested in hearing your comments.
Studio Photography
Automotive Wheel Photography
One of the really great things about living in the Detroit area, is the automotive industry. It’s not just the car companies, but all of their suppliers and the aftermarket companies too. Customizing our cars for style, speed or utility is an American tradition. I can remember looking through JC Whitney catalogs before I could drive. Wheels, tires, bed liners, roof racks, sun roofs, towing packages, the list goes on and on.
An entrepreneur has a passion for racing wheels, and I get to help promote them. These are racing wheels, not ordinary cast aluminum, but three individual pieces bolted together. Photographing shiny products is always fun and challenging. As always, let me know what you think.
Automotive Photography
Automotive Photography in the studio is a blast. We completed a project for Goodyear recently that went quite well. Part of the project was photography for their library. This F150 is a big vehicle, but it easily fit in our 4000 square foot. studio. We used the teamwork/tag team approach on this project too. It’s all about delivering the best image possible with the least friction. After we completed the main shot for each car, I did the additional shots. I am always interested in your thoughts.
The Oakwood Group - Speaker Grill
Commercial Photography
One of the really great things about being a commercial photographer is the glimpse we get into processes or industries that normally go unnoticed. We did a shoot for a company that makes, among other things, speaker grills for cars. As we shot, our client explained why his product is superior to his competitors’. This is not only interesting, but helps us highlight or emphasize the important features or manufacturing processes.
I suppose you could call this industrial photography. It is for business to business communication. It is as likely to be used in a powerpoint presentation as in a trade show, trade ad, brochure or web site. The key point is that our images help clients communicate their story more effectively and help enhance their overall image.
Product Photography in a Car
My assignment was photographing coffee cups, and what more natural place than a cup holder! I have shot cup holders for other clients, so it was not much of a stretch. Of course we shot them in table top situations too, but I feel at home when I'm shooting in a car. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts.
Mixed Drinks Photography
I’m not much of a drinker - couple of beers or glasses of wine and I’m done. But I did have a smashing great time shooting some vodka drinks. Designers & Partners’ Jim Tocco art directed and did much of the styling. We did 13 shots so it was a busy and productive day.
Product Photography
I completed a shoot for Letica not long ago. They make, among other things, plastic and paper cups, and plastic food containers. I shot the product in action. The photos were used for trade show banners – 84 inches high! Pour shots are challenging. It is necessary to do a fair number of pours to get exactly what you need. This shoot combined product and food as a prop. Ordinarily when I shoot food I like to work with a food stylist, but since the food in these shots was only a prop to help show off the containers, it was not essential to work with a stylist.
Model-7500
Anything with Wheels!
Dave and I recently finished a shoot for Raymond. The project included shooting in the studio (Tom) and on location in a warehouse (Dave). The project included video as well, so we had to coordinate closely with the video crew to make everything work smoothly. We had two excellent models from Productions Plus. Thanks to terrific clients, organized pre-production and teamwork, the shoot came off smoothly!