Photography
Location Photography has its share of challenges. There are lots of things you cannot control, weather large among them. On this day it was snowing and below freezing all day. We persisted and ended up with lots of good photography—the result of a great client and crew. Let me know what you think. 
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It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since the the last “No-Show Black Tie” fund raiser. The Bottomless Toy Chest delivers art projects, crafts and interactive games to hospitalized pediatric cancer patients. Toys are the subject again. It sorta fits. This is a Mr. Potato Head year. It was lots of fun playing toys and taking photos. We should all be heading over to The Bottomless Toy Chest do donate. Do it!
I love photographing shiny things. Kinda doesn't matter what it is. Cars, jewelry, industrial parts or tools, as long as it’s Shiny. I photographed this tap on a white background and put in the blue handmade paper in post production. I’m always interested in what you think.
Often when I take a professional portrait it is an anxiety provoking experience for the subject. It’s my job to capture self-confidence and well-being. I do my best to make people feel comfortable and relaxed. When photographing lawyers and other professionals, I aim for a portrait that conveys confidence, trust and poise. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts and comments.
Most of the time when speaking of sheetmetal in Detroit, you’re talking about the stuff you see on the outside of a car. There’s a lot of it on the inside too! This part goes behind the rear seat, underneath the rear window. This bit of sheet metal is lighter and vibrates less than the ordinary. For the purposes of this photograph, it’s just about making a dramatic image to catch your attention. Let me know what you think.
Detroit Medical product Photographer
Who knew surgeons used torque wrenches? I don’t think about it that much, but I guess it makes sense. Surgeons are sort of body mechanics. True, the stakes may be higher than a brake job on your car, but a bad brake job could be fatal too. Anyway, we spent the day working and collaborating with an excellent art director and ended up with a bunch of nice images and had a good time as well. Let me know what you think.
Medical Device Photography
They aren’t selling sandwiches, or bread, or meat. It’s just a photograph of a sandwich that has meat in it that uses their sausage casing. It’s been called a copy warmer. You can call it what you want, I call it Tasty! Let me know what you think.
A very good friend of ours recently sent us a box of eucalyptus leaves from California. I though they looked really nice when I saw them in this bowl. The neutrality of the background helps brings out the compelling texture and subtle color variation of the leaves. I am always interested in your thoughts and comments.
I love taking, or seeing things out of context. They become something new. Refreshing. Out of context things take on a new life. This is antithetical to most product photography where it is necessary to see and recognize the product instantly. Perhaps this is why it tickles me so much. This image is of sausage casing. Hard to tell at first glance though. Let me know what you think!
It’s not the cockpit of a jet plane, but it looks pretty cool for a pallet jack. Excellent industrial design makes my job a little easier. It’s more than just a pallet jack, as you might guess from the complexity of the controls. I’m drawn to the the lines and values of gray. As always I am interested in your thoughts and comments.
The fact is, everything is shot in color. Unless of course, you are actually using B&W film! My point is, limiting yourself to shades of gray is very deliberate. Sometimes it’s a cost thing if it’s going to appear in print. Often it’s just an effort to simplify. The smaller palette means that you’ve got to make what’s left work a little harder. I’m always interested in your thoughts and comments.
You’ve gotta lift those really heavy parts with something! This is the smaller of the two that we shot the other day. I was attracted to the yellow I beam this one moves on. We created a studio in the plant where they build these, which, funnily enough, included another crane to move this one into position for a photograph. I love variety of my photographic life!
The whole idea behind a business portrait is to convey something about who you are, to someone that doesn’t know you. It can be the image on a corporate ID badge, but personally I think a business portrait has bigger job. No matter what your job: doctor, financial consultant, lawyer or sales, it’s important that people trust you. So a business portrait or headshot is what goes before you, to stand in your place until you get face to face. It’s a big job. Let me know what you think.
The biggest of these little steel balls is about a millimeter in diameter, a little less than 10 times the diameter of a human hair. They are used as an abrasive in industrial processes. They were fun and challenging to photograph. I had to level the table so they wouldn’t all roll away. The best part of this profession is that there are always new and interesting things to shoot.
You might call it a headshot, but to me, headshot is a term better reserved for the picture on your driver's license. A portrait on the other hand, reveals a little more of your inner nature, your soul if you like. My business partner David shoots most of the portraits for Blue Sky, but he’s been out of town, so I get a crack at it. It’s challenging, because it’s more that just getting the lighting and technical stuff right, you have to connect with your subject, in order to help them reveal who they are.
Photographing very small things can be challenging. The product in this photograph is an abrasive, but to be honest, I don’t know how it is used. I imagine that it’s similar to sand blasting. The largest of the stainless steel balls is about one millimeter in diameter. For comparison, a BB is about 4.5 millimeters in diameter. So these are pretty small. As always, I am interested in your thoughts and comments.
There is no end to the variety of parts used to build machines. Cylinders are used in machines to build machines, and in consumer products. To be fair, I’ve no Idea what kind of cylinder this is. It could be an air cylinder, but I suspect that it is hydraulic. I photographed it on a white background, then outlined it, and put it on the green handmade paper. Let me know what you think.
Photographing anything shiny is a kick! Finely machined aerospace parts fit the bill. You wouldn’t think Detroit for aerospace, but in the last year I’ve done work for several aerospace companies. I’m guessing that there is a lot of talent here honed making automotive parts. It’s fun shooting them, wherever they end up.
I love shooting cars. Day-to-day I shoot everything from massive aerospace tools to tiny fasteners, but photographing this Ford GT was a treat. Using a light painting technique we walked around the car shining a light at it while the shutter was open. After seeing the results we would alter how fast we walked, where we held the light and where we pointed it until we had a dynamically lit image.Lighting is crucial for every photo and this car is no exception. These are the kind of jobs that get me excited forty years into this business. As always I look forward to your thoughts.
Where would we be without filters! Filters are one of those hidden things without which nothing would work. Nearly everything is filtered, like gas, hydraulic fluid, water, oil, and that's only in a car. We were making a banner for a website, so the goal was to be about filters, but also to be a little dramatic to catch your eye.