It turns out that lots of vegetables are really beautiful. Garlic scapes are right up there. Graceful curves are the best visual part. They’re pretty good when eaten too. I had a hard time deciding my favorite, so I picked three. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts.
Radicchio, is another one of those really attractive vegetables. I thought a very simple treatment with the dark background would complement the simple beauty of the radicchio. For me, photography it is the ability to reveal the essence of an object, or person. Sometimes, that means high production value and complicated lighting. Other times it means one light in a very simple background. As always I'm interested in your comments and thoughts.
Or is it Boba Fett? It kind of looks like it could be a space helmet of some kind. It’s not, of course. It’s protective gear you wear when working in a dangerous environment. Still, who doesn’t want to be an astronaut? My job is to make it look as cool as possible. I am always interested it your thoughts and comments.
My 5th grade teacher liked to call me Pea-Pod. He had pet names for other kids too, like Meatball and Hotdog. Now, my daughter calls me Pizza. (Long story) I guess I just inspire food names. Personally, I like the visual organic forms of raw food. Less really is more in this case. As always, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts and comments.
One of the difficulties of photographing very small parts is that often times the finished photographs are displayed larger than life-size. The products were never engineered to be photographically displayed, much less, up close and personal. Occasionally, I’ll give parts to a jeweler friend of mine for him to clean up with his specialized tools. But the answer in most cases is to retouch; removing visual defects and flaws in the product during post-production. Depending on the product and the size it's eventually displayed, the retouching can be tedious work, but well worth it. For this client, the individual products were photographed in a way that enabled me to assemble them in Photoshop to create an exploded view with visual impact.
I’ve never been a fan of large group product shots. Often, product managers are in the decision tree and want their products to look particularly good. The truth is, all a group shots with ten or more products can say is, we have a bunch of products. Or we can make a bunch of different products. Optimal view and lighting of individual parts is almost always sacrificed for overall composition and lighting needsIn this case, it was limited to 11 parts. All drive train parts, in the early stages of production. This is part of a series of photographs that also includes wheel ends, engine, and transmission parts. We shot from a very high angle with a wide angle lens to provide a more interesting and unusual perspective. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts.
I started using Alfred about a year ago. It’s a productivity app for OS X, and it makes my time at the computer much more productive. It does way more than just launch apps; It has a clipboard manager that allows you to see and use things you’ve previously copied to the clipboard. Sadly, it’s text only, so it does not work in Photoshop. It does lots more too, but I’ll get to that in a bit. It all starts with a key combination that brings up a search box.
The default combination is command-space. I use that in Photoshop, so I use Shift-Control-Option-Space. I sounds more awkward than it is. You type in a letter or two, it learns your preferences, and a list pops up. When the application you want to launch is at the top of the list, just hit return, and bingo! In the screen shot, P selects Photoshop. But if I typed a “d”, PDF Pen would be on top. Similarly, documents can be opened by first typing a space, then the letters of the file name.
The clipboard history appears with the key combination Command-Option-C. You then see a list of the things that have been in your clipboard. Very handy!Finally, there are workflows. Too complex to go into here, and frankly I don’t use them much, but they are very powerful. There is a free version, and you can get the PowerPack upgrade that adds more features. There is a Mac Power Users podcast about it with lots of info and links to more info. If you try it, let me know how it works for you.
I photographed these filters some time ago for Parker Hannifin. I thought they might be more interesting on a different backdrop. I chose a gritty textured background to contrast with the smooth highly finished surface of the filters. This type of photograph serves an entirely different purpose than the original on a white background. I think it has more visual impact, and might be more suited for an ad or a tab page in a catalog. As always, I’m interested in your comments.
I love shooting moody still life images. Onions provided an interesting subject. Warm tones, textured skin, circles and spheres are design elements I can work with. Afterwards, I made some delicious onion soup. I used Thomas Keller’s recipe in the Bouchon cookbook. Awesome! As always, I’m interested in your comments.
Long ago, I was inspired by Eric Meola. In the Black Book or Showcase, his pages always stood out. I can recall entire spreads of images that were just red and blue. He has continued shooting, using color in amazing ways. The red and blue together vibrate because it’s difficult for your eyes to focus on both at the same time. Hardly art, the lift truck does get a little zing from the blue background. Lighting helps too. Being from Detroit can have an effect on things besides cars. As always I am interested in your thoughts.
I’ve always loved photographing shiny things - doesn't really matter what it is. Reflective things like a car, jewelry, or in this case, an industrial tool, all fascinate me. Controlling reflections to reveal the shape as well as to make a compelling photograph, is my kind of challenge. Spiralock makes this tap for cutting threads that lock a bolt in place without a lock-washer. I just like the way it looks. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts.
They look kinda like gears, but I’m not really sure what they are. They do look like Detroit! My job is not to use them, it’s to make them look good. Loads of texture from the rust. The color of the rust also compliments the color of the gears. Ordinarily, rust is the enemy, but in this case it provides contrast in texture. As ever, I am interested in your thoughts and comments.
There are plenty of dangerous places to work around Detroit. But working in a hazardous environment should not be hazardous to your health. Providing that protection is my client's job. My job is to make their product interesting to look at. I did the studio photography and Dave did the location photography for the project. We are always interested in your thoughts and comments.
As I said before, I mostly shoot products and things. When I had the opportunity to shoot the Renaissance Center security officers, I jumped it. Location Photography requires thinking on your feet, and going with the flow. Working around the things that you cannot change, and working with the things that you can. I had phenomenal cooperation from everyone on the shoot day. As always, I’m interested in your thoughts.
Shooting beautiful, shiny automotive parts is a perk of working and living in metro Detroit. Sure the area has it’s problems, a cyclical economy, the city is bankrupt... Still, if you like cars it’s the place to be. This wheel is formed in three parts to create a strong, light and attractive racing wheel, and it’s made right here in metro Detroit. As always, I am interested in you comments.
I like nothing more than the challenge of making an automotive part look like an art object. To reveal the intrinsic beauty in the little connector that connects three tubes. It’s not important what it does - well, it is to my clients. I think the beauty is too. Happy New Year!
Self driving cars? In a few years, maybe ten. But now, there are self driving lift trucks! Bristling with redundant safeguards, these trucks will take a load of pallets and drop them in a specific spot in a warehouse, then return. In giant warehouses, it’s a pretty good trick! I got to shoot it in the studio. As ever, I am interested in your thoughts.
Industrial products often have a story to tell, like how or why they enhance production, or the utility of a specific product. It’s my job to tell that story visually. How do all those parts fit together to make a connector? As always I am interested in your thoughts.
I had a couple of down days so I thought I’d shoot something for me. It’s a series of close-up photos of fruit and vegetables. Can you guess what fruit or vegetable this is? If it weren't a fruit or vegetable what might it be? The rest of the series is on my personal blog. 
Please let me know what you think.
I recently was shooting artwork of Dennis Wojtkiewicz and I was inspired to try something similar. His paintings are frankly better than what I have done here (and worth a look), but it was a lot of fun and these aren’t that bad. There is an additional photo on the Studio blog. As always I am interested in your thoughts.
