The Runwell Turntable from Shinola is a fantastic object to photograph. The first photo shows how well it looks in a room, no need to hide it in a cabinet. It’s beautifully crafted and has all the elements that make lighting fun: smooth metallic surfaces, wood texture, soft leather, etc. The design of the product allows for some fun abstraction as well. Photographing close up on the Runwell shows off the craftsmanship and simplicity of the design. This allows the viewer to focus on and appreciate each of the Runwell’s distinctive attributes.
Organic vs. Graphic
Recently I found a local maker who crafts very unique handbags. By local I mean 2 blocks from my studio. Future Glory has a minimalist style to their handbags so I used a minimalist approach to the photography. The corner where the surface and wall meet is illustrated almost exclusively by the shadow and how it changes angles. I used a hard light to create the shapes of the shadows that fall on the surface and crawl up the wall. One bag has very organic designs and the other a geometric grid pattern. The shadows mimic these designs with a leaf and a triangle. The images are also in opposition in that one has a shadow cast onto the bag. The other has a triangle of light beaming down onto the bag. The positive and negative space created with the light and shadow is opposite in the two images. You can learn more about Future Glory by clicking here.
Colored Shadows
Styles and trends have a tendency to come back around over time. I've found myself attracted to an older lighting technique we used to use often in the 90s. Colored gels were used to fill in shadows and create colorful images.
My new work is a play on that technique but a touch refined. When a shadow is filled with color it becomes more of an element in the photo, making things more colorful and graphic.
More Bags
I’m exploring more with dramatic lighting on products. This time I was working with more rugged bags and chose stronger lighting to accentuate them. The shadows are darker than I often do, which adds to the mood of the photos.
The above photo features the Spectre Backpack and other items made by Triple Aught Design.
The photo below features the Journeyman backpack and other items made by Filson.
Bags
There are many important elements of a photo which can drastically change the overall look. Once I have the composition set I work on the lighting. This can range from soft, shadowless lighting all the way to hard light with deep, dark shadows. For these images I chose lighting in between the 2 extremes...to give it some depth and character while still highlighting the product.
The photos feature Spicer Bags (www.spicerbags.com), from a cool company that makes their bags here in San Francisco.
Gallery Of Shoes
Recently I’ve been receiving more requests for shoe photos in my portfolio. I’ve decided it was time to embrace my love for shoes and create whole gallery of shoes. I've added some new photos from ideas that have been brewing. Shoes have such a personality, which makes them fun to photograph.
Below are two photos from the new gallery coupled with behind the scene photos.
Shadows
Shadows are always fun to play with. In this new set of photos I’ve picked food with a unique shape. They are floating in a surreal environment showcasing their shadows. Looking at the shadow you can immediately recall what fruit or vegetable created it.
Flowers
Spring is here and so are all the beautiful flowers. I’ve updated my portfolio with 5 flower photos. I’ve taken two different approaches to photographing them. You can see the new work here.
Sightglass
It was nice to have the opportunity to work with Kyle and Geoff again. They aren’t strangers to my blog. A search for Dwell on my site will most likely reveal a photo of them. This time we worked to revamp e-commerce photos for Sightglass, an independent coffee company in San Francisco.
Our goal was to capture the products in a consistent way so the photos would family well together. We didn’t want the camera angle to jump around so we chose to photograph everything from the same perspective. This meant, for instance, that coffee filters and patches couldn’t just lie flat on the table. Instead we posed them in the same vertical positions as coffee cups. We will repeat this approach when new items are added in the next few months so that they will still family with the first photos. Moreover, the files were delivered with transparent layers. This will allow Sightglass to use the images on white as well as off-white backgrounds.
Now go buy something at Sightglass.com.
Fun with Acrylic
It’s always rewarding when the client is up for something more playful. In the current issue of Macworld we used circular acrylic to ad some fun to their feature on the two new iPads. It was decided the day before the shoot, thankfully Tap Plastics was able to turn around circular acrylic over night.
I’ve also post the covers to some past Macworld magazines that I never posted
Pebble Watches
MIT Technology Review featured the Pebble watch in an articled entitled "10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2013" in their current issue. I was fortunate to photograph the watches at Pebble headquarters and work directly with founder Eric Migicovsky. Their Kickstarter story made history and getting my hands on these watches for a day was super exciting.
Exploratorium and SF Magazine.
The Exploratorium in San Francisco has moved in to a new location that's going to make it one of the biggest attractions in the city. San Francisco Magazine asked me to capture a couple of photos of the new location before it opens. The museum's crew spent a day moving construction materials and equipment out of the way just so I could get a clean shot. It is a beautiful new space for the museum. I knew I wanted a soft light to showcase the building.
We were shooting other areas inside the building when I noticed the sun outside was how I envisioned it would be to capture an exterior photo. We rushed outside and got this shot just in time!
This is my favorite image they used for the spread (plus a behind-the-scenes photo). The magazine is on newsstands now and also
.
Portfolio and Blog Update
It was a busy and productive 2012. We finally updated the website with new images from the previous year. On top of that, check out a revamp update to the blog. The Posterous era has come to an end. Therefore, a new blog engine needed to be used. With the change comes great opportunities for minor improvements. So, we decided to incorporate more social features to the blog. You can now subscribe via email, link to my Instagram and it includes a much better comment section with the help of Disqus. Have at it and take a look…comments are welcome.
San Francisco Magazine Cover
I was very happy to be asked to work on the October issue of San Francisco Magazine. It is always great to collaborate with clients that have creative ideas. After talking with them about what they needed I set out to photograph all the parts to c...
Read MoreMotion and stills
More and more frequently magazines are creating interactive versions of their print magazines rather then just a static copy of it. Recently Macworld magazine has created issues for the iPad that works with Apple's Newsstand.My role as the photogr...
Read MoreGrace Kelly
San Francisco Magazine approach me with another great idea that got the creative juices flowing. This time it involved a scarf with a Grace Kelly inspired look. The twist was to have no one wearing the scarf, making it a free floating subject. The...
Read MoreHanging with Bikes
I love bikes, especially well designed and functional urban bikes and accessories. Naturally, I was excited when Dwell approached me to photograph some beautiful bike gear. The idea was to photograph 3 bikes hanging on colored backgrounds. Normall...
Read MoreiPad at Macworld
I was approached by Rob (the art director at Macworld) about their up coming feature "iPad on the Job." We both thought it would be a good idea to try something new. Rather than shoot small sets in my studio we thought it would be appropriate and ...
Read MoreThe Brokenmusicbox Full Album
The cover for the single, "We Will" was a teaser for the full album???which I'm excited to say is out in it's full glory. The music, design and photography have all come together in harmony to form an exciting album. How was it all done?? We met wit...
Read MoreEditors' Choice
The latest issue of Macworld Magazine gave me the chance to use my new 100-400mm lens. San Francisco is the perfect city for it! Every neighborhood has a view. It is crazy how many tourists come and go to famous landmarks. They take their photo an...
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