I have been in a lot of shops and get to photograph some cool machinery like this Carlton Radial Drill
Every once in awhile I will have the opportunity to pair two clients into one image. While I was in Val-d’Or Quebec creating images for MacLean Engineering we visited Eldorado Gold’s Lamaque site to capture some underground images with the equipment. I was recently with Eldorado Gold in Greece (with Penda Productions) this past June and had a wonderful experience at their sites just as I knew I would here at the Lamaque Site as the Eldorado Crew is fantastic to work with. We managed to create some excellent images showcasing both companies in their environment and I am thankful to both companies for allowing me to create images of their sites, people and equipment.
It’s personal. Like your favorite jacket or pair of shoes your head protection on the job is a part of you. It’s familiar. I actually take the time to look at the “personalization” of someones headgear. The more it stands out, the better the image I always say.
Well I am on the road to Quebec to go underground with MacLean Engineering again to visit the Eldorado Gold Lamaque site. The last time I visited Val’dor Quebec we were at the Bracemac-Mcleod mine where I photographed this LR3 Boom Lift.
It’s a simple concept when I created this portrait. The lighting, composition as well as the lack of color are all minimal but why does it work? Personally I think it’s the expression on Kevin’s face. A simple smile that says a lot. It’s genuine. You can tell he’s enjoying the session, proud of the work he does for the company he works for www.provincialdoors.com . This image started with a conversation to get to know who he is and what he does and the truth is I am interested in everything he says because not only does he take pride in his work but in our conversation he knows that I take pride in mine and my goal is to capture a portrait that he can be proud of.
Continuing on my last post in regards to cellphone images used in social media and marketing I thought a related visual would “drive” my point home. The importance of having a professional image archive on hand for your company is a must. Think of how many times images are used in your companies marketing. Social media, websites and trade magazines are all part of your companies image and you never know when your product, company or employees will be featured in one of the media. Your product, facilities and your employees are a representation of the company and should always be showcased at their best, especially when showcasing it to the industry. Look at my attached image. Which one has more “impact”. The cellphone snap or the professionally created image? s
A few images I created of a Jumbo for Dumas Mining at the Goldcorp Hoyle Pond Mine located in Timmins Ontario. My intention was to use the leading lines of the long boom arms to bring your eyes directly to the operator where as in the last image your gaze goes directly to the rock face.
Another collaborative image from my time at Copper Mountain located in Beautiful British Columbia.
I have photographed many welders over the years and although the images tend to be similar in fashion I still enjoy the look of the process. Sometimes its tricky to obtain an overall exposure of the entire image due to the arc flash and if you expose for this specific light source the rest of the image will be extremely dark. The flash does throw some great light and dynamic shadows and it is easily enhanced with a little extra lighting illuminating the rest of the subject and shop environment like I did with this image I recently photographed for Provincial Doors in Sudbury www.provincialdoors.com
Shooting the jumbo straight on can be a tricky shot. The lights from the cab need to be exposed properly and when doing so the rest of the image will go almost completely black. In order to light up the 2 booms additional lighting is required but these too must be controlled or the light will spill everywhere and change the “mood” of the image. Additionally lighting up the cab to show the operator also takes some finesse to acquire the correct exposure. This one image may look like a quick shot and it actually is at an exposure faster than a half a second but the setup time takes just a little bit longer.
