Who doesn’t love to watch the smelting process unfold? When I first started photographing gold pours I as truly amazed at the process. The heat, the smell, the shifting glow from the furnace all captivated my creative senses.
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It’s a momentous occasion and one that should be documented for any company, the gold pour. It’s fast, it’s hot and in order to get an ideal image some planning needs to be done in regards to when what where and how.
There is a process to the pour and specific steps need to be completed before we proceed with the capture. When and where is the technician going to be and how do you successfully capture the composition while remaining safe and out of the way during the whole process? How do you frame the image for marketable use and how do you coordinate the ambient lighting as well as the intensive glow during the pour?
We go through “practice pours” and I note what movements the technician takes within the operating space so we can safely capture the image. There is a lot of movement in close quarters so safe positioning of equipment and personnel are though through. It’s fast, and over in a few seconds and if you don’t have all your measures in place before hand you can easily miss the “money shot”.
It’s always warm in the warm room as I call it. Some are open spaces while others are tight for space where every movement to complete the gold pour process is calculated and timed for maximum safety and efficiency. Looking like astronauts before take off the dance of the gold pour has become one of my favorite things to photograph from start to finish.
