Product Photography for GSC Power Division

I’m not a grease monkey. And I’m not really into cars. But I do find the technology and mechanics that go into these amazing machines absolutely fascinating!

So it was with great excitement that I took the assignment to photograph some custom high-performance engine components for GSC Power Division. From cam shafts to exhaust valves to valve springs…there were so many cool pieces to the puzzle that needed to be captured. It was like photographing tiny works of art carved out of blocks of titanium, bronze and steel!

I set up shop in a corner of the company’s headquarters in North Charleston. I had my Nikon D5 with 105mm Micro lens tethered to the laptop, allowing the art director to see what I was shooting as we collaborated to get the best shots. Lighting was provided by 4 Nikon SB-5000 Speedlight flashes on Manfrotto stands with various Westcott light modifiers.

Many thanks to Greg for bringing us in on this project, and to Audrey for lending her creative eye to the shoot!

Art Installation for Addison de Lisle

Thanks to the kind referral from my friend Leigh Webber, I had the pleasure of photographing something really cool and unique the other day!

Addison de Lisle, who is the Professor of Blacksmithing at American College of the Building Arts, was commissioned by the Unitarian Church of Charleston to create a unique piece to go in their sanctuary. He came up with this stunning beauty!

I got to be there on the day it was revealed and installed at the church. Using a Nikon D5 with a Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 lens and 4 off-camera SB-5000 flashes in various configurations, I captured a number of shots of Addison’s artwork for his portfolio. We photographed it in various locations around the sanctuary. I also set up a gray seamless backdrop by Savage for a few studio portraits of it.

It was really neat to see and photograph Addison’s sculpture. Well done sir!!!

Addison de Lisle, American College of the Building Arts, Charleston Art Photographer, Charleston Blacksmith Photographer, Charleston Business Photographer, Charleston Commercial Photographer, Charleston Corporate Photographer, Charleston Product Photographer, Charleston Sculpture Photographer, Chris & Cami Photography, D5, Nikkor, Nikon, Nikon Love, Nikon Pro, Nikon USA, OCF, Off Camera Flash, SB-5000, Speedlight, Unitarian Church, Unitarian Church of Charleston

Behind-the-Scenes Fashion Shoot

Today’s photo shoot finds me at Pixel Studios, where I’m photographing a high-key fashion shoot for an upcoming style book called Thirty Classic Garments.

Follow along on this behind-the-scenes video. Created with the help of studio owner and fellow photographer, LeRoy, we discuss the high-key lighting setup, using gels to color the background, and switching to neutral gray for a different look. We also go through how to shoot tethered to a laptop. And of course we talk about Nikon vs Canon vs Sony vs Panasonic vs Olympus vs Everybody Else!

Look for Sarah & Julie’s new book, Thirty Classic Garments, in stores soon. In the meantime, check out their previous book, The Tunic Bible at: https://goo.gl/Dj4ahm.

Visit out Pixel Studios at: https://goo.gl/CAo4Sm.

If you have any questions, leave them in the comments. I always respond. If you like this video, please give us a Thumbs Up, Subscribe to the channel, and Share with all your friends and family!

GEAR FOR THIS SHOOT: Nikon D850 (http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/…) Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 (https://goo.gl/HFXUgF) Alien Bee Strobes (http://www.alienbees.com/flash.html) Lenove Yoga 900 (https://goo.gl/YKyVN1).

CB500X Acropovic Knockoff Upgrade

Trinity has a new pipe!

This morning Trinity and I rode over to my friend Mike’s place. He helped me swap out the old OEM exhaust for a smaller, lighter, and throatier aftermarket slip-on I had ordered. The new exhaust is basically a knockoff of a popular product by Akrapovic. Click Here for a link to the item.

The retailer is out of Kentucky. So the exhaust arrived in just a couple days. Installation was a breeze, except for the fact that the Givi pannier rack I had previously installed made fitting the final bolt into place REALLY tight!  Since I carry a lot of heavy camera gear in the panniers on my way to photo shoots, I was advised to find ways to reduce the weight of Trinity’s *ahem* rear end.  One of the biggest weight savings was replacing the OEM battery with a new lithium ion one last year.  The new carbon fiber exhaust saves at least half as much in weight over the old factory steel can. So the weight is much more balanced now.  Plus the new pipe sounds great. I’m very pleased with the addition!!!

After the install, Mike, Stacy, and I went out for a celebratory brunch at Madra Rua Irish Pub. Then it was off to a beautiful Sunday afternoon ride… 🙂

The Trifecta

Being a full-time professional photographer often requires wearing many hats. Usually those hats don’t come into play at the same shoot!

One day might find you photographing professional head-shots for a client’s website. The next day, you might be creating product photography for a retail storefront. Then on your day off, maybe you capture some amazing wildlife encounter.

This week at the Center for Birds of Prey, I had the pleasure of photographing all three in one day!!!

Product Photography for Just Kenzie Jewelry

“Just Kenzie Jewelry is a product of the stirrings of my imagination”, writes Mackenzie King.  How cool is that?!?

It’s always such a pleasure working with this amazing, talented, beautiful, and giving young lady. From capturing their wedding, to photographing product photos of her wearable art, I always enjoy every shoot we do together!!!

If you’re looking for a fabulous and unique gift for that special someone, even if that someone is yourself, I highly recommend www.justkenzie.com.

Product Photography

Although I primarily showcase our wedding/portrait work on here, we photograph a wide variety of subjects and genres.  So I thought I’d write a post about a fun shoot I did for healer Ayal Hurst the other day.  She’s a long-time client of ours and so full of positive energy.  It’s always a pleasure working with her.  Plus she’s a fellow artist, designing and creating beautiful jewelry and truly unique paintings with depth and dimension like you’ve never seen before!  Her and her husband also run a very peaceful Bed No Breakfast downtown.

When photographing Products and art, it’s important to use feathering techniques to prevent hotspots.  Feathering the light means not pointing it directly at your subject, but aiming it such that just the softer “edge” of the light source illuminates the product.  Here I used a soft-box with 2 SB-800 strobes coming in from the right.  Feathering gave me “almost” even illumination across the camera plane.  But I added an umbrella with a single SB-800 from the left to fill in and further even out the exposure.  All strobes were triggered by an SB-900 Commander on my D3, pointed backwards AWAY from the painting so as not to create any glare, and controlled via RadioPoppers.