The right light to make the best sculpture photographs in ABQ
It was great to have Sharon back in the JCP Home Studio with two more of her sculptures. I was surprised our first shoot was already over 1.5 yers ago! Last time we used a white seamless background, but Sharon wanted something this time for the limestone fox and marble birds. I suggested using one of my stone surface Duo Boards with just a black V-flat background. A little bit of tweaking of the light, adding a reflector, and voila, I was able to produce the high impact sculpture photos below (see the BTS shot for how I set things up). Shooting tethered really help me show Sharon how the light wrapped her sculpture in real time, so we could add some fill light with a reflector when needed for certain views of the sculptures. I of course welcome artist input during the entire shoot, as Sharon knows the views of her sculptures the best! Thank you Sharon for continuing to choose me as the photographer for your fantastic artwork!
New ceramic artist brings her work for professional photographs in ABQ
Some of my favorite clients to work with are local New Mexico artists and I am always most flattered when an artist chooses me to photograph their work. Such was the case when Dee visited the JCP Home Studio with her ceramic artwork to get professional photos made for Etsy and art shows. She stayed for the entire shoot as I welcome artist input for getting the best angle of the pieces, after all, it is their work and they know it best! We worked together to make the best photos to show her work online and carefully chose the lighting and background, in addition to positioning the pieces. Check out Dee’s Etsy page to buy her work online, and even better, go in person to see her work and other artists too at an art show in Corrales, New Mexico on December 3rd, 4th, and 5th 2021. Thank you Dee for choosing me as your art photographer and I look forward to your next series!
Sharon had a long time photographer partner for her sculptures (check out her website). So when it came to finding another photographer to continue photographing her work, she searched for a long time, and I am glad to say she found and chose me! I always prefer the artist to present and have input, especially for the first photo shoot, after all, she knows which angles and perspectives are best of her own artwork! Sharon brought over five sculptures and with her placement and the simple, but effective lighting setup I had, it was a very smooth and productive art photo shoot. Thank you Sharon for choosing me as your new art photographer for your sculptures and I look forward to photographing your future work. And thank you for the 5-star Google review before I even delivered the photos!
Driving down a valley road in southern Arizona, I could not have been more surprised with how delightful I found the small, hidden town of Bisbee. I have never seen a town wedged into a very narrow, very steep valley like Bisbee is. The topography forces some creative home building, such as walls for leveling out the property. What do the people of Bisbee do with these walls? Many of them embedded colorful glass bottles into them! And the narrow gaps between houses? Well you might find and art museum amount of paintings hanging up! I highly recommend visiting Bisbee someday and feeling the great vibe of this hidden gem of a town.
Long-time photography client Noah Starer has made the transition from ceramic artist to glass artist in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It took me some time to figure out the technical aspects of photographing his ceramic work to his desired style outcome, but that time compared to how long it took me to figure out how to photograph this new series of glassware was well, incomparable. It took hours and lots of trial and error to get a shooting setup that minimized glare first, then reflections second. Most of the pieces were glossy and made of reflective glass, so you can imagine the challenge involved when you need to use off camera lighting to make them pop, and then stand in front of the piece of glass to actually photograph it. You can see the BTS shot of what I finally settled on as a shooting setup at the far bottom of this post.
While wondering around downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico as part of the First Friday Art Walk event, a curious looking space had its door open allowing views of swirling color. To my surprise this visual art event was dog friendly so in we went! As you walk on the floor, color moves. How does it to that? Seemed like magic! Tables flow with changing patterns that react to hand movements, also seemingly by magic! People really loved interacting with light and color and art. This was a fantastic stumble upon experience!
Noah Starer is a regular art photography client based in Santa Fe. He is a very original ceramic artist. This time he brought to the JCP Home Studio these eye catching wall ceramic art pieces. I think they look like the ocean and the Earth with their respective swirling color blends. Imagine one of these pieces across from your desk giving your eyes and mind a creative break seeing something different in the piece every time it is looked at.
