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!
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!
There was just enough light left as twilight was arriving to get a few photos of the amazing metal dinosaur sculptures of Rattlesnake Ranch in Benson, Arizona (see map below for directions). These near life-size dinosaurs, though rusting, show their personality, their ferociousness, and some their peaceful nature. For a dinosaur fan, this is a must see and worth going off of the interstate to find. I recommend going near sunset time to get the most out of their desert setting.
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.
On the first Friday of each month downtown Albuquerque becomes an outdoor art exhibit and market, but actually much more than that. You can walk through an interactive light art experience, decorate the streets in chalk, and dance like you are trying to win a contest! Those are just some of the things I witnessed the first Friday in May 2019 in downtown Albuquerque.
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!
