New Images for Peter Ross

Peter Ross is one of the very best ironworkers in the country.  He spent nearly 20 years at Jamestown, Virginia, as a blacksmith and whitesmith, producing meticulous reproductions of historical ironworking from the colonial period.  He uses for the most part period tools and materials and produces such items as door hardware, including a variety of antique lock designs, and a range of other items including these candle sticks.  These candlesticks are based on a popular design from the 1700's. 

Peter moved to central North Carolina a couple of years ago and I've been shooting for him since that time.  You can find more about Peter and his work at http://peterrossblacksmith.com/.

New Images for Mark Hewitt's Current Exhibition

Well-known North Carolina potter Mark Hewitt has an exhibition underway at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans.  It is entitled "Big-Hearted Pots" and features 16 of Marks largest pieces.  Mark asked me to photograph the pieces in December, before they left for the show.  They were gathered from a number of private collection and assembled at my studio, and for a brief period of time I probably had in my possession the finest collection of Mark Hewitt's large pots anywhere in the world.  The images we produced will be published, along with several articles, in a catalog publication which will accompany the exhibit.

One issue we faced was how cold it was during the week we had to shoot the pots.  My garage space, where we had to store the pots, is completely unheated.  I knew that if I brought a pot into the studio that had stood for several days in 20-degree temperatures it would sweat.  To avoid this I build a tent in my garage which I could seal, and placed a space heater in it.  It worked perfectly.  Then we just rolled the pot into the studio on a dolly for its close-up.  At the end, the Ogden sent a truck to collect the pots and take them to the Big Easy.

Superb New Work by Linda Dalton

These are new Saggar- fired pieces by Linda Dalton.  She uses a process similar to traditional raku firing, with the addition of her own unique elements.  One of my favorite elements is the use of botanicals, which are carbonized onto the surface of the pot during the firing process.  One piece here is of particular interest, the tall piece with the bamboo on top and the fern on the side.  It was recently chosen, along with about a dozen others by area artists, for an exclusive exhibit of North Carolina craft at the Governor's Mansion, and is currently resting on the mantle over the fireplace in the mansion's living room.  It will be on display for two months, through October at least. 

Once again, my challenge, is to find ways to wrap light around a 3D piece and use highlights, shadows and reflections to help the viewer learn about the shape and texture of an object they will not be able to touch.  I use all hot lights, no strobes, ever.  For the tall piece I used a large soft source at a quarter angle for the key, and flagged it for the background, then accented the piece with three small fresnels, one overhead and behind putting a highlight on the bamboo, and the other two off to the right giving the edge on the shadow side and picking out the folded edge of the clay.  Sure, you could put up a couple of soft boxes up and bash it with strobes, like a lot of supposedly good and well-known photographers do, but you can't get this, doing that.

Wonderful New Pieces by Larry Favorite

I love shooting Larry's work because that means I get to pick it up, hold it, turn it in my hands, feel the weight, see the light play across the surface, and enjoy the amazing cleanliness of line and finish.  Larry's curves are as graceful as a flower stem, even though he is working in ironwood, probably the hardest wood in the world.  His inlay of turquoise is just stunning in its complexity and detail.  Larry uses no applied finish on his work such as a varnish or oil.  Since the wood is nearly as hard as stone,  he polishes it the way one would polish a piece of marble, with successive finer and finer polishing compounds, until the wood reaches a natural luster.  I do my best to capture the beauty from a single angle using a combination of hard and soft directional light, but the wood reveals its true iridescence when you can turn it in the light.  You'll just have to see it for yourself.  Larry shows his work at top shows and galleries in the area and around the country.

Spectcular New Work by Andy Smith

These are new images for one of North Carolina's best ceramic artists.  Andy Smith shows in many of the nation's top shows including the Smithsonian Craft Show, and he has two pieces in the Smithsonian's permanent collection.  I have been honored to have the opportunity to photograph his work for several years.  His work is always changing, generally in the raku tradition but with a very unique and personal spin.  Several of these pieces presented the challenge of revealing their unusual shape, which can be difficult to grasp in a 2D image.  I do it by employing very large, soft, back and edge lights which wrap around the piece and pick out critical areas with highlight and shadow, in addition to using a strong directional key light.  I finish the shots by flagging the background to create a pool-of-light effect which brings the piece out from the background and presents it, while at the same time adding to the dramatic quality of the shot.  I was pleased with the results, but in the end the client is the final arbiter, and Andy was quite happy with the finished shots.

New Images for Nadine Zenobi

Nadine is a goldsmith and silversmith from Chapel Hill, NC.  Her work is always intriguing because of the animal imagery in some of the pieces, which she portrays with a caring and thoughtful touch, as she tries to evoke something of the spirit of the animals portrayed, as well as their images.  I've been shooting for Nadine for several years and my images have recently helped her jury into the Carolina Designer Craftsmen guild,although of course the real credit goes to the quality and artistry of the work.

New Pix for Debora Muhl

These are pieces made by Debora Muhl.  Debora is a recent transplant to North Carolina, from Philadelphia.  Her work has been featured in numerous magazines, and she has juried into the Smithsonian Craft Show for the past few years.  She is almost as meticulous about her photography as she is about her work.  We spent several hours just on the shot of the vessel piece, but it was very challenging to get just the right wrap-around with just the right softness to the light and the shadows, to get the right amount of light into the shadows, and control the highlights - the sweetgrass has a soft sheen to it which we wanted to capture, without letting it glare.  The wall-hanging pieces were nearly as challenging for most of the same reasons.  Debora has been working with a well-know photographer in Bethlehem, PA, and was understandably skeptical about finding a photographer of that quality here in NC.  In the end she was quite happy with the work.