DYCP - WIP photoshoot
The value of a professional photographer
For this project I wanted a few things from the photoshoot, some quality shots of my patination samples, some work in progress shots and a new maker profile image (my last one is 10 years old), . I take a lot of photos using my camera phone which is fine for everyday. However, sometimes the shot works better with me in it (not selfie style) and sometimes I need really high quality images. So I commissioned Scott Murray to come over to Sheffield for a whole day to take some photos
Scott travelled over to Sheffield in July to take some shots and he captured everything I wanted him to and more! I am sharing a few of the shots here including a couple of me, a very rare occurrence. Also how do you know I was even there without the digital evidence? Haha
Documenting the process - Photography
One of the things I love most about the hands on processes I use is seeing the transformation happen so I usually take loads of photographs during the making process to capture the unseen bits in between. As part of this project I wanted to get some professional shots of the work in progress that I can’t easily achieve myself and I am so pleased with the images.
These images below show the three main stages of raising a vessel, these stages are repeated until you get your desired form. There are other techniques that can achieve similar results (not the same) which are quicker, machine aided and usually for batch production. For this reason I feel really passionate about sharing the stages of my work because everything is done by my hand and every piece is unique.
Patina experiments
During the research and development process I have had a lot of fun playing with colour and pattern on the surface of metal. One of the things that struck me when I was taking my own photos was how cool the test pieces looked up close. I asked Scott to bring his macro lens to get some close up detailed shots of the patina experiments. Some of the shots are quite close up but because they are such good quality I can focus in a lot more and choose sections that I really like. I will be experimenting more with this soon so watch this space.
How old is your profile picture?
I don’t know about you but I was long overdue an updated maker picture! About 10 years to be exact! I am not a natural in front of the camera and I don’t mind admitting it. However I think its really important to show willing when it comes to my professional image and Scott really helped me to not overthink it. I always like to see the face behind the work, as I think many people do, so here you go 2 for 1!
