WHY YOUR NEXT PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHER SHOULD SPECIALIZE IN PORTRAITS – 11.19.14
I don't shoot product.
Well, not as a rule. But who can resist shooting EMC’s worldwide release for their kick-ass VMAX data storage systems?
The units are as big as a refrigerator and sport a mixture of highly-reflective surfaces, matte perforated metal, and inner LED glows — a veritable photographic Disneyland and House of Horrors.
These days, I’m usually photographing people, but many clients know that in a former life I used to be one of Boston's top product photographers. I actually enjoy spending days in a dark room moving a light head around by fractions of an inch until it's just right. And color-balancing the strobe light with the colored light emanating from a product. And gracefully handling highly reflective surfaces. Because you don't light a product like an EMC rack system, you create an environment that its reflective surfaces can "see" and come alive around. Whereas shooting portraits celebrates the emotions and uniqueness of the moment, still-life work explores the technical perfection of a subject.
A technical challenge for sure: probably the hardest thing you can think of to shoot. Except for maybe the human face.
“David is a superlative photographer. Beautiful product photography with wonderful lighting, interesting angles full of depth and nuance.” -Denise LeBlanc, Principle Graphic Designer, Brand and Creative, EMC Corporation.