Washington Dulles international Airport (IAD) has a new people mover system called the AeroTrain. The system utilizes 29 Mitsubishi Crystal Movers. Last week we photographed the AeroTrains for Mitsubishi. The Aerotrain is a welcome addition to Dulles Airport. As a photographer, I travel frequently with lots of heavy bags of camera gear, so I appreciate riding on a shuttle train instead of walking.
Unfortunately, there was still too much snow on the ground to do any outdoor photography. It was a real rush to get the trains lined up in the maintenance facility before they went into service for the day. I hope to go back and shoot the trains in motion with some planes in the background. I love doing this kind of industrial photography of planes, trains and automobiles; most photographers like big shiny stuff that moves fast.
When the image will be displayed on white, I sometimes like there to be a slight bit of tone in the background. For you Photoshop people, 248 is usually dimmed down enough. This slightly dimmed down white creates a background for the image. Framing the image with a thin black or gray line is another option for keeping it from floating away.
The same principle of adding a little tone to the background applies to Product photography as well. In addition, drop shadow are often added. The shadow grounds the product, making it look as though it’s actually sitting on something. Creating realistic drop shadows is a snap, once you’ve done it a couple of hundred times.
Keep these choices in mind when you need photography on white backgrounds. The best solution is always the one that looks best in the final design.
We do two kinds of Fine Art Photography here at Stewart Photography: Original Works and Reproductions. Original works are images that I create from my own vision and Reproductions are “copy work” of other artists painting and drawings.
Sometimes the two merge and I’m confused about authorship of the final piece. By the time I’m done with my interpretation of an artist piece, it’s become more my work than his. Such is the case in the piece above and much of my glass abstract photography. I start with a wonderful piece and ad my own light, science, and magic. When I’m done, it’s not glass, it’s ink on paper or metal. Yes I said metal, I’m experimenting with printing pigmented inkjet on metal.
The photograph above was made in Richmond Virginia for Michael Church, who is a genius with glass. His pieces are rich and deep. I could look at them for a lifetime and see something new every time the light hits the glass. This instillation is in the Sun Trust Building in Richmond. He put together this multimedia slideshow from some of the images we made for him:
