Industrial and Corporate Photography

Container Tug Assist

Containerization has its origins in early coal mining regions in England and Germany from the late 1700s on. The global standardization of containers and container handling equipment was an important innovation in 20th century logistics.

Architecture Reflections

Lighting is a crucial part of architectural photography. Hard sun is usually preferable to show angles and lines with contrast and shadow. Scouting the situation with a compass before the shoot will circumvent any surprises. Make sure security knows your coming. They love photographers.

Corporate/Editorial Portrait

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

The surroundings or background is a key element in environmental portraiture, and is used to convey further information about the person being photographed and to create a high level of visual interest. The four key elements that make this photo interesting are
1. a reflective surface introduced in the foreground
2. shallow depth of field to keep the background ambiguous
3. an amber gel on the background to contrast the blue suit
4. a skewed camera angle to create excitement (aren't you excited?)

Buffalo Chopper; Where Hamburger Comes From...

The origin of the name of the Buffalo Chopper food processing machine is in doubt. While some people claim its name is derived from its shape, others claim that the first machines were used in Buffalo, New York. Still, other people say that the Buffalo Chopper got its name because it was used originally to process tougher meats, and buffalo certainly falls into that category. While the origin cannot be authenticated, the use of the Buffalo Chopper is widespread today.

Computer Hard Drive

A typical HDD design consists of a spindle that holds flat circular disks called platters, onto which the data are recorded. The platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminum alloy or glass, and are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material. The platters are spun at speeds varying from 3,000 RPM in energy-efficient portable devices, to 15,000 RPM for high performance servers.

Container Crane Symmetry

A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime container terminal. Alternatively the transshipment may be between land vehicles, typically between train and truck, in which case the terminal is described as an inland container terminal.

Corporate Portrait

We've used a very shallow depth of field to soften the edges and create a warm persona. The main light light was a softbox; used primarily for it's soft effect and for light containment. A small reflector filled harsh shadows from the primary light. The second light is a harder hair light spilling onto the cheek to add depth and dimension. Finally, the third light is just for the background.

Early Light Reveals Structure & Adds Drama

When photographing modern architecture you can get away with using a much more modern, abstract style. Experiment with wide angle lenses to produce extreme perspective, or photograph the building from unusual angles. If proximity is an issue, consider stitching panoramas. When shooting with cameras with no front of rear movements (4x5 or 8x10 view camera; the camera traditionally used for architecture), corrections will most likely need to be made for keystoning or converging lines. This can be accomplished easily with image processing programs.

Environmental Portrait

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

Environmental Portrait

Industrial photography requires a lot of energy, patience and lateral thinking. Most industrial situations are dirty, cluttered and visually confusing. Machines and materials may (or not) be moved and/or cleaned, however, the most powerful weapon is lightning. If it’s not lit, you can’t see it! Broad light sources seldom benefit the image as they contaminate the entire set. Using grids to specifically light critical areas is tedious but will produce the desired effects. Colored gels can also augment the scene by separating subjects, equipment, materials and background.

Container Yard Loading Cranes

A container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example trains or trucks, in which case the terminal is described as a maritime container terminal. Alternatively the transshipment may be between land vehicles, typically between train and truck, in which case the terminal is described as an inland container terminal.

Fishing Trawler, Hofn, Iceland

Fixing the Giant Straddle

Oxy-fuel welding (commonly called oxyacetylene welding, oxy welding, or gas welding in the U.S.) and oxy-fuel cutting are processes that use fuel gases and oxygen to weld and cut metals, respectively. French engineers Edmond Fouché and Charles Picard became the first to develop oxygen-acetylene welding in 1903. Pure oxygen, instead of air (20% oxygen/80% nitrogen), is used to increase the flame temperature to allow localized melting of the material (e.g. steel) in a room environment. A common propane/air flame burns at about 3,630 °F (2,000 °C), a propane/oxygen flame burns at about 4,530 °F (2,500 °C), and an acetylene/oxygen flame burns at about 6,330 °F (3,500 °C).

Environmental Portrait

For Accounting Technology... Restricted to shooting in a boardroom, a slightly canted angle can add excitement to a linear scene. Extra space left at the top for the masthead.

Geothermal Power Plant, Hawaii

Geothermal Power Plant, Hawaii

Geothermal energy is thermal energy generated and stored in the Earth. Thermal energy is energy that determines the temperature of matter. Earth's geothermal energy originates from the original formation of the planet, from radioactive decay of minerals, from volcanic activity, and from solar energy absorbed at the surface. The geothermal gradient, which is the difference in temperature between the core of the planet and its surface, drives a continuous conduction of thermal energy in the form of heat from the core to the surface.

Hot Stuff - Steel Mill

A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or carried to the next stage as molten iron. In the second stage, known as steelmaking, impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and excess carbon are removed and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium and vanadium are added to produce the exact steel required. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century the world's largest steel mill was located in Barrow-in-Furness, UK. Today, the world's largest steel mill is in Gwangyang, South Korea.

Krafla Geothermal Power Plant, Iceland

Since 1977 the Krafla area has been the source of the geothermal energy used by a 60 MWe power station. A survey undertaken in 2006 indicated very high temperatures at depths of between 3 and 5 kilometers and these favorable conditions have led to the development of the first well from the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), that found magma only 2.1 km deep.

Location Shoot for Magazine Cover

An environmental portrait is a portrait executed in the subject's usual environment, such as in their home or workplace, and typically illuminates the subject's life and surroundings. The term is most frequently used of a genre of photography.

While it is often true that the background may dominate the subject, this need not necessarily be so. In fact, the details that convey the message from the surroundings can often be quite small and still be significant. The key seems to be in the symbolism expressed by various elements in the background; for instance, a baseball cap may not tell you much about your subject (unless he or she is a baseball player), but a chef's hat gives you a lot more detail about who he is and what he does.

Making Decorative Glass Plates

Industrial photography requires a lot of energy, patience and lateral thinking. Most industrial situations are dirty, cluttered and visually confusing. Machines and materials may (or not) be moved and/or cleaned, however, the most powerful weapon is lightning. If it’s not lit, you can’t see it! Broad light sources seldom benefit the image as they contaminate the entire set. Using grids to specifically light critical areas is tedious but will produce the desired effects. Colored gels can also augment the scene by separating subjects, equipment, materials and background.

Morning Reflections

When photographing modern architecture you can get away with using a much more modern, abstract style. Experiment with wide angle lenses to produce extreme perspective, or photograph the building from unusual angles. If proximity is an issue, consider stitching panoramas. When shooting with cameras with no front of rear movements (4x5 or 8x10 view camera; the camera traditionally used for architecture), corrections will most likely need to be made for keystoning or converging lines. This can be accomplished easily with image processing programs.

B&W Portrait

Many times color can distract from the image. The most important elements of a photograph are light and form.

Paleontologist working with primative fossil reptile Orobates pabsti from Germany
Fossil Reptile, Orobates pabsti, Diadectomorpha, Diadectidea, Early Permian, Germany, Bromacker Locality

Printer's Inks

Silicon Wafers

Silicon wafers are highly polished and very reflective, so much so that you don't see them, only the light they reflect!

A wafer is a thin slice of semiconductor material, such as a silicon crystal, used in the fabrication of integrated circuits and other microdevices. The wafer serves as the substrate for microelectronic devices built in and over the wafer and undergoes many microfabrication process steps such as doping or ion implantation, etching, deposition of various materials, and photolithographic patterning. Finally the individual microcircuits are separated (dicing) and packaged.

industryelectronicsreflectionchipscomputerSiliconwaferWafersEtchedCircuits

Soil & Water Testing

Modern hazardous waste regulations in the U.S. began with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) which was enacted in 1976. The primary contribution of RCRA was to create a "cradle to grave" system of record keeping for hazardous wastes. Hazardous wastes must be tracked from the time they are generated until their final disposition.

RCRA's record keeping system helps to track the life cycle of hazardous waste and reduces the amount of hazardous waste illegally disposed.

Steel Mill Impressions

A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or carried to the next stage as molten iron. In the second stage, known as steelmaking, impurities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and excess carbon are removed and alloying elements such as manganese, nickel, chromium and vanadium are added to produce the exact steel required. In the late 19th Century and early 20th Century the world's largest steel mill was located in Barrow-in-Furness, UK. Today, the world's largest steel mill is in Gwangyang, South Korea.

Steel Workers on I Beam

Tank Farm Aerial, Linden, New Jersey

Fossil fuel imports are collected in tank farms near costal metropolitan areas for refining and consumption. An oil depot (sometimes called a tank farm, installation or oil terminal) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil and/or petrochemical products and from which these products are usually transported to end users or further storage facilities. An oil depot typically has tankage, either above ground or underground, and gantries for the discharge of products into road tankers or other vehicles (such as barges) or pipelines.

Visitors at Biosphere II, Oracle, Arizona

With a size comparable to two and a half football fields, it remains the largest closed system ever created. The glass facility is elevated nearly 4,000 feet above sea level at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains.[3] The sealed nature of the structure allowed scientists to monitor the continually changing chemistry of the air, water and soil contained within. Health of the human crew was monitored by a medical doctor inside and an outside medical team.

Environmental Portrait

We found a nice location for a portrait. Aside from providing an exciting backdrop, the windows reflect everything in the room (all our equipment). We used four lights and a reflector, being careful not to illuminate anything that the windows could see. Light stands were wrapped in black cloth.

Rubber Component Manufacturing Facility

Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds plus water. Forms of polyisoprene that are useful as natural rubbers are classified as elastomers. Currently, rubber is harvested mainly in the form of the latex from certain trees. The latex is a sticky, milky colloid drawn off by making incisions into the bark and collecting the fluid in vessels in a process called "tapping". The latex then is refined into rubber ready for commercial processing. Natural rubber is used extensively in many applications and products, either alone or in combination with other materials. In most of its useful forms, it has a large stretch ratio, high resilience, and is extremely waterproof.