Feeding a “Texture-holic”
It’s no secret that I’m a texture-holic…I love visual and tactile textures. I can’t get enough.
Amy and I have a friend (Kristin Murray) who is an accomplished potter…or is it potterer? Ceramicist? I don’t know the technical or appropriate title…she’s a talented artist who works with clay and glazes and bisques and fire and other mediums to create unique usable vessels. Her work is definitely an intersection of form and function.
The depth of color and texture in Kristin’s work is what draws me in. (Homer Simpson voice: “Mmm…texture”.) In photographing her work we were able to accentuate the subtle beauty in each of her pieces…sometimes seeing detail with the camera that we couldn’t with our naked eye (thanks to the 40 megapixel PhaseOne digital back).
On the technical side, I often get questions about shooting with “natural light” or “available light”. People love the feel and the mood of natural lighting. I do, too. There’s an old saying about shooting “available light”…a photographer will shoot with any light “available”…strobes, lamps, sun, etc.
Shooting natural light is fast and the results are wonderful given the right circumstances, but…there are external factors that effect shooting with natural light. The time of year can play a big role with the angle of the sun and the number of daylight hours. And then there’s the weather, oh the weather. When we’re at the mercy of the weather I don’t get much sleep the night before a shoot. (See video of how rain made a surprise visit to a location shoot. Click here.)
Yes, I admit, I’m a bit of a control freak. I like predictability. I thrive on being able to produce consistent results. We’re already navigating a number of other variables on a shoot…that’s why I like to have control of lighting as much as possible. So, in most cases we recreate the “natural” look in the studio so we can get the job done rain or shine, year round.
On a personal note, Amy and I actually have a set of Kristin’s bowls we use at home and they are very functional and add a nice aesthetic to our meals…even when it’s corn flakes.
-Kyle
