Still Life Photography

I was asked to do still life photography for this large scale gate on location at the premises of Bushy Park Iron Works in Dublin. The photography was completed on a Saturday when the foundry was a little quieter. I really enjoyed working on this piece as each new shot and lighting adjustment brought out a different area of craft, making and structure.

Design and Craft

The gate was commissioned by the owners of a country estate in rural England. The design was inspired by the location the couple had used for their wedding, some twenty years earlier – the Natural History Museum in London. Dinosaurs led to dragons – A mythical creature of strength, grace of flight, guardianship and inspiration.

The piece is a three and a half metres tall and two metres wide steel structure and finished in patinated zinc. It weighs over 300 KG and took the team of designers and craftsmen at Bushy Park four months to complete, from conception to installation.

Photography and Lighting

A background tone of storm grey was decided on after consultation with the client and the designer and a frame was built to accommodate it, as it needed to be considerably larger than the piece itself. It needed to compliment and highlight the monotone nature of the gate.  Once the backdrop had been put in place a fork lift was used to lower it into position. Seven lights were used in the lighting set up for this particular job, a combination of Bowens and Elinchrome monoblocs. Three lights were used for the backdrop and four for the gate itself, with barndoors and snoots picking out the structure details and highlighting the patina of the patinated zinc. The next day it was loaded onto the back of a truck for transportation with the team from Bushy Park.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•