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ITI (Industiral Tools Inc.) manufactures various products that are extreme precision cutting and grinding blades, spacers and arbors. For a time, they also produced the large computer and laser guided millling machines to be used with their arbors and blades. It was at that time that I first started doing their photography for them and, at their request, brought in a fine graphic designer to produce their ads, sales sheets and brochres.
With the blades, grinders and arbors, the object was to communicate precision. So I shot the blades and arbors on a high gloss background that had a ground cross hatch of lines similar to those created with their grinders. The photos were shot large format for crisp detail and great tonal range.
The milling machines presented quite a different problem. Some of them were cased in brushed stainless steel so had to be lit very carefully. The studio would have been the best location but these machines could not be moved. They were only ready to shoot as the freight company was standing around itching to use the fork lift and take them away. It was the only time the machines were cleaned up and ready to photograph.
In addition, there was seldom room to put a clean back drop and set up lighting out of the shot itself. The rooms were often clean rooms, very small or the machines were out on the factory floor which was itself steeped in old oil, metal shavings and broken cement. Not the best conditions to shoot. Made more difficult with over head flourescent that could only be turned off during the night or lunch breaks. In some situations we actually were able to lift the machines and guide a seamless paper under it. In other situations we have to cut a seamless around the unit. In others we had to patch a seamless around the unit and when PhotoShop was introduced we could them photograph the background separately and place the machine on it retaining the drop shadow which, because it had been shot on the same background, blended right it.
This is the type of photography that is very challenging to a photogapher and requires patience and a high degree of trust and willingness to interrupt their production process in order to get the best images of their products possible. ITI did everything they could to make this possible and I was very grateful.
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