Four Angles on Industrial Photography
The goal of any successful Industrial photography series is to convey the brand attributes the company wishes to broadcast to its clients. Oftentimes there is more than just one. The attributes could be anything from the weighty theme of corporate social responsibility to something as simple as conveying care and concern for clients and customers. In industrial photography, those themes often revolve around safety, reliability of the product and strict adherence to best practices. In consultation with clients, a professional industrial photographer will offer a variety of strategies to accomplish clients’ goals. We’ll take a look at some typical requests from clients and how industrial photographer Diego Cappella was able to meet those needs in visual form.
Angle One:
The in-situ Portraits
Justrite Safety Group, Chicago, Illinois
Most industrial photography will have some worker portraits by default, whether the clients specifically require that or not. These sorts of portraits are very different than the more common commercial and corporate photography or headshots because they play heavily upon the environment in which the subject resides. As an aspect of photography in general, this sort of context-focused portraiture is called in-situ photography (in-situ is literally defined as “in the original space”). The subject is shown in a rich surrounding which offers an opportunity to highlight the given message. For instance, to convey a subject’s intelligence, a photographer may capture the image in situ, against a background of the subject’s study where books line the shelves behind him.
Industrial photographer Diego Cappella has fulfilled many assignments for Justrite, a safety equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. For Justrite – a leader in its industry with a long and rich history in Chicago – marketing relies heavily on industrial photography. Justrite manufactures a wide range of workplace safety products and wanted to reinforce the quality of their products by conveying the company as both protective and trustworthy. “I have to figure out how to humanize things like manufacturing and construction – places where there are a lot of machines and steel, which are cold,” says Cappella, “in Chicago, the industrial photography needed to show the manufacturing process as part of a safe environment with people and products consumers would see as high-quality and reliable.” Cappella captured the culture and values of the company by depicting the everyday people behind the products as they interacted in the environment and with the products they are selling. A warm, inviting portrait, for instance, conveys an approachable worker, someone who has a genuine interest in keeping people safe. A photograph of a worker engaged in the process of production broadcasts a sense of skill and a conscientious approach. Creating these individuals, personal connections creates a halo effect for the products these workers are invested in creating.
Central to industrial photography is the consideration of a wealth of factors. In this case, Cappella had to determine how best to marry the characteristics of individuals as they pertained to the themes inherent in strengthening the Justrite brand. There are a variety of styles and approaches available to a commercial photographer, and a good industrial photographer will have all of them at their disposal. A well-crafted industrial worker portrait can only be created with careful attention to the details that serve to promote the brand. Below are some of the myriad factors considered by an industrial photographer.
Interaction with the environment
This is central to any worker portrait. Is the team member comfortable in their environment? If they are performing a task, do they appear confident, at ease, and in control? Do they emanate a feeling of pride in their work?
Style of dress
Does the organization have uniforms or a dress code? Should the workers be photographed in street clothes or their required work clothes? You might imagine if your portraits are trying to convey trust in say, a large medical firm or a security company, then that white lab coat or blue shirt with a badge is exactly the way to establish professionalism and authority. If your organization is built on production, teams of people working on building and assembling products, then their work overalls are a good choice, or even everyday street clothes as this will help the client understand these are real people - just like you - and you will associate with them as a friend or neighbor. Always consider clothing that features the name of the manufacturer and/or a logo to best combine the message of the photograph with the company brand.
Lighting
A common option for portraits is depicting a warm, soft light (well enough lit to clearly show the elements being highlighted). This not only provides a flattering image of the employee but also conveys a sense of familiarity and connection. If the focus is on the difficult work that these folks do to make certain the products they are providing meet the highest standards, then turn to more dramatic lighting - think ‘hero shots.’
Colors
The psychology of color cannot be overlooked here, and never is by a good industrial photographer. Red is used to provoke strong emotions like power and passion. This might seem like a good idea, but red is also one of the most contradictory colors, allowing more opposing emotional associations than other colors. Greens and blues, on the other hand, can be associated with calm and peaceful emotions. The absence of color – for example, a well-lit, clean white background will convey attention to detail and a sanitary feel. The right use of color will go a long way in determining how images are ‘read’ by clients.
Environmental contrast
Environmental contrast in industrial photography refers to the way the industrial background relates to the people who work there. A professional industrial photographer will be able to convey a sense of the richness of community in the work setting. A group shot of employees examining blueprints on a worksite, or gathered around a forklift on break, laughing and enjoying each other’s company - clearly establishes the idea that each individual employee is as at home in their work as in their community.
Here Cappella chooses a specific worker to meet client goals; this is an older woman, a prompt that brings a maternal aspect to the portrait and that, in turn, conveys a sense of protection.
Cappella captures a worker in a state of extreme focus, performing his job in a conscientious fashion that inspires trust in the company and products. A clear, bright light broadcasts value placed on the work environment, which translates to the same value placed on the customer’s needs.
This worker, depicted in precautionary wardrobe, conveys Justrite’s attention to safety which adds to a shared purpose of protection between the consumer of protective products and the producer.
An expert industrial photographer leverages a variety of techniques and approaches to successfully telegraph brand attributes through still images. As you can see in the work of industrial photographer Diego Cappella, the styles and approaches used to convey brand identity are varied and should be carefully chosen. A good commercial photographer will have a variety of these angles at his or her disposal. But like a rock guitarist with a repertoire of riffs, no one chord will be appropriate for every song. It takes an expert eye and an aesthetic sensibility to choose the best approach to meet the needs of the client. Execution and attention to detail will distinguish the most successful industrial photography, as seen here in the work of Diego Cappella.
Angle Two: Focus on Machinery
Sawing and Shearing Services, Chicago
Industrial photographers encounter machinery in virtually every industrial setting. In fact, machinery is ubiquitous in almost all of the photography required for manufacturing companies. Even employee portraits rely heavily on machinery as backgrounds that establish clear contextual information and expertise in a given area. More often than not, photographing machinery is a tricky business. How does an industrial photographer depict a fixed object as dynamic and productive? How can one present machinery that may be a bit worse for the wear, covered with grease, or otherwise visually challenging in an interesting, compelling, and visually pleasing way?
Such was the challenge for industrial photographer Diego Cappella at Chicago’s Sawing and Shearing Services. Sawing and Shearing Services is a family-owned industrial steel fabrication company with a 30-year history in Chicago. Marketing messages center on this extensive experience, superior customer service and skilled workers. More technically, what makes the company stand out among its competitors is the extensive selection of machinery. With a variety of equipment, Sawing and Shearing is able to fabricate a wide variety of steel products. Industrial photographer Diego Cappella describes this Chicago assignment as “challenging because the machinery was worn looking and much of it was monochromatic.”
To address these challenges, an industrial photographer must be both thoughtful and creative. Factory machinery tends to be greasy and gray, so a straight shot won’t suffice to meet the client’s marketing needs – in this case, to document the different methods of fabrication while maintaining an advertisement-worthy aesthetic. The best industrial photographers will use a selection of skills to meet client standards.
Angle
Perhaps the most effective way to add interest to a stable object is by choosing the right angle. In the case of machinery, the photographer should establish what to highlight and what to downplay. An angle that places a positive detail of the machinery in the forefront and distances the indications of wear or other less positive aspects can work wonders for an older or dirty piece of equipment.
Here Cappella places a stylized logo and knobs in the foreground, bringing the eye to an appealing focal point and distancing the monochromatic aspects of the machinery.
Lighting
Lighting large areas can be challenging and time-consuming. In an industrial setting, elaborate lighting set-ups are almost impossible without completely disrupting operations and causing safety hazards. Fortunately, factories utilize many forms of illumination, from natural light to extensive fluorescent installations. The best industrial photographers will take advantage of preexisting sources and identify what and how the light affects the look of machinery. Lower light may disguise excessive grease; bright, reflective light can accentuate metallic surfaces and lend a sense of newness.
Here industrial photographer Diego Cappella takes advantage of light from the machinery itself. The bright sparks illuminate the straight edges of the equipment, but its locality serves to downplay grease and grime.
Color
In the context of a factory or other industrial setting, one is likely to encounter a sea of drab colors. The ability to pull the bright color out of that context is particularly valuable when photographing machinery and tools. We all know that bright colors draw the eye but what we may not have seen is the advantage that offers the industrial photographer. Because machinery is most often some shade of gray, black, or brown, color’s stand-out qualities can serve to downplay the overall dullness of the equipment. A good industrial photographer will offset what is visually uninteresting with a color or colors found in the factory itself.
Here Cappella captures the green and yellow of the machinery and highlights the yellow quality of the natural light from factory windows. Our eye is drawn to the bright impressions rather than the grays that surround them.
As with all good industrial photography, shooting machinery requires some of the techniques that all photographers are familiar with. An expert use of an angle can place the focus exactly where you want it. Lighting is always tricky in industrial settings but also offers unique opportunities to draw the eye to your focal point and away from what you want to downplay.
The right color highlights can create a balanced and compelling impression and leave monochromatic elements to serve as frames or boundaries.
Angle Three: Color Story
PAC Stainless - Houston
When one conjures up a vision of an industrial setting, color is probably not the first thing that strikes the imagination. In fact, industrial photographers struggle with finding visual interest in such environments, which are often gray and monochromatic. A common first assumption is that the more drabber the environment, the more color one would have to introduce to draw visual interest. But good industrial photographers know that splashes of color against such backgrounds can have a significant impact. In fact, color stands out more against a monochromatic canvas. That means that colors need to be carefully considered and introduced as part of what’s called a “color story.” The color story is a common term in both film and fashion and encompasses the idea that colors can evoke certain emotions or information if used consistently, purposefully, and in a seemingly organic way. The use of the right color story can leave the viewer feeling serious or jovial, activated or relaxed.
Industrial photographer Diego Cappella implemented a color story for his shoot at PAC Stainless in Houston, Texas. PAC Stainless began as a small concern in 1976 and built its way to the top of tubular stainless-steel manufacturing in the United States. Today PAC Stainless has factories in Houston, Seattle, Atlanta and Louisiana. Cappella, like any of the best industrial photographers, considered multiple factors in determining the best color story.
Organic Color
A great place to begin the industrial photography color story is within the factory itself. The best industrial photographer will study his surroundings to gain a sense of what colors are most common in a factory and consider which are central to the overall visual impression of the manufacturing environment. While it might be tempting to invent a color story that works in a broad sense (i.e., yellow and blue look good against industrial settings), the organic colors, even if found in only small details, are the colors that should inform the story from the very beginning.
Industrial photographer Diego Cappella finds his color story inside the factory walls. This photograph of stored steel tubing inspires Cappella and serves to set up the color story he ultimately chooses.
Branding
As with all industrial photography, the client and the clients’ aesthetics have to take a major role in determining any photographs that fall into the commercial category. PAC Stainless uses blue and gray primarily in their branding and materials are large catalogs of various products. This branding reflects the product, and the lack of color is consistent with stainless steel tubing. For Cappella, that meant he had to find a color story that both included the company brand and also set it apart with the use of a bright palette. Referring to the organic colors within the building led to the choice of yellow. Yellow provides a contrast to the blue used in branding.
Industrial photographer Diego Cappella sets the brand’s blue up against a subtle background of yellows.
Mood
At Houston’s PAC Stainless, industrial photographer Diego Cappella found that he needed to lighten up the cold colors of steel, machinery, and equipment. Different colors are said to reflect different moods, and certainly, grays and blacks tend to denote sadness or a lack of life. Though reactions vary, the general wisdom is the following:
Yellow: optimism
Orange: friendly
Blue: trust
Purple: creativity
Red: excitement
Green: peace
PAC’s use of blue may instill trust in their target market. The integrity of the products is an incredibly important message for the company, indicating that quality is as important as the bottom line. Cappella was challenged, however, by the use of gray in both brandings and in the factory itself. Choosing to highlight bright colors like red and yellow brought excitement and optimism to counteract the impression of sadness and dullness broadcasted by the prevalent grays and blacks.
Here Cappella carefully balances grays and blacks with the brand blue and his color story, which included yellow and red.
In conclusion, a color story is the use of the same colors throughout and proves particularly valuable when photographing machinery and tools because the objects are most often some shade of gray, black, or brown. The place to find those colors are within the environment being photographed. As always, careful attention to the client’s branding and the intended use of the photographs should inform choices. Attention to what different colors evoke in the viewer are a good way to answer both client goals and create visually effective images.
Angle Four: Perspective
Phoenix Lighting, New Jersey
Industrial photographers are well familiar with the challenges presented by representing the 3-D world in a two-dimensional form. There are many techniques to address this: tricks in framing, camera angle, and even filters and diffusion techniques. But no method is more effective than close attention to perspective.
In terms of industrial photography, perspective can be a key tool – and many points of interest in the manufacturing setting lend themselves to its regular use. Not all industrial photography, however, can count on the standard machinery and architecture of a factory. Industrial photographer Diego Cappella faced such a challenge in capturing the less tangible products of New Jersey-based Phoenix Lighting.
Phoenix Lighting has a long history, beginning as early as the start of the 20th century as a printing concern. Over the years, Phoenix proved to be highly adaptable, following the market and leveraging strengths. First forays into lighting centered around docks and other punishing outdoor locations as they produced lighting equipment unrivaled in terms of durability and life span. The company is now headed by the third generation of Wordingham men and has established a parent company called The Phoenix Company. The lighting division boasts contracts with major ports and installments worldwide. Of particular note is Phoenix Lighting’s pioneering of LED sources, having manufactured the first iterations of what is now a standard in the industry.
The challenge for industrial photographer Diego Cappella in New Jersey was to capture the enormous scope that Phoenix’s lighting products covered. Light is, in essence, a very difficult subject to capture in two dimensions. Sure, light is an essential aspect of composition and intent in photography, but that sort of lighting is always focused on an object, rather than being the object itself. The best industrial photographer will have a broad knowledge of perspective in all its forms and which to implement to address this sort of challenging assignment.
Linear Perspective
When we hear the word, “perspective,” we probably think of the most common type of perspective, the sort we all learned in 2nd grade art class. Straight lines converge in a simple, triangular representation, with a vanishing point in the center. This type of linear perspective is called “one-point perspective.” But linear perspective may leverage more than one vanishing point and one set of lines. In fact, as long as the composition is rooted in the foreground, multiple lines of perspective can offer a dramatic sense of depth and dimension.
Here, industrial photographer, Diego Cappella uses linear perspective as he captures multiple lines converging on one common vanishing point.
Diminished scale perspective
Diminished scale refers to using perspective to register the difference in size of objects or people as they inhabit the frame. First, the industrial photographer should have a strong foreground, middle ground and background. In each of these, a common or relational object will appear large in the foreground, smaller in the mid-ground and smallest in the background. Diminished scale perspective is one of the most effective tools for adding rich depth to a photograph.
Here, industrial photographer Diego Cappella captures like objects as they recede with clear diminishment from the foreground, into the mid-ground and on to the back.
Overlapping perspective
The best industrial photographer will also find occasion to implement overlapping perspectives. Showing a series of objects adds depth to the composition by showing them inhabiting the same space. This layering effect creates a sense of depth by tricking the eye into seeing the front objects as larger than those that follow.
Here, industrial photographer, Diego Cappella layers objects to indicate depth and light.
Stay tuned to this article as it expands to include more angles on industrial photography!
