Confessions of a Star Wars Geek

Normally, shooting product photos for a client does not remind me of anything from my childhood, but in the case of Uranium Flashlights... I had to chuckle.

Back in 1977 when Star Wars originally came out, I was a young geeky kid who loved my action figures and X-Wing fighter. Unlike some of my friends who had every Star Wars toy sold (I'm looking at you Noel Natividad), I had a few precious characters... and I loved every one.

I idolized Obi Wan Kenobi from the original film even though he was only in it for what seemed 30 minutes.

I vividly remember losing my Yoda action figure to a curious mishap when I tied it to a helium balloon and launched him like Ben Franklin into an approaching storm. Of course, I had no idea that the thread I had borrowed from my Mom's sewing drawer was not attached to the spool. At that moment the string ran out, Yoda must have been at least 400 yards high (which is the length of thread on a typical spool), and he just kept rising. For all I know, he floated right back to his home planet of Dagobah. My hope is that some other kid found this sky treasure and gave him a good home.

Along with those toys, I always had a common household flashlight. During playtime it could become so many different things like a launching Saturn V rocket, an interstellar missile, a tractor beam, Han Solo's blaster, and yes, even a light saber (especially around a camp fire where the beam would seem to solidify in the smoke).

Uranium Heavy Duty Flashlights or rockets... you decide.

So there you go... I admit it. Star Wars is part of my childhood that just won't disappear... but I'm not the only one. There are legions of geeks out there... and more of us than you think... perhaps, even an army.

Atlas Fit Gloves Web Site

Sometimes clients need a fast and affordable way to promote a niche portion of their business. That was the case with Showa Best Glove who wanted a simple informational web site about some of their best selling Atlas gloves. Salesmen use this as a touchstone in their sales calls.

We built a web site to highlight key information about each glove including suggested uses, sizes, materials and photos. In-depth info could be downloaded as a PDF for review or printing.

Red Headed Family Portraits at Stone Mountain

I am just like my mother.... I love red heads (I was even lucky enough to marry one). I am afraid when she sees these photos that she might want to adopt this whole family of four beautiful people with firery locks.

I kinda grew up with Michelle,  the mom of these two who is like a sister to me. 

It is so cool to see her with her own little clones... 

This is big Daddy Josh and Josh Jr.

It seems like Stone Mountain, Georgia in the Fall is a great setting for family portraits.

With my trusty 70-200mm zoom lens, I can get several versions of the same photo 

without even moving. Does that make me lazy or smart? You decide. Here is a wide angle.

Here is a medium angle...

And, finally... a close up. Don't drop those kids... it's a long way down.

Danielle is a stunning little girl... and so wonderful to be around.

How about some guy time?

Can you say cute? I love that curly hair.

Danielle reminds me of the young heroine, Merida, from the Pixar movie, Brave.

I actually had them holding hands at one point. Don't try that with older children

 unless you want to capture frowns.

At this age, I like to stack the family members to show the size differences. 

The way kids grow, they will never be this small again.

Something a little more informal perhaps?

I actually work for Michelle's father and Josh Jr. has the same glowing blue eyes of his "GranDave".

The kids just love their Daddy who is a giant of a man compared to them. 

He would literally do anything for his family.

Before the kids, it was just Josh and Michelle... high school sweethearts.

Here is a shot of Mom and the munchkins and ...we're done.

Product Photography of BBQ Sauce for Atlanta Restaurant

Whenever I photograph retail products at Graphic Works, I try to standardize my workflow to save me time and our clients money. This may include setting up a single lighting rig that works for each similar object individually. In the case of this group photo, I shot each bottle alone and then created several versions of group photos and single product shots for print and web use.

This technique is often faster and much more versatile than shooting a group photo to begin with. This is because I can modify the spacing or composition "after the fact". Plus, I don't have to worry about nasty reflections of other bottles or complex lighting set-ups. Knowing this in advance can save a lot of headaches in post production.

Photography of Trone Rocks for Large Chemical Company

I am fascinated by the origin of products and the processes used to create them. I'm kinda nerdy that way, but this blog is not a confession. It is about creating photos of a natural raw material  named Trona and also the refined product named sodium carbonate. The photos were made for OCI Chemical which is one of the world's largest producers of this material.

Sodium Carbonate is used in countless ways including glass making, baking, casting and scores of other manufacturing processes. It looks like white sand or maybe a movie prop from the set of Scarface.

Trona rocks are interesting things to photograph since they can literally dry and flake on the spot turning their gorgeous amber hue into a less interesting chalky brown. This rock below is on the verge of flaking. What is interesting to me about this one is the reflected yellow shadow which gives the illusion of the light passing through the rock like a crystal.

 I used a technique of vigorously scrubbing the scaly flakes from the sample rocks and photographing them before they became cloudy again. I might not have tried this if my client had not shown me this trick, and told me it would not damage the sample.

It was important to show the striations of amber color and not the darker "root beer" seen on the first photo... even though I think that lends some visual interest. I photographed several configurations of the rocks for the client including single hero shots. I also took photos of several together so now I can say that I have taken photos of "rock groups". 

Finally, I combined the Trona rock with the sodium carbonate end product for a beginning-to-end style photo.

Web Site Design for QSpex Technologies

QSpex Technologies is a company whose tabletop machine allows eye care practitioners to make eye glass lenses in-house. By not having to send the prescription out to a lab, optometrists can control the whole lens production process, making them more efficient and obtaining higher customer satisfaction.

While at Graphic Works, I designed and produced the web site with the help of my coworker, David, who knows how to fix all kinds of coding issues. He has not been stumped yet (or if he has... he never let on). The site features rotating header graphics, animated drop menus and a simple clean design.

Family Portraits of Baby Lukas and His Parents

In 2012, I had the opportunity to photograph my good friends Justinas and Marie before they were going to have a baby. Looking back now, I think Marie was literally gonna pop. That maternity photo gallery can be seen in an earlier post here.

Later in 2013, I contacted them to see if they would return to the same spot where we took the previous pictures for a followup session.

My plan was to take the photos in the same location so when Lukas grew up he could see himself in a unique series of photo shoots.... "in the belly" and "in the world". I would like to say at this time that I am not responsible if these photos lead to the "where do babies come from?" question.

Young Lukas was not even a year old and already that boy had so much charm and charisma
that he wowed me during the photo shoot. He is incredibly smart and alert for his age. 

He would almost smile on command and respond to all the silly noises I was making.
Getting the attention of a child this young is not always successful.

Lukas is the perfect blend between Mom and Dad.

 The kid was a dream to work with, but that is what one might expect from a
child who has a model-like mother and a photographer for a father?

 In fact, if Lukas picks up at camera he will be the 

third generation of photographer in the Bartkevicius family. 

Dad is a giant so you gotta wonder how tall Lukas will be.

When I was packing up, I showed Lukas my camera. He knowingly
touched the shutter button, and I swear that kid winked at me. This just
proves that my photographic competition just gets younger every year. 

 

Maybe we will keep shooting a new portrait set annually until it is time for me
to hand the camera over to him.

I think this is how Lukas drives his dad around. Just tug the ears to steer in the right direction...