Industrial Photographer in San Diego
San Diego Industrial Photographer
I have been a San Diego industrial photographer for over 25 years, and I have found that my strength lies in my diverse skill set. This allows me to handle a range of production demands for clients. This is a fancy way of saying that I am an accomplished generalist and that I am at home shooting large industrial productions for aerospace companies, as I am shooting trenching operations for earthmoving manufacturers.
My skill sets include architectural photography, production lighting, portraiture, and photojournalism, which coalesce into high-level industrial photographs for my clients. I create lighting schemes that illuminate complex manufacturing processes, which can take hours to set up, like in the first two images below, shot for Relativity Space. However, when I have to cover a lot of ground in a day, we use less lighting, like in the third and fourth images of construction workers outside of San Diego.
Some projects have both narrative and lighting requirements, like in images five and six, shot for Magnetic Metals. I like to use strobe lighting to accentuate the natural lighting, so I use as little lighting as possible and as much as necessary. This way, I can cover a lot of ground. I always assess the locations beforehand, keeping in mind the budget and the client’s intentions.
When I began my freelance career working for news magazines, it was understood what ”complete” coverage meant. It started with a beginning, middle, and end, or a wide shot, a medium shot of people in action, and then a tight close-up image that was emblematic of the subject matter.
I take the same approach for his industrial photography assignments, where I shoot overall images that demonstrate the scale and capacity of the operation, medium shots of people working to show capability, and finally, visual details emblematic of what goes on in the operation. Many creatives overlook close-up images, but they have the longest life span because they are not easily dated, so creatives find them useful. In the images below, I demonstrate my approach to an industrial photography assignment where I shot a drilling operation in San Diego County.
Whenever I am shooting industrial photography in San Diego, I carry my drones with me in case we have the opportunity to create interesting overhead images. I am a licensed drone pilot because aerial drone images effectively illustrate the scale and scope of projects like I shot for Transdev outside of San Diego. I can usually fly just about anywhere with enough time to get the necessary FAA permissions for restricted airspace, though usually, no permission is needed.
I have also recently been flying indoors for clients, like in the example below, where I created a drone tour of a recycling facility for Waste Management Inc. Indoor flights can take a lot of planning and usually require at least two people to fly safely and avoid crashes.
Drones can be extremely useful for showing the capacity and capability of a whole factory within a minute or two.
Drone flythrough of Waste Management recycling facility.
