philly

My friend Pat is quite the Renaissance man. I can talk to him about food, sports, art, cars… Our better halves have a ton in common to so we're well suited to hang out in groups and eventually split off to do our own things as well. One newly acquired skill for Pat is his touch at a potter's wheel. He started to take it up just a few years ago and he's got it down pretty well. We're very fortunate to have a bunch of his lovely ceramic bowls, pots and mugs in our house offsetting some of the not so nice stuff we've accumulated over the years. I tagged along as Pat went to the University City Arts League over at 4226 Spruce St in West Philly as he threw three vases. It was my first time in a pottery studio since Lauren Rossi's or Amanda Mittman's 2nd grade birthday party. I remember making a mold of a Mets logo and coloring it blue and orange. I wonder where that thing is now… Ceramics artists out there reading this post, please forgive me about the terminology, this is clearly not my field and Pat was throwing a lot of info at me while I was snapping photos for several hours. Above is Pat kneading the clay into the wheel. Centering the wet clay is crucial.

I set up a SB600 flash + Lumiquest Softbox III using a Manfrotto Super Clamp and Magic Armbehind Pat. I set up a SB800 flash + Lumiquest Softbox III using a Justin Clamp on a pipe running the length of the studio in front of Pat. I had a SB800 flash mounted on my camera as the trigger and offering some fill light. I used a D700 as my body and a bunch of lenses throughout the afternoon. I started off with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF and switched over to a Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 MF lens. Then I had my Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 MF and Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED AF for tighter shots.

Here's Pat starting to form the shape of the vase. This part is funny to watch. He stuck one finger into the clay and the hole just grew until he could fit his whole hand inside to feel out the shape. The wheel is mesmerizing to watch.

Here he's forming the lip of the vase. Even pressure has to be applied so things don't get lopsided and then they clay just goes flying off of the wheel. forces.

I backed off a bit with the 20mm in this shot to get more of the very cool studio into the frame. I like this environmental portrait with Pat at work. You can see the tools Pat uses to form his various pots, mugs, bowls, vases and other items. Sticks, rods, sponges… All different textures giving him a different feel digging into the wet red clay.

Here's Pat starting up another vase. The textures of hands pressing into the clay – picking up the excess, the water dripping through… It was poetic to watch.

And here's a final shot of Pat with a vase ready to dry. For this shot, I moved the SB600 to a lightstand and put it directly behind his body. The SB800 is on a lightstand just to camera left and shooting down at his face from about 5'. SB800 on camera is pointed to the shelves at right leaving the rest of the studio in a warmish color cast from the fluorescent lights being balanced by the camera (damn you 60hertz lights!). I'm currently helping Pat pup up a website to sell his lovely wares. I've been taking photos of some of his finished pieces and will continue to do so. I'll be posting some images of those finished pieces soon so keep your eyes out. If you see something you like, lemme know and I'll tell Pat.

Below is a slideshow of more images I put up on flickr. Click on the set to see it fullscreen (at 1200px on the long side!).

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