I do a lot of photography on construction sites. Having to wear my hard hat or my pretty bright green vest aren't my favorite things but are required. Especially the hard hat is a pain in the ass but I wear it. Backwards most of the time because it gets in the way of my camera but my getting tossed off the site isn't an option. I heard of a home owner who stopped to see how the construction of his new home was coming only to get tossed off the site by OSHA.
I truly enjoy working on construction sites. Maybe that's why I get so much of that kind of work. I love watching and photographing craftsmen. Guys who work with their hands to make things. Homes that will be lived in and enjoyed for generations. Business buildings that will provide a place for jobs for generations.
Part of the challenge to doing photos on construction sites is knowing what NOT to photograph. On one recent project I rolled up to a site and saw an opportunity to photograph the guys installing the roof. I made the mistake of not going on the site first so everyone would know who I was and why I was there. I pulled out a telephoto lens and started snapping, got some great photos. Turned out I scared the hell out of the crew because they thought I was from OSHA. They had all the proper safety equipment and were doing everything right but, as I was informed, you never know if OSHA can find something. Be careful what you photograph.
Working on a project for a phone company this job involved guys working in man holes. I wanted to get a shot looking up from inside of the man hole. At this location there were 2 man holes about 10' apart. In one hole they had all of the equipment and hoses pushing fresh air into the site along with other power and safely cords. I picked the man hole without all of the "crap" in the way of my photo. Got some great shots and within an hour or two of turning in my work to my client there were phone lines burning up. This went all the way to the CEO and where in the hell was the safety equipment? They loved my photos from inside the man hole looking up but where in the hell was the safety equipment. In fact my client at this phone company got the ball rolling because she liked my photos from inside the man hole so much she showed them around. I had to come up with a photo above ground showing there were indeed 2 man holes within a few feet of each other and indeed all of the safety equipment was there, in the other hole. This stopped just short of me having to give a sworn deposition. I had the proof in other photos. In the end it was all a great experience.
Recently I spend the best part of an entire day photographing a guy who hangs drywall. Watching this guy was like watching a dancer. A dancer dancing with an 4' X 10' 70 lb. piece of drywall alone. Then there is the tape measure dance. In the room, the tape zips out and the measurement is remembered then the tape snaps back. Out again and another measurement committed to memory and another for the water pipes and another for the drains. The next part of the dance is again with the tape measure. He knows how much he has to cut off and with his tape measure, his razor knife and his fingers he zips down the 10' of drywall scoring it along the way. Then with a smack of his hand it's cut to size. Now maybe 3'6" instead of 4' by 11' he picks up and twirls this 65 lb. mass and a second later with one hand he's holding it against the bare studs and with his other hand drills in a screw or two before he waltzes up and down the board driving in screw after screw 99% right on target, a target he can's see. Next is the router and suddenly the holes for the water pipes, the drains and the electrical outlets are cut to the exact size. On a typical day this guy hangs 50 or so sheets of drywall or more impressive, he wrestles 3,500 lbs of material before 4:00 PM and he makes it look easy.
It used to be that I would do photos on a construction site for magazines doing a story on the project or maybe the contractor but now most of my construction site work comes from clients who make products for the construction industry. Either way, short of having to wear that damn hard hat I enjoy the challenge. I often shoot extraneuos photos I find visually interesting, to me anyway. Often my clients like and use photos of things they would have never considered.
Commercial Photography - Executive Portraits - Digital Editing
Studios
Westlake, Ohio 44145
440-899-9300 or 800-226-1083
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