Annual Report Photography
I recently completed an annual report photography assignment for Alta Gas and the job was to find images at one of their facilities suitable for their AR. So, I just wandered around for six hours looking for what I could see. I think I like the discovery process the most. I love it when my job is just to hunt for beautiful images.
The process is to empty my mind and “not look for anything in particular” but rather just wander and let my client’s needs and environment inform me. Sure enough, the possibilities and images just come to me without trying.
Power plant technician holding a chain used to lift equipment.
Sometimes if I don’t feel I have enough images, I imagine possibilities and set to work finding out if the scene I image is plausible and realistic. Then I indirectly choreograph the scene, though I do this less often then I find images without my direction.
My industrial clients don't pay me to sit and wait for an image to walk by, so I often find myself asking questions "How do I choreograph something realistic?" I ask people questions like "What are these cool chains for?" or "Do you ever work on this device?" to choreograph a plausible scene that would otherwise happen when I am not around.
My industrial clients hire me to do annual reports and corporate sustainability report photography because I can create images that represent reality beautifully. I have even used my assistants as subjects when no technicians were around to demonstrate what they do.
Power plant technician at Alta Power facilities.
In the image on the left, I asked one of the technicians what the huge wrench on the wall was for and then asked him if he could show me where he would use it. The funny thing is that that picture was not nearly as good as this grab shot as he headed out the door to show me.
The plant was shut down for maintenance and there were few people around so my steadfast assistant found some technician’s clothes in a locker room that fit him. The picture below is representative of what happens but would never have happened if I did not use some ingenuity.
The background actually blew out so I had to use multiple exposures to bring in the sky and background details.
Industrial photography of power plant employee adjusting steam valve for Alta Gas annual report.
It is only in journalism that photographers are not supposed to manipulate the scene, but in commercial photography, one tries to authentically represent what happens for the client’s needs. None of the images here are out of character with what actually happens at this power plant.
The same goes for all of my industrial photography pictures. Every image seems plausible and credible. Most are not choreographed but others had to be to meet my client’s needs.
annual report photography refinery
