BSA 441 Motorcycle

We had a 1967 BSA B44 "Victor" motocross bike come in the studio. It is 441 cc displacement.The gent who brought it in built it from several boxes of parts. It was built to look like a BSA factory "works" motocrosser. They were 494 cc, presumably with an oversize bore. We pulled out a white sweep of twelve foot paper and brought in the motorcycle. With our 10' x 20" overhead Lightbank and some soft front light and big reflectors we tried to brighten the chrome but keep detail in the shadows. We wanted to get a lot of angles in short time and delivered 57 different images in the gallery. That big single is a great motor, simple and small.

You can read the article here: http://www.pipeburn.com/home/2017/07/06/arms-race-steve-brights-bsa-enduro-441-racer-replica.html

Spokane Product Photography: PTEK

PTEK is a smaller local technology company that makes radio transmitters. Working with design firm "LA Zing", we photographed several models of their products for all promotional purposes. It is good equipment and is nicely finished, making our job easier. This small company is growing and I hope we've helped them grow more. 

Nicks Boots: Spokane Product Photographer J. Craig Sweat Photography, Inc.

Nicks Custom Boots sends us new products as they are developed to be photographed for their website and other sales efforts. They are very high quality custom made boots which makes them great to photograph. Nicks is a great Spokane success story- a small business that is growing and selling internationally driven by good management and mostly superb product quality. The craftsmen who make these are uncommon in their skills and are astonishing to watch work, as I have. To turn big sheets of heavy leather into these is something to behold. After photographing many shoes and boots for several years, the owner was kind enough to get both me and my assistant each a pair of boots at nominal cost. Nicks is moving from a very cramped legacy factory to new quarters as we speak which will be more efficient, more pleasant for the staff, and accommodate the growth they are experiencing. 

Spring Tool: Spokane Product Photographer

Eric Thun, owner and inventor at Springtools asked us to photograph a few new tools and tool sets for advertising and promotional purposes. It helps that they are nice quality products. We brought them into the studio, talked over the art direction and he left us to our task with the help of his marketing and sales guy, Marty Parole. These spring tools are a great idea, in all of their variations, and Eric has had great success with them in national markets. I began working with this product many years ago with the previous owners of the company. I like it when a company stays with us as their photographer even through a change of ownership and management.

VduV Wine

Wine has become big business in Washington thanks to good soils and a good latitude for the growing of grapes. Along with the "biggies" (Chateau St. Michel and so on) there are a few small, but very good, local wineries toiling to make the best wines on a small scale. My friend Kirk Phillips, with business partner John Morrow, run V du V winery here in Spokane. Kirk grew up around Lind Washington where his dad was a farmer. Turns out this area is especially good for the growing of grapes. Kirk started making wine on a hobby level in 1983, turned it into a business in 2003 as V du V winery. His knowledge and interest both increased through the years and now they make about a thousand cases per year. The grapes they use are still mostly from the Lind, Washington area including merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, grenache. They make some nice wines and Kirk and John love the process and still do it all themselves. First Fridays they are always open, with music and great fun (and for direct sales) at South 10 Scott. Right next to the Clear Channel bunker on Sprague.

You can view their website here: www.vduvwines.com

SCS Bike Rack Product Photography

We photographed a new bike rack design invented and developed by my good friend Neil Johnson. SCS Racks is his company's name and he has really thought this through. It is a great, simple, easy to use, and very secure design with a beautiful finish and look. He even has a new lock design that will conform to certain car brand key patterns. Then you can use your car key in the rack lock to access your bicycle. A real entrepreneur, Neil has been a realtor for many years.

You can view the website and other images here: http://www.scsrack.com/

HydraFab NW, Spokane Commercial Photographer Craig Sweat Photography

As a Photographer in Spokane, Washington it's nice to get into some bigger hard-labor work now and again. HydraFab is a successful machine and fabrication shop in Spokane with a huge shop and plenty of work. These nicely finished stainless steel items are made to hold a bunch of cooling tubes for industrial purposes. These folks know their way around metal fabrication, the finish is beautiful. The challenge here is the location- it is a shop and though it is well maintained and clean it's not spotless, and then the scale of the projects. This item was roughly 12 ft. tall and 20 ft. in length. Big lighting and a big set are unavoidable. The HydraFab crew is great to work with- they appreciate what we're trying to do and they are confident and capable in their own work. Another Spokane success story that is low-key, but a good part of Spokane's industry. 

One of Hydrafab's employees finishing the polish on the Stainless.

Craig Sweat-Photographer, just as we finished the last shot.

This is one of the detail photos we did towards the end of the shoot. Look how smooth and precise the cuts and finish are.

Englander Mattress [Market Vision]

Scott Sloan of Market Vision invited us to go to Portland and set up for a day at the Englander Mattress factory showroom to photograph a brand new line of mattresses. About 30 mattresses later and another session for mood and detail images, we flew back to dear old Spokane. Not a bad way to spend the day. We rented lighting gear in Portland at Pro Photo Supply and produced the work at the factory showroom. 

Spokane Product Photographer: Shabby Fabrics

Shabby Fabrics asked J. Craig Sweat Photography, Inc. to photograph some of their Holiday quilts. Shabby Fabrics is a global online business owned and operated out or Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. For those who don't know, J. Craig Sweat Photography has a history in quilts. Debbie Mumm was a successful quilt design and pattern company owned and operated in Spokane, Washington and still has a healthy online presence. J. Craig Sweat Photography was behind many of the images that brought Debbie her look. The Shabby Fabrics look and feel is very different- simpler and softer. We went in-studio for these "winter" projects and executed an assembled set with a wall and some props to give a warm, soft holiday feel to the quilts.

Spokane Product Photographer: Nicks Boots

We were asked by the new owner of Nicks Custom Boots to help with a new website and marketing effort. The owner is a gent who comes from a marketing and writing background and he contacted us after seeing our website including some work we have done for White's Outdoor- other boots and footwear. We did several batches of work and casual boots as product photography and then a great session at the factory. It is kind of a old-world factory, not large but very full and very busy. The craftsmen and women are really skilled and it is a wonder to watch them take the full cowhides and cut and work and sew them into the best boots you can buy. They sell to linemen (and women, I'm sure) loggers (with the spikes all over the sole), smokejumpers and other heavy-use outdoor trades. They do a ton of rebuild work too. Some of their boots have been in service for decades. When they are comfortable and right, they are worth rebuilding.

Good heavy leather, hand selected and matched, sewing intricate patterns with machines that can sew through a half-inch of leather effortlessly, other machines that sew the soles- some an inch-plus thick, old tried-and-true finishing buffers and strange devices that have more history than most people do... this is the stuff of Nicks Custom Boots. Superb craftspeople who really get it when it comes to quality. Shooting there for a day was a great pleasure and the client responded to the proof gallery with an email saying " Wow- these are a gold mine". His web designer told him that these images were "as good as he had seen". I hope it is true. At the least, it makes us feel good about what we did for them. This is the kind of business I like and admire from a lot of different perspectives. Scale, locality, artisanship, personality, quality- a business with real heart. You can view their website HERE.

Follow Nicks Custom Boots on Instagram.

Spokane Commercial Photographer: HollisterStier

HollisterStier Website

helveticka, a top Spokane design agency, brought us in to photograph a new look and feel for the new HollisterStier Allergy division website. Owned by Jubilant, this company is a great Spokane success story started by Drs. Hollister and Stier almost a hundred years ago. They have an international reach and uncommon expertise with allergy treatments. It is a deep site- lots of pages and a fair amount of technical information. It is designed for both physician and patient use. For us several location sessions were involved including real allergy specialists at their practices, nurses, practice managers, (and we hired two models for patients). This authenticity resonates well with the sophisticated audience who are this company's clients. A studio session for the "product" header image was part of the package. Photography of the R&D staff, the phone support group, as well as the entire national sales team rounded out the project. The challenge in a project like this is scale- the number of components in the site and the number of people who have input, normally a good part of the management team. Clear and concise communications are essential and the execution has to be flawless. helveticka proved up to the task and I hope we helped to make them and Jubilant HollisterStier look good and improve their services to the doctors and patients who they are here to help.  

Clicke here to see the website: www.hsallergy.com