Photographing craftsmen – the sailmaker

In his latest PhotoActive blog Philip Dunn demonstrates some of the professional tips and tricks used to photograph skilled craftsmen in their workplace.

I have always enjoyed photographing people at work – craftsmen in particular.

Everything about William Leitch’s sail loft is designed to inspire photographers – and that includes William himself, a big, gentle, bear of a man with a great bushy beard and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. The moment I met him and saw his sail loft, I knew I wanted to photograph him at work in there.

Photograph No 1 - The overall photograph

William is the third generation of sailmakers to work from the old sail loft in Tarbert on the West Coast of Scotland. William’s grandfather was sailmaker on The Cutty Sark and rounded Cape Horn many times before settling down ashore and starting the business.

Opportunities to photograph highly skilled craftsmen and women at work are not just open to professional photographers. The people who do these jobs have a right to be proud of the crafts and abilities that might have taken a lifetime to learn. Most are very willing to help any photographer – amateur or professional – record a set of pictures showing them at work in their own environment.

A positive response to your request to take photographs very much depends on the correct approach. Of course it would be impossible to take pictures without the total co-operation of your subject, and it is important to understand that you are not dealing with corporate-minded ‘yes men’ here, but independent, highly skilled people who have a business to run. A patronising or cock-sure approach will certainly have you shown to the door or ignored.

Photograph No 2 - The portrait

So be absolutely honest and tell your subject right at the start what you would like to achieve and ask when it would be most convenient for you to come and talk things through and take some photographs. Ask about the process involved; how it works, and how you might get the photographs you need while being as unobtrusive as possible.

Above all else show real interest in how your subject does the work he or she does. This will be interesting anyway and you are bound to learn something, but, more importantly, it can give you lots of clues to picture possibilities and opportunities.

As a keen sailor myself, this was very easy when I was talking to William – I was able to show genuine interest in what he does, but the knack of ‘being interested’ in the people you photographs should come naturally to any photographer. It’s not difficult and starts by simply asking questions about the process and the person you are photographing.

If possible, on your initial visit, ask your subject if you can take a good look around the workplace before you start to take pictures. This should give you an idea of the sort of lighting you are likely to have to deal with and any extra gear you might need to bring along for the actual photo session. For instance, after seeing the loft, I asked William if I could take the pictures in the late afternoon when the sun would not be shining through the east-facing windows.

Next time, I’ll explain more about the best approach to people at work when I explain how I photographed the fishermen landing their catches on the quayside at Tarbert.

To photograph sailmaker William Leitch I kept my gear dead simple – just one old FinePix S3 Pro DSLR with 17-35mm f2.8 lens and a tripod. I was using a brand new Manfrotto 190MF3 Magfibre tripod fitted with the simplest ball-and-socket head – the only sort of head I ever use. This sort of simplicity means less time fiddling with kit and more time paying attention to your subject.

PHOTOGRAPH CAPTIONS:

Photograph 1
My first task was to set the scene with an overall view of William at work. He was making a sail that, fortunately, was not pure white, but slightly cream coloured. This picture shows the sort of light I hade to deal with. There was strong daylight, but not sunshine, coming through the windows, while the back of the loft was lit by florescent tubes. Not the best combination. I set the White Balance (WB) setting to AWB and this has coped extremely well – notice the difference in colour of the sail from one side of the picture to the other.

I did not consider it worthwhile to take a Custom White Balance reading because each time I moved around to do another picture the colour of the light changed

Photograph 2
I admired the hand stitching of this red sail and asked William to sit and hold it. He was proud to do so and show off his skill. I chose a corner where he was lit by the light of the window on one side and the artificial light on the other

Photograph 3
William was keen to show me the sailmaker’s palm used by his grandfather and still in use today. This was the ideal opportunity to take a close-up of his strong, work-calloused hands

Photograph 3 - close-up of William's hands at work

Photograph 4
A correct exposure on William’s face as he sat at the sewing machine has burnt out his hand where it is lit by the intense spot light on the machine.

Under-exposure by one stop has helped reduce this burn-out, but has not entirely eliminated it. The bonus is that it has cut down the daylight in the background, and his face is lit from below by the spot light

Photograph 5
That’s me trying to get the best from William as he works at his sewing machine in his sail loft

Photograph 4 - using tungsten light from below

Go to part two

Photograph No 5 - Philip Dunn photographs William Leitch