LEFT
Inside the Loy Yang cooling tower. Photo by Michael
Evans. Canon EOS 5D Mk III, 17mm TS-E f4 lens, 1/640s
@ f8, ISO 400.BELOW
Shipping Container Cleaning and Storage Facility, Altona.
Photo by Emma Cross. “I used a polariser to reduce glare
and enhance the texture of the concrete,” says Cross. “In
post-production I blended the central part of the image
with a separate 1/125s exposure to hold the detail of the
back-lit steel. This is an example of using a strong shadow
to create a heroic and artful element out of a shipping
container cleaning station.” Nikon D3X, Nikon 17-35mm
lens @ 24mm, 1/20s @ f16, ISO 100, polariser filter.AUSTRALIAN PHOTOGRAPHY MARCH 2016 AUSTRALIANPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 65
EXPERT ADVICE Industrial Photography
make a final image. Carry the bare minimum of equipment with
you but keep additional and back-up equipment in the car. Dust
is usually a problem on the sites Cross visits so she minimises the
number and duration of lens changes on site, checking lenses
and filters for dust before attaching them. It is too dusty to clean
the CCD before each shot, but when she finds a particularly
large piece of dust or a hair through the viewfinder, which has
happened, she will use a blower that she always carries with her,
to clean it on site.
Michael Evans says that to build a portfolio of industrial
images, you should begin with a solid wide-angle lens,
combined with a standard zoom. He says that the best piece
of advice he can offer is to thoroughly master your equipment.
You will often be working in a very f luid environment with
time constraints so it’s essential you know what you and your
camera can do in those environments. ❂
In the Bag: Trudy Schuringa
Trudy Schuringa’s kit includes a 16-24mm lens for wider
overall shots of a space, equipment, and landscape. For the
majority of her images she uses a 24-70mm, which optimises
the viewing area without distortion. Her preference is to get
things right in camera rather than to correct distortions in
post. She uses a 70-200mm lens to photograph in a candid
and natural way people using machinery so they are able to
continue working without feeling the intrusion of a camera.
For correcting perspective and photographing more selectively
focus images, she uses a 45mm shift lens. Currently, her
favourite kit includes a Canon EOS 5D Mk III, a sturdy tripod
and mobile lighting equipment.