Rangefinder Magazine
February 2006

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Today’s commercial photographer is a problem solver of the first order. He or she is sought out because of a unique specialty that only a select few can provide. Most commercial shooters develop a specialty—some by fate; some by design. Fernando Escovar (pg. 32), for example, is an award-winning filmmaker with a love of fast cars. Having done some work for Motor Trend magazine, he has become an expert and recently released a definitive how-to DVD on photographing cars. Speaking of cars, Technical Editor Claude Jodoin interviewed the crew at the General Motors Photographic Department (pg. 10), a group of 12 people who work closely with GM’s Design Group—the team of automotive engineers and designers responsible for new GM cars. It’s a fascinating story about secrecy and staying ahead of the curve. Tom Mangelsen (pg. 18) is a naturalist with an abiding love for the outdoors and is one of the most highly acclaimed nature and wildlife photographers in the world. Shaw McCutcheon (pg. 32) is a travel writer and photographer who morphed into a marine specialist. He photographs the biggest, most expensive yachts in the world and is also extremely skilled at capturing their interiors with lighting set-ups that illuminate every shadow. Ben Chen (pg. 40) is the consummate L.A. sports photographer, who photographs every major sport in a city that devours sports. While we were preparing his profile, Ben requested we “leave a hole” for a Rose Bowl shot or two. Photos were on my desktop at 8:45 the morning after the game. Richard Woldendorp, an Australian photographer and aerial specialist (pg. 85), photographs Australia’s vast interior with such clarity, you would swear the images were made on 8x10. You’ll be surprised to learn how simple his techniques actually are. Other great commercial shooters profiled in this issue are Belgian lifestyle photographer Sven Everaert (pg. 54), commercial portrait artist George Simian (pg. 80), Southwest fine artist Lynn Radeka (pg. 114), panoramic specialist Blue Fier (pg. 94) and former aerospace engineer and current graphic designer/photographer Todd Yarrington (pg. 90).

Bill Hurter, Editor

ON THE COVER:

PHOTOGRAPHER: Sven Everaert
ASSIGNMENT: Commercial assignment shooting vacuum-packed boiling vegetables
CAMERA: Hasselblad 203
LENS: 110mm planar f/2
EXPOSURE: 1/125 at f/11
FILM: Fujifilm Provia 100
SCANNER: Imacon
SOFTWARE: Photoshop CS
COMMENTS:“An advertising agency asked me to make a picture for a food fair. They wanted me to illustrate the fact that TV-meals or pre-cooked vacuum-packed meals are not what they used to be—that the ingredients and taste are as good as in a fresh meal. But if you look at a pre-cooked vacuum meal when it’s still packed, it doesn’t look very tasty. So I bought fresh raw vegetables and had them vacuum-packed in the same way. I put them in an aquarium and made somebody blow bubbles from underneath. I put a lot of light behind the scene and made the picture.”

Sven Everaert is a successful Belgian commercial photographer who specializes in food photography. He has been careful, however, not to be pigeon-holed in one specialty and prefers the tag “lifestyle photographer.” For more on Sven, see the profile by Larry Brownstein beginning on page 54.