Airport Assignments
The job: capture the grandeur of the interior of the new 146,000-square-foot canopy. In particular, our photographs were to highlight CertainTeed’s impressive ceiling panel installation. CertainTeed is a subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, one of the world’s largest and oldest building products companies.
I had not worked with CertainTeed before so I went to their site to check them out. I do this to learn about the client’s product or service and look at existing photographs. This helps me gauge what level of commercial photography they expect or what quality level we could achieve for them. Their online gallery is impressive! I read the bylines and was surprised to see a name I recognized- Barry Goldman. He is a world-class architecture photographer and his work is phenomenal. I was playing with the big boys (and girls) now!
In partnership with the Arts & Science Council, eight artists were selected to create pieces for the lobby expansion and renovation. Raymond Kaskey’s Queens Charlotte statue makes a huge impression in the terminal. She towers over two stories and seems to protect travelers transversing the area. Several people said, “Isn’t she beautiful?” I agreed. An airline pilot even offered a history lesson on what Queen Charlotte brought to our city which I found quite interesting.
Photographing in an airport environment presents unique challenges, particularly dealing with lighting and crowd control. For this project, the client ensured we had clearance to capture images at the airport, but the sheer size of the space made using traditional lighting equipment impractical. Light stands would have obstructed the flow of passengers, so we had to rely entirely on existing, natural light.
Given that the shoot took place close to the holidays—a peak travel period—the time available for pre-scouting the location was limited. My primary concern was ensuring that we captured the best possible lighting conditions, which required a flexible and strategic approach.
To navigate this, I planned to straddle the daytime and dusk hours. Arriving at the airport around 2 p.m., I began shooting in the afternoon light, allowing the natural sunlight to highlight key areas and create a warm, inviting atmosphere. As the day transitioned into the evening, I adjusted to the shifting light conditions, capturing the interplay between natural and artificial light sources.
This approach ensured that we maximized the limited time available, capturing the airport's environment while maintaining the authenticity and vibrancy of the space.
The staff at the airport was very accommodating and I had no issues with security, I was free to shoot all areas except the TSA gates. One small challenge was the "under construction" decoration, which, despite being clever, introduced a lot of distracting orange into the shots. Unfortunately, we couldn't have it removed, so I had to get creative with angles and compositions to minimize its impact on the final images.
Overall, it was a pleasant and successful assignment. The cooperation from the airport staff and the flexibility to shoot in various locations made the project both productive and enjoyable.