Surf, Sand & Southern Tide

Exum Photography was responsible for the off-model photography for a spring mailer. This catalog features multiple spreads with a lifestyle shot of a model next to a studio product-only shot of their clothing professional styled and lit by Exum Photography.  While the models worked on a photo shoot in Bermuda we created our lay flat scenes with Bermuda inspired colors and props. I especially like the shot of bathing suits lying across a borrowed surfboard donated by my friend and Broughton High School 1988 classmate Wes Craft of Custom Craft Surfboards If you are in the market for a custom surfboard reach out to Wes. To see more samples of similar work please check out the Apparel Photography services page.

 

Take a Break With Johnnie-O

Great product photography of clothing helps sell great clothing brands.  Johnnie-O appreciates the impact of professionally styled lay flat clothing photography alongside inspirational lifestyle shots of models wearing their brand.  Exum Photography was responsible for the off-model and some select on-model photography for Johnnie-O’s latest summer and spring mailers. This catalog features multiple spreads with a studio-product-only shot of their clothing professional styled and lit by Exum Photography, next to a lifestyle shot of a model.  Our studio partners with talented apparel stylists who understand the nuanced skill of styling for lay flat clothing photography. We created our flat lay scenes with bright yet relaxed California-inspired colors and props, designed to complement the models’ photo shoot in California.  One of our favorite shots was when AstroTurf and golf accessories were laid behind the clothes to emulate a putting green! To see more samples of similar work please check out the Apparel Photography services page.

 

UNC Chemistry Department Celebrates 200 years

My Alma mater,  the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been around a long time. When a department within a university celebrates a 200 year anniversary, the word “longevity” is an understatement. Our commercial photography studio was commissioned by the UNC Arts and Sciences magazine to illustrate the cover story celebrating two centuries of the chemistry department’s influential history. 

Our studio frequently takes on editorial magazine photography assignments in addition to the marketing photography we do for companies.  Steve Exum has been a contributing magazine photographer working for the UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences for more than a decade. 

After a few conversations with the editor Kim Spurr and writer Patty Courtwright, our team did some research on early successes of the chemistry department looking for interesting nuggets and possible imagery of significant early faculty. We learned that the founding father of Carolina chemists and early President of UNC Francis P. Venable helped in the discovery of a process for making acetylene gas in 1892. UNC’s Venable Hall is named for this chemistry giant.

With the portrait of Francis Venable and information about the successes of current faculty, we proposed a portrait concept combining a historic image of Venable with a portrait of senior faculty and younger faculty within the department. We wanted to illustrate the huge span of time in one magazine cover image.  A lot of what our studio does I call “conceptual photography” or more specifically “conceptual portrait photography.” We worked on some mockups and got approval from the magazine. Next, we shot a series of portraits of four UNC chemists mentioned in the story … Royce Murray, Maurice Bursey, Jim Cahoon and Bo Li.  Below is our final mock-up with the image of Francis Venable behind a portrait of senior chemist Royce Murray and rising star Bo Li. 

Ultimately the editorial team decided to eliminate the image of the founder behind the portrait for the cover. Sometimes less is more. The final magazine cover features chemists Bo Li and Royce Murray. It is simple and successfully conveys the central theme of a department’s longevity within our nations oldest public university.

Click here to read more stories about the UNC Chemistry department. Go Heels!

 

Mock-Up

 

Final Cover

 

 

Epic Wedding Photo #8

Epic Wedding Photo # 8 – Our studio countdown of the 10 most epic wedding photos by Steve Exum continues with a shot of Mandy Redwine and her beau Adam Lockner who were married October 11, 2008 on family land covered in Live Oak trees. This land backed up to the Intracoastal waterway near Ocean Isle Beach, NC. While this wedding was 9 years ago, I remember every aspect of that day including the weather and the constant threat of rain with overcast skies. Fortunately it never actually rained at any point that disrupted the outside ceremony. We dodged most of it with the exception of a few moments of drizzle. The challenge for a wedding photographer is that he or she must embrace the conditions, incorporate them into their wedding story and find beauty in it. I choose this image because life will bring challenges and it’s how you handle those challenges that either build cohesion in a marriage or destroys it. Adam and Mandy were unfazed by the weather that day and embraced the concept it is good luck for your marriage if it rains on your wedding day. For more information about our wedding photography contact our studio at http://www.exumphoto.com/wedding-photography/