At Hammock, we work with several great photographers around the country who never cease to amaze us with their creativity and ability to tell stories with their work. One of our favorite photographers to work with in the Bay area is Eric Millette (ericmillettephotography.com) who posted this stunning photo (large view) of himself on the Hammock T-shirt map. After seeing it, we immediately had to track him down to find out more about it. We were so impressed with it, indeed, we've decided to donate one computer to the OLPC Foundation in his name.
Here's a Q&A e-mail exchange Rex Hammock had with with Eric about his Hammock T-shirt photo.
Rex: The shot is stunning and filled with so many incredible elements: The gray shirt and its wrinkles evoke the storm clouds, our logo -- which you noticed, it never dawned on me -- evokes the bridge, even your shoes reflect the ground you're standing on.Where did this brilliant idea come from?
Every Hammock T has a story.
Share yours.Eric: I decided I wanted to represent San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge in the photo, especially since (the bridge) matched the color of the logo. I got to a location I thought might work, but nothing good was happening there. So I went to the beach for a different angle. As I was taking a few test shots I then realized that the logo on the shirt was very much like the bridge from this angle.
Rex: I'm sure some people are looking at this and wondering is this a photograph or is it an illustration created in Photoshop using photographs. Frankly, I think it's great art no matter what you did, but how would you characterize it?
Eric: It is a single photograph, manipulated in photoshop using a high dynamic range technique.
Rex: Here's a more general question about how you work. Do you have an idea like this and then head out and shoot -- or do ideas present themselves when you get to a location?
Eric: My usual process is to have a very simple concept or no concept and simply an element I would like in the photo. Then I usually work out the other pieces as I'm creating the image primarily in the camera.
Rex: All the threatening clouds in the photo are a little scary. You didn't get struck by lightening shooting this, I hope.
Eric: Actually, the sky was not this interesting in real life. Using the HDR (high dynamic range) technique I was able to enhance this image to see more detail and create much more mood. Surprisingly, lightning is really rare in San Francisco. I've never seen it and only heard thunder a handful of times in my 17 years of living here.
Rex: By the way, we've decided your photo is so great, we're counting it as "five" and will contribute an OPLC computer in your name.
Eric: COOL!!
