Behind the Image: NAU Guest Blogger – Rachel Richmond-Woodward

Photo copyright Rachel Richmond-Woodward

This is a photograph of a man named Will McNabb who owns a jewelry making business store in downtown Flagstaff. The image shows McNabb making a ring out of plaster that is later placed in an oven to be processed. I went inside McNabb jewelry store to ask him if I could take a photograph of him making a piece of jewelry by hand. McNabb let me photograph him working a sculpture of a ring. I started taking the photograph of McNabb working the ring inside his jewelry store. I captured the photograph using my Nikon D40 camera and an 18-55mm lens with settings of 1/25 sec, f/5.6 and ISO of 400.

I wanted to take a photograph that could tell a simple story of a person who owns a real business in this small town in Arizona because they inspire me.  I like to take images of people making art. I come from an artistic background where I like to take portraits of people doing things. The best way to capture this image is to place the artist at his desk where he makes the jewelry. I walked over to his work area to photograph him working on a small piece of jewelry. McNabb’s small workspace made it very difficult to photograph him making the ring, but I got in as close as I could to him doing his work.

About the Photographer:
My name is Rachel Richmond Woodward and I am majoring in photography at Northern Arizona University.  I have taken photography classes at Northern Arizona University to become a freelance photographer. I have had an image of my work on display for a photography class for a spring show this year. As a photographer, I enjoy taking photographs of landscapes, editorial and nature scenes.

Making art with photography always inspires me as a photographer to create images that could be memorable and can stand out for people to look at. As a photographer I hope that my photographs inspire you as much as I’ve been inspired by other photographers.

To read more about the Northern Arizona University “Behind the Image: Guest Blogger” project on our blog, please read the introduction at youcansleepwhenyouredead.com/wordpress/its-back-the-2014-nau-photography-students-behind-the-image-guest-blogger-project/.