LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 58 It seems like every image has an incredible amount of planning that goes into it. What is your process for staging these photos, from the background, to the props, to choosing your shot locations? Wherever I travel, Acorn Man goes with me and I al- ways plan a few shots for each trip. Many of the shots, however, do not need a grand background. I love to photograph simple scenes in a forest that has a lot of moss covered fallen trees. Hamilton College's hiking trails have been a favorite haunt of mine. Even though it is only a 15-minute drive, I have been wanting something closer. Last summer I started turning my side yard into an outdoor photography studio just for Acorn Whimsy. I cut a large tree down and had it split in smaller pieces. I nailed sheets of moss to the logs to see which ones would grow best. A timed water mist- ing system was also put around the growing moss so that it would be watered four times a day. Like every- thing, it is a learning process. I have a few smaller logs that have worked well for my photography, but am hoping that next year I will have more options as the moss spreads like a carpet. How do you get your figures to "stand up" so per- fectly? When I first started photographing my figures, the most difficult part was getting them to balance. I came up with the idea of putting strong earth mag- nets in their feet. Now to get one to balance quickly, a nail is put into a log and the magnet sticks to the head of the nail. This has really helped me with difficult poses where they may be standing on one foot. For scenes where they need to look like they are floating, a copper wire is glued to their back. They are suspend- ed by a clamp and then the copper wire is erased with photoshop in the end. As for props, I have been learning that magnets work well with them as well. Getting a canoe paddle to balance in his hands was a challenge, but by placing micro magnets in the paddle and Acorn Man's arms, they simply snap together and can be posed easily. Other props are held in place using a battery powered glue gun that I can easily use in the field. You have a number of Acorn Whimsy series con- cepts, from holiday themes to toilets to yoga. What are your favorite Acorn Whimsy photos to take? My absolute favorite character to photograph is my Acorn Girl who is wearing a skirt. Her body is designed much differently than my regular characters. Her torso can separate from her lower body. There is a copper post that holds these two parts together. A flower can be stuck on the post which acts as her skirt. Most daisy-like flowers can work. My favorite shots were of the ice skating during the winter Olympic series. I also like photographing scenes that incorporate Getting in some manual labor at Rollins Pond. Paddling with four-legged-friends through the Smoky Mountains. Couples that skate together stay together.

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