A little update.
Hi there,
I’ve been working back at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC for the last few months. I am so in love with this job! I love having the ability to put effort into lighting, and making great photographs of the objects I am privileged enough to even see up close.
This contract I’ve had the ability to photograph ancient Egyptian artifacts from the Twentieth Dynasty. When I was looking at these objects I simply could not wrap my brain around the fact that they were over 4000 years old. Considering my frame of reference is a pretty pitiful twenty something years, and even less than that if you only count when you can actually cognitively remember anything.
The other day I photographed a headdress from the northern great plains of Saskatchewan. Having the ability to set-up the headdress as to give it a look like it was being photographed on somebody’s head; really seeing it in all it’s glory. I guess the only way to get my point across is to say it gave me the chills. Like the kind you get when you feel the interconnectedness of every living bit of energy in the universe giving you a little reminder that you are in-fact part of its beautiful chaos.
Even just being able to see it up close, I was in awe. The beadwork on the headband, and the two foot long Bald Eagle feathers woven into it. I couldn’t believe how large the feathers were! Bald Eagles are unbelievable animals. I’ve read that in some first nations practices when they hunted and killed an animal they would thank the spirit and the body of the animal, and they would reassure it that every part of it was going to help the hunter’s family survive. The eagle being such a powerful, symbolic animal; its feathers were a sign of rank and accomplishment. The headdress I photographed would have most definitely belonged to a Chief. It photographed beautifully 
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When I first started back at MOA I was faced with a photographic challenge. I was pumped to put it quite plainly. I was told that we had to photograph about 10 oversized objects in one of the temporarily closed galleries. I had to mount one of their $40,000 camera bodies, and digital backs to the ceiling, and without being able to see what I was looking at through the viewfinder, I had to climb a ladder up to the camera, and set everything prior to exposure.
Deciding to study with a technical background in photography was a good decision! With the assistance of my amazing fellow museum staff I was able to get the measurements of the objects needing photography. From there I was able to calculate what focal length each object needed. This made my life a lot easier in the long run. I then knew when I had to change lenses… pretty much completely eliminating the need for test shots, other than for object placement. Also better for the objects themselves, most of which don’t like being overly handled too much.
I can’t post photos of the objects I’ve photographed on here unless I get permission from curators at the museum. You can, however, check out small resolution versions of the photographs in their online collection.
Here are a few shots I took from the ceiling set-up! Hope you enjoy.
-K
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- Ceiling Set-up © UBC Museum of Anthropology
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- Camera, complete with safety © UBC Museum of Anthropology
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- Desk Chaos © UBC Museum of Anthropology
Yay Kyla!! Just checked out MOA’s website too. Objects are beautiful.