Photographing the Chile-bound Live Edge Tables!

As the new year opens at Lohr Woodworking, we have finished, rubbed out, and are preparing to say goodbye to our three live edge tables as they near their Chile-bound shipment date. During our final days with the tables, we have been prepping for their official photo session.

One wall of the shop is an infinity wall (aka cyclorama) and is built with a curved edge joining the wall with the floor. The wall is designed for photographing our finished furniture without a distracting, harsh corner to catch shadow. Last week, we cleared the back of the shop, removed dust and dirt from all places we could get to, and repainted the wall/floor a clean white.

Today began the official live edge Chile tables photo shoot. Eoin came with all the photography equipment we could imagine to capture these pieces as beautifully as they appear in person. After a morning of setting up the diffused lights and playing with exposures, f-stops, and all those other fancy camera terms, he spent the day hard at work behind the lens.

He did an amazing job of capturing these pieces in their entirety down to their finest details. Each table is live edge piece made but of different hardwoods and varying drastically in size so it was impressive to watch him crawling, laying, standing, and climbing ladders to be sure he/we can share them with admirers without any question that they're presented beautifully and accurately.

The majority of the day was spent photographing the huge live edge Bigleaf Maple coffee table. We completed the maple base before Christmas and finished the entire piece just in time for it to be the star of this shoot.

Everything about this piece took thought, creativity, and precise hands to build. Eoin was a master at documenting the live edge slabs, the carefully constructed strong base, the strategically repaired natural voids and flaws, and the complex joinery. We are lucky to have such a skilled photographer-and-woodworker amongst us in this Irishman.

He was sure to capture the live edge oak library table as well as the live edge oak crotch slab table before we called it a day. Each table is so unique in it's shape, grain, color, function, and overall appearance so it was so stunning to see each one have their moment perched in the spotlight. They each sat with the infinity wall behind and the careful lighting shining from above them caused them to look as if they were floating in thin air.

And, don't you worry, there were plenty of the four of us, Lohr Woodworking team, perched upon this piece. First intended to show the strength, functionality, and practicality of the table, it quickly turned into a family photo shoot with fun poses and jokes between snapshots.

What an exciting day! Thanks to Eoin for his skills, equipment, and company. And, thanks to Jeff for constantly designing such exquisite furniture for us to work on. I am one lucky apprentice!