HWC Engineering is another long time loyal client. They specialize in landscape architecture and work with municipalities to improve parts of a town that are run down and in need of repairs. Mays Park in Anderson, Indiana had not been updated in quite a while and was starting to look a bit run down. HWC specializes in partnering with communities to help bring some new life and were put on the job. We were subsequently brought in to capture the magic! HWC made several valuable updates to the park: old tennis courts were turned into
pickleball courts, a new splash pad with covered picnic areas was added, and visitors would have a new playground, walking path, skate park, and basketball courts to enjoy.
One of the reasons HWC brought Studio 13 into the picture (no pun intended) was to capture some pictures highlighting community engagement with their work, bringing people into the photographs in a natural way. Adding that human element is tricky, and HWC’s previous photographers had chosen to use Photoshop on the back-end to move people around rather than directing the talent while on-set. In situations like these, Lesle opts for “controlled chaos” by putting people in the general area that she wants them, allowing for organic movement, and does the technical work to get the shot. This produces beautiful, natural-looking photographs that need very little post-production work.
That being said, imperfection is part of the photography process. There was one image that needed a person removed, which means some Photoshop finesse. While showing off the pickleball court, the photo subjects were playing pickleball and enjoying themselves. One individual had to be removed in order to restore balance to the image, as extraneous people can distract from the focus of the image. With a few tweaks, the client loved the shot! We enjoyed working with HWC and look forward to seeing more impactful community projects in the future.
