Studio Photography & Design

A New Light on New England:

Jody Dole captures Connecticut

Text by Martha Blanchard / Images by Jody Dole

After several years of juggling strobes and success in Manhattan, Jody Dole has found his natural light at the end of the tunnel n a rural 18th century Connecticut town. This tranquil habitat along the Connecticut River banks has been inspirational for Dole, serving as a perfect backdrop for his recent photographic passion: marine photography and seascapes from vintage boats and low flying helicopters.

Since settling in here, his nautical eye has netted him new national and local business, including Hatteras Yachts, Raymarine, Ritcie Navigation, Bausch & Lomb, Nikon, Inc. and Soundings magazine.

"Living and working at the Connecticut shore has presented new ways of shooting," says Dole. "I continue to create still life work for advertising and editorial clients, and these new accounts are providing the means to create what I enjoy as well”.

Mother Nature's Sun

Dole welcomes natural light into the picture. He explores different ways of balancing and reflecting light from new angles, while the river, ocean, and landscape bounce and blend shadows and highlights. What remains a constant is his knack for finding and object's intrinsic grace and enhancing it through natural lighting.

The cover of this month's SP&D is Dole's rather surreal image of Watch Hill Lighthouse, Rhode Island, captured last fall and created with next to no image editing. He's more inclined to take things out that add things in.

"Light and timing are always key," explains Dole. "What I saw is what I shot. A low resolution JPEG setting on the Nikon D100 contributed to the dreamy quality. the only retouching on this photo was the removal of rust stains on the sea wall and minor repositioning of the flagpole. I used one of my favorite lenses, the Nikkor 80-400mm AF VR. My good friend and Soundings magazine editor Bill Sisson led me to the water's edge at exactly the right time."

Recently Dole as become involved with the Connecticut River Museum, working with graphic designer Peter Good of Cummings & Good. Good is currently arranging rare 18th and 19th century nautical artifacts from the River Museum's archive for one of his signature posters, and Dole is photographing them in his trademark style.

The finished images from their month-long project will update the museum's image and be used for a fundraising poster, limited-edition prints, and note card set.

Another recent project is his work with the creative team at Bertz Design. The group has been pouring over hundreds of archived objects stored in acid-free boxes for the past century at the Bausch & Lomb Company. Dole and art director Andrew Wessels are busy creating new images for the company's 150th anniversary coffee table book to be published this spring.

Digital Dole

Dole divides his work one-third outdoors and two-thirds studio. A devoted Nikon shooter, he uses the D1x and D100, plus a Ken-Lab KS6 Gyro Stabilizer outdoors.

"The Nikon D1x, the new lenses, and Nikon Capture 4.02 software have changed my life as much today as when I first began looking at the world through the Nikon F at age 13. The Ken-Lab KS6 Gyro Stabilizer mounts onto the camera base with a machine-locking mechanism and dramatically dampens vibration from moving helicopters and rocking boats. It's a wonderful invention."

Dole gives additional credit to an indispensable piece of equipment for navigating local waters--a custom-built, down east Duffy 31-foot picnic boat owned and operated by his good friend and Connecticut River collaborator, Gerry Dubey.

Back in his studio, Dole shoots with his Nikon, Hasselblad, Mamiya RZ67, and Phase One H-20 and H-25 backs, illuminating his subjects with Elinchrom and Comet Strobes, plus LTM HMI and Arri tungsten lighting.

"Phase One is top notch for high-resolution digital studio still life photography. I've been using their medium-format backs in the studio since 1994 and have moved through five different models since. Their camera backs and technical support are simply fabulous. I'd be lost without system integrator extraordinaire Hernando Pineda of Digital Transitions in New York and Phase One's Kevin Raber. They've helped me set up several shoots--including the Connecticut River Museum projects."

Digital Dreamspace

 From his high-tech, custom-designed Connecticut studio, replete with Apple Xserve, Power Mac G5 duals, and remote edit FTP site, Dole and his assistants manage an impressive workflow.

"Two tools are necessary for me to operate outside of NYC: our FTP site and a powerful server with mega storage. After a day of shooting I'll end up with hundreds of 60MB Nikon and Phase One images. I absolutely need G5 processing power and loads of storage. I couldn't live without an FTP site for sending images to clients after our local 4:30 p.m. FedEx pickup deadline."

When prepping images, Dole follows a disciplined workflow. From the Nikon D1x cameras, his assistant batch processes NEFs, which are then converted to 16-bit tiffs. He uses Photoshop CS for editing and automated proof sheet creation. Epson Stylus Photo 2200 printers produce hard copy for review by Dole, who supervises digital proof sheet FTP transmission.

Due to the timeliness of most projects, clients generally request images via FTP. If they prefer, Dole has his studio print enlarged proofs on a Fuji Pictography 4500 or wide-format Epson Stylus Pro 9600 or 10,000, or burns and sends a CD and proofs. These days about the only outside lab work he requires is E6 processing for when he shoots film. He's currently grappling with a master archive system, so for now he stores thousands of images on DVDs and secondary hard drives.

Despite being 89 miles from Manhattan, business has steadily increased. His client roster has also expanded to the nearby cities of New Haven, Hartford, Providence, and Boston. Dole relies on the business savvy of Noank, Connecticut-based agent Robert Mead of Robert Mead Associates, plus stock photography arrangements with Getty and his own stock site: www.jodydolestock.com . He only shows the latest images in his new portfolio.

His vigilance has paid off. Dole counts McGraw Hill, Gillette, 3M, DuPont, Seagram's, Time Warner, Federal Express, Neutrogena, Dow Jones, and Bausch & Lomb among his clients. His editorial credits include Communication Arts, Graphis, The New York Times Magazine, Fortune, Esquire, GQ, Time, Wall Street Journal, Self, Maine Boats & Harbors, Power & Motoryacht, and Soundings.

 Passionate about family, boating, environment, and volunteer work with the Connecticut River Museum, Dole finds life here idyllic. The new studio is ideal for his workload and new lifestyle. And the location? Perfect.

"Shooting on the water is calming and satisfying. The outdoors is just a new light studio for me!"

For more Dole images, visit www.jodydole.com