How I met Mick

Earlier in the day, I was visiting Guitar Center hoping to find a yellow Fender Stratocaster for my 10-year-old daughter that was in my budget. She had dropped our hand-me-down electric and broken the tuner key, and now she couldn’t tune her guitar anymore. While waiting to get help at the store, I couldn’t help but admire some beauties on the guitar rack, which included a Gibson Les Paul and a couple of Gretsch electric guitars. Damn, they were sexy, but I was on a mission. I had to find that yellow Fender Stratocaster. But of course, they didn’t have it.

While shooting event photography at a Chili Cook-off that evening, I walked around shooting detail shots and made my way up the stage where the band was still setting up to play. When I’m shooting event photography, the guitars are one of my favorite shots to get on a stage. I love how they majestically sit there, knowing that, at some point, magic will happen when their owner picks them up to play. But on this stage were guitars that stood out from any other guitar I’d ever seen. I asked the guy standing there, “Is that guitar made with old barn wood?”. His answer was, “Yeah, that one was made from an old barn that we had to tear down.” From the other side of the stage, another band member yelled, “He made those guitars!” I took another look at the neck of the guitars sitting there and sure enough, I could see the brand. It was a brand I’ve never seen before. My curiosity was peaked, so I had to ask, “Have you ever been asked to be photographed making guitars?” “Why no, I haven’t,” he replied. “Well, if you’re up for it, I’d love to come out to your shop and photograph you working on guitars if you’re interested.” That was it. Mick was in, and I was excited about photographing an artisan at work. 

Meet Mick Adams. Originally from Leicestershire, England, he migrated to California in the late 90s with his wife Lizzie, where he worked in early virtual reality digital goggle technology. Mick has been the consummate artist, artisan, technician, and technology guru before returning to his first love, building custom guitars and playing them. Check out his website at https://mickadamsguitars.com and his band at www.alexluceroband.com

Shoot Day

When I ask someone to be a subject, it’s important to me to tell their story photographically. I’m assigning myself a photography assignment as an exercise in creativity and to let myself be free to capture and create beautiful imagery without the need to meet any expectations except my own. I packed up my best camera and my strobes, not knowing what type of light scenario I would find myself in, but I had a vision in my head of what I wanted to capture.

I drove for 2 hours to Capitola, near Santa Cruz, a quiet Surfside town south of San Jose and the Bay Area, to meet Mick at his cottage house. This is where Mick takes in guitars from clients and brings them back to working order. This is also where Mick builds his custom electric guitars. Mick’s shop sits inside his enclosed front porch, and he has turned an old horse barn into his woodworking shop. Both areas were eye candy for a photographer like myself. New, used, damaged acoustic and electric guitars hung on racks. Everywhere I turned were parts, tools, and drawers filled with more parts.

With his English accent, Mick was kind, polite, and excited about having a photographer visit him. I was also excited, knowing I would capture an artist working on his craft. I also looked forward to seeing what my new Leica SL2 with the fixed 90mm lens would capture. My new mirrorless system with a 45-megapixel sensor brings a quality I’m just getting to know and enjoy. With Mick as my subject, I couldn’t wait to start shooting. But first, a cappuccino.
I began photographing Mick, cutting and filing a custom string guide out of cattle bone. He was apparently experienced in making this small but vital part of the guitar neck. After drawing lines, he filed the small piece of bone at a slight angle, knowing exactly how the strings would lay over the guides once finished.

My next series of images was capturing Mick’s portrait in his shop. The beauty of the guitars that surrounded him in the chaos of the parts and tools that only made sense to Mick made for a perfect background. Natural light came into his front porch shop, but I also wanted to create some drama by lighting him with a solo light, my beauty dish. The way the light is shaped coming through the dish is soft and natural looking and can be isolated by using a grid in the reflector. By lighting Mick with the dish, I could darken the shop and isolate him as a subject, making the viewer’s eye focus solely on the subject, the luthier.

The next scene I wanted to capture was Mick working in the old horse stable turned wood shop. But first, a cup of English tea with milk and sugar.

Any wood craftsman would be impressed by Mick’s shop. At the back of the shop were stacks of redwood and various other woods used to make future guitars, and on the ceiling were hung templates shaped in the form of different electric guitars. Each wall was lined with every kind of wood shop saw, router, and sander you would need to finish a project. The ceiling had two skylights, and our timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The sun entered the shop like we were in a cathedral during mass; sunlight highlighted every speck of dust that floated into its beam of light. I couldn’t believe my luck. Why try to fight it when the light was absolutely perfect.

We were nearly finished when I decided to shoot more environmental portraits of Mick with my 90mm Leica Lens. I spotted a serene spot in Mick’s backyard surrounded by overgrown vines, ferns, and antique Asian statues. I asked Mick to play his guitar while I captured the moment. The light was dappled and soft at the same time. As I worked my angles, Mick played his favorite country riff. It was a simple scene, but it helped me end our shoot by photographing Mick in his element.

To see more of my portrait work, check out my portrait portfolio page at https://www.ronessexphotography.com/portfolio-items/portrait-photographer/

Thank you, Mick Adams, for being a great subject and host and for that delicious cup of English tea.