Two years ago, I met Toby Richards, whom I've since found to be an amazing sculpture photographer. Why he would be willing to come spend days on end with us at Lynden Gallery photographing hundreds of shots, letting me turn things just this way or that, another fraction of an inch, and experiment with the lighting until we got it just right, I'll never know. I was beat, and on his end, it all had to be rather tedious! But he had A.J. as his right hand man, and I had six wonderful gentlemen artists who were willing to lift and move at our instruction and bidding all day long.I remember the shoot we did at John Hertzler's barn like it was yesterday. It was a dreary day, starting to get the autumn chill, and by the end of the day it was raining. It ended up the best shots of the day were taken with a back-drop of field outside the bank barn, with John's tractor sitting in waiting, and the last light of the day providing the most awesome shadows. The water just inside the barn doors glistened on the floor, and though we had feasted on bad coffee and stale donuts most of the day, I honestly think John and Toby were just hitting their stride. John just got funnier with each passing hour, and frozen fingers and toes aside, the day was simply lovely.
