When Puracore approached me with an exciting photographic opportunity at Edinburgh University, I was immediately intrigued. The mission? To document the pristine clean rooms newly installed at the university’s new bio-lab – an essential part of a comprehensive case study showcasing Puracore’s cutting-edge clean room installations.
The shoot was carried out at a new scientific campus which was being constructed at Edinburgh University.
The client wanted shots showing the newly installed clean rooms before they were full of equipment and people. I’ve photographed inside clean rooms before but often when they are being used. From a photographic point of view this makes things quite challenging as usually you need to limit the amount of equipment you bring in as it all needs to be wiped down. You all need to wear protective gowns, masks and gloves to prevent any contamination which makes operating the camera very difficult as well as hot to work in. Thankfully, none of this was required as the rooms weren’t operational.
The rooms were quite straightforward to photograph as the lighting was provided by LED ceilings lights. The white walls also reflected the light so no additional lighting was required.
The main challenge of this shoot was getting access to the site. Although Paradors had provided the panelling for the rooms, we relied on the building contractor to provide access to the site. Unfortunately on the day, the site manager was unexpectedly delayed due to an urgent meeting which meant we had to wait a while to get access. Thankfully, once we were at the location, they were flexible in allowing us sufficient time to complete the shoot.
I took a number of detail shots to show some of the features such as the seal on the window between 2 adding rooms.
I used a Nikon D850 with a shift/tilt lens to keep al the verticals correct. No additional lighting was required as all the rooms were lit by white LED’s in the ceiling. As the walls were also white it meant that the rooms were evenly lit. I was therefore able to photograph everything on a tripod with a single shot.
The doors are also specially designed so the rooms are completely sealed from the outside.
One of the things I most enjoy about this type of photographing is gaining access to areas and learn about things you wound’t normally encounter. One thing that fascinated me was to learn that in order for the clean rooms to function there is in effect another room above them which houses all the electrics and ventilation systems. So, if you want to change a light bulb, this isn’t done from inside the clean room but instead from a hatch in the room above.
For me, this was one of the most interesting aspect of the shoot; the room above the clean room which houses all the ventilation systems as well as hatches for changing the light bulbs in the room below!
The client was delighted with all the image which provided them with a useful case study to show their products in use.
If you are looking for commercial photographers in Edinburgh or elsewhere in the UK to carry out case studies for your business or product photography then please drop us an email or call us on 0333 567 0002 for a chat.
