Out of the Fiery Furnace

About This Photograph
This is an actual photograph, not a Photoshop effect. This image was originally created for the cover of the Hitchiner 1988 Annual Report, and has since been used on sales brochures, mouse pads, buttons, and trade show booths, including a six-foot-high blowup on Hitchiner's portable display. It visually represents the company and the casting process, and is one of Gary's favorite photo illustrations.

How It Was Created
The background for this picture is a sheet of one-inch-thick Styrofoam insulation painted flat black with a circular hole cut from its center. Underneath the hole is a sheet of glazed glass—the type used to make shower doors. The glass and Styrofoam are suspended between two tables. A video lamp with a yellow gel was aimed up through the hole in the Styrofoam.

The stainless steel casting of the Hitchiner logo is the same that is used on Hitchiner's employee awards (also designed by Gary). The casting was placed on top of the glazed glass. The flame effect is dry ice steam that was poured over the glass before shooting the picture.

The final step was to make the top of the casting glow orange. This required some real improvisation. Two chairs were set up back-to-back above the casting with a space of about 18 inches between them. A large (empty) stainless steel lasagna pan from the Hitchiner Barn kitchen was placed between the chair backs. The orange glow is the light from the yellow lamp shining up through the glazed glass and dry ice steam as reflected by the lasagna pan!

The best compliment that Gary received for this picture was from a melter at the Ferrous Division who asked, "when did you come into the foundry to shoot that picture?"