Behind the Scenes: The Making of the Jim Golden Art Print

In 2013, we worked with renowned photographer Jim Golden to make an art print capturing the growth of our handcrafted business over four years. This is the story of how the photo was made.

Resources

A visual key to the products, tools, and artifacts
Learn more about Jim Golden Studio in this WIRED Magazine article
Process photos originally posted on Flickr in 2013
Share the story: buy a poster or bandana!

We packed up most of our tools, favorite things, and inventory from the house and brought them to Jim's studio. It was kind of weird to see everything we own spread out on one table!

A long table in a studio filled with lots of tools, artifacts, leather pieces, and collections

The first step was to make sure the bike would fit in the photo - it did! It became the perfect anchor. I love the poetry of this, because Walnut Studiolo started with this bike: my dad's old Bianchi that I completely rebuilt. It seems fitting that it is in the middle of everything.

A man in a plaid shirt looking at a computer screen showing the studio that

It took some creativity to mount the bike such that it laid perfectly on its side. The camera was mounted above, for a bird's eye view.

Then we had to figure out what would go in the frame next.

Geoff standing behind Jim Golden and his photography assistant while they pick out the next props to put in the photo from the long table

They started by anchoring our finished works around the bike.

A photography assistant holding an object over a floor with a blue background that is starting to get filled in

Jim and Kristin left no detail overlooked. We were consistently impressed with how much effort they put into making everything just so: this was the art at work. Here, we were trying to decide whether to leave the can cage on the bike, or place it next to it. They must have taken hundreds of pictures throughout the day to help make micro design decisions like this.

A man in a plaid shirt looking at his computer screen showing a close-up of bicycle handlebars with leather grips, while his photography assistant works on them in the background

Kristin began grouping our products by the area of the bike they're on, like the cluster of mud flaps next to the mud flap on the left.

A photographer working on a large floor covered with a blue cloth surrounded by objects for arrangement

After a while, we realized a pattern of the products radiating off of the bike roughly where they should go on the bike, with non-bike products below the bike.

Side view of the floor of the studio getting filled in with an arrangement of Walnut Studiolo products and tools

Placing all the items just-so took an incredibly long time!

After they'd placed all the products, they began to fill in with some of our favorite items and tools.

*Almost done!*

A neatly-arranged collection of leather bicycle accessories and tools surrounding a brown and white bicycle laid out on the floor on top of a blue backdrop

Once everything had its place, they fine-tuned each individual piece, making sure the spacing and orientation were just right.

A view of both the studio floor with the objects for photography and an assistant making arrangements, and the photographer looking at his computer screen showing what the camera on the ceiling sees

The final layout!

The photographer Jim Golden looking at this computer screen making adjustments to the final photo

Geoff walked to the back corner to get a new perspective.

A man in a photo studio is standing back in front of a white backdrop and taking a photo of a large art project on the ground in front of him

Val liked to watch the action on-screen, looking over Jim's shoulder.

A view of the photo studio with all the objects arranged on the floor, the photographer sitting at his computer, and Valerie behind the photographer smiling at the camera

All the different pictures will get blended together into one beautiful perfect picture, soon to be our new poster.

The photography assistant working on the computer while the photographer stands over the object arrangement on the floor holding an anti-reflective mat above

All done! Jim and Kristin were terrific to work with, and we had a great time. Now we just had to pack everything up, bring it home, and unpack it again. That was a long 12+ hour day, but we're super excited about the artwork that was made here today, as grateful for the unique experience of seeing all our life's work in one place.