Robots and lasers: Commercial photography and videography for Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.
For my last commercial shoot of 2025, I had the good fortune to collaborate with the team over at Manufacturing Technologies, Inc.,known as MTI, one of the largest CNC machining and precision fabrication shops in New Mexico. MTI turns raw materials into precision components for airplanes, super computers, defense systems, skyscrapers, stadiums—you name it, they manufacture it at the highest level, for clients all over the world.
The company was looking to revamp its website and elevate its presence on social media with professional commercial photography and videography, and they reached out to me directly to set up a day-and-a-half shoot at their facility in Bernalillo, New Mexico. The scope of the shoot was significant: drone photography of the facility, headshots for management, staged and candid lifestyle photography of the team in action, professionally lit photos of each machine in the facility, and a documentary-style video with interviews highlighting the history and capabilities of the company. I love large-scale shoots like this, and preplanning was essential, as it always is in commercial photography. After a detailed location scout and coordination with the management team about tone and specific shot-list needs, it was time to execute.
Day one focused on photography. I arrived before sunrise to get drone shots of the facility and then transitioned to management environmental headshots, where I shot tethered to allow the client to see the photos in real time and make adjustments. For the next several hours, I captured candid and staged shots of the crew and machinery in action. The conditions were challenging—shooting fast-moving machines in extremely low light, often through thick glass. I used strobes and flash duration to freeze motion as best as possible along with flags to manage reflections in the glass, and when using strobes was not possible, I used prime lenses wide open at f/1.2 and 1.4 to minimize noise as much as possible. Even with these methods, a few shots required ISOs as high as 25,600—nothing a little noise reduction in post couldn’t handle. The latter part of the afternoon involved photographing the company’s more-than-30 machines. For this part of the day, I used two strobes with large soft boxes to emphasize details, while intentionally leaving backgrounds darker to create emphasis. I finished the day shooting more candid shots of the crew in action, followed by shooting aerial video footage of the facility at sunset. Overall, day one of the shoot was successful, and I learned a ton of new techniques to use in future shoots. Here are some sample stills:
Day two started bright and early and focused on video. I began the day getting sunrise drone footage of the facility and surrounding mountains. I’ve lived in New Mexico for several years, and views of the incredible Sandia Mountains just never get old—the views from Bernalillo that morning were particularly amazing. Next, we transitioned to interviews of the management team, Lucas and Ty, and it’s always so fun to get to know a business better through the interview process. For the rest of the day, I shot candid b-roll footage of the crew in action to layer over top of the interviews. I used a combination of handheld footage, shooting on a gimbal, and flying the drone indoors for unique shots. Overall, I was happy with how the video came out, and again I learned a lot of new techniques to use in future shoots, especially when it comes to recording audio, which is newer skill for me. Here is the finished product. Sometimes my website provider (Squarespace) seems to struggle to sync the audio, so try pausing the video if the audio is off, or reach out to me and I’ll share the MP4 files if you’d like to see more.
Overall, my shoot with MTI was a success. I felt so fortunate to get to know Lucas and Ty and the rest of the MTI team. I was so impressed with how focused and hard-working the entire team was, and it was an honor to get to work with them on this fun and challenging project.
Are you looking for commercial photography and videography for your business in New Mexico, the Southwest, or beyond? Reach out to me today at ben@bensnaps-photo to set up a discovery call—I’d love to learn more about your business and to work with you to elevate your brand with professional visuals.
Thanks for reading!
-Ben