Oberlin Conservatory Magazine Cover

I was given the opportunity to photograph the National Medal of the Arts for the cover of the latest issue of the Conservatory Magazine. Quite an honor. You can read more about the story here.
The Dean of the Conservatory had a definite vision for the cover. He just wanted the medal – nothing else, because he felt that it really spoke for itself. So that is what we did. Just the medal on black velvet. You would assume that one little medal and one plain backdrop wouldn’t cause any problems. I won’t get into the whole story, but suffice it to say, a certain person and I had to sweat this one out.
But I am very happy with the result. (sorry I only have a small version of the completed cover).

I also took the medal on a tour of the Conservatory to take its picture with some other backgrounds. Here is one of my favorites…