EAD Woodwork

EAD Woodwork was one of my favorite projects because it broke the standard mold of a typical commercial shoot. Instead of heading to a single location, we followed the literal "dirt-to-showroom" evolution of a brand. This three-part journey took us from the raw environment of a timber harvest to the refined atmosphere of their Urban showroom in downtown Portsmouth.

The story began on a freezing morning at a farm in Maine, where a massive ash tree was about to be turned into lumber. Ed Szczepanik, the owner of EAD, has built a specialty around finding trees that most woodworkers avoid—specifically those killed by the Emerald Ash Borer. These beetle-killed trees are often considered "undesirable" by industrial lumber yards, but Ed sees the character in the struggle. Watching that raw, frozen timber get slabbed in the biting cold was the perfect starting point for this industrial site photography project. It was about capturing the grit of the harvest before the wood ever touched a sander.

From the farm, we moved to the workshop where the real transformation happens. Ed’s philosophy is "showcasing Mother Nature’s work, not mine," and that means using the darker heartwood that big mills usually throw away. Capturing the heavy machinery, the sawdust, and the steady hands required to work with salvaged wood provided the kind of authentic brand storytelling in NH that you just can’t manufacture. This isn't mass production; it's a slow, patient process of turning a "dead" urban tree into a legacy piece.

Finally, we tracked the finished furniture to their storefront on Penhallow Street. Seeing a polished, sophisticated table sitting in a high-end retail space after seeing it as a frozen log in a Maine field brought the whole story full circle. As a commercial photographer in Portsmouth, NH, I live for these narrative projects. It’s a highlight of my architectural photography portfolio because it proves that the best products usually have the most interesting histories.