Denver, Colorado-based photographer Theo Stroomer recently did a shoot for Popular Science documenting the process of dinosaur fossil replication at Gaston Design in Fruita, Colorado. Founded 25 years ago by Rob Gaston, Gaston Design specializes in the anatomically accurate reconstruction of fossil skeletons and skulls based on paleontological research. Popular Science was interested in featuring Gaston’s fossil replica process to shed some light on its importance in the scientific community.
It is a common misconception that those towering Tyrannosaurus Rex and majestic Sauropods are all genuine fossils straight from the ground. When scientists excavate dinosaur bones, they often find them incomplete and damaged. Take Sue, the famous Chicago Field Museum T-Rex for example: her skeleton is made up of bones of various T-Rex specimens, while her skull is a replica because the real one got damaged after spending millions of years underground. The casts and replicas help us gain a better understanding of what these prehistoric creatures truly looked like.
This project was Theo’s first time working with Popular Science. He had been sending email marketing materials to the publication’s editor regularly. When the editor finally reached out, he mentioned that he had been watching Theo’s work for a while.
Located in Western Colorado, Gaston Design is only a few hours from Denver, where Theo lives. So, he traveled there the day before, stayed the night, and then spent a day taking photos at Rob’s studio.
Rob’s workshop is a big warehouse. There is some natural light, but it’s mostly artificial. This was a perfect opportunity to use strobes to punch things up, and I was aiming to make things look vibrant instead of drab. A typical setup was two or three lights, illuminating the subject, but also filling in the background or perhaps providing some rim light. When you have multiple strobes to adjust, the work can be slow, but we knew that was ok because we had a full day to make the images and workers who mostly stayed at the same stations.
Working with the team at Popular Science, Theo planned out a series of process-focused imagery for the shoot day at Gaston Design. He and the client knew right away that portraits of Rob would be important as well. Although making the replica fossils is complicated, the work is divided between different stations, which gave Theo the opportunity to set up and tweak the lighting while observing the workers in action.
Communicating directly with Rob, we established his needs. He had limited time himself, but I was free to be around. I requested as much time as possible to generate photographic options. Rob agreed to a full day, which I was thrilled about, plus a brief portrait session in the middle.
Rob was kind and patient — especially important on a science job where I wasn’t an expert, and I needed help understanding what I was photographing. For the parts of the process that required more explanation, but that he couldn’t be present for, we reconnected after the shoot day.
The shoot day went smoothly, with Theo capturing the fossil replication process alongside Rob and his team. It made him understand that making replicas of dinosaur skeletons is no walk in the park. It starts with pieces obtained from museums. Once molded, the replicas undergo seam chasing to remove excess material, making them appear more convincing. But that’s just the beginning. Each replica needs a metal armature, essentially a second skeleton, to support it. Then comes the meticulous process of sanding down seams, painting to mimic the original bones, and assembling pieces into full forms.
This job made me feel like I was a kid again. I could ask any question I wanted about dinosaurs and fossils while taking pictures. It was awesome.
While Theo had visited the town of Fruita several times before, he had never come across Gaston Designs until this project.
It is a great example of something big tucked away in a place you wouldn’t expect — kind of like a fossil I guess.
Restoring creatures from eons past is a huge challenge. Theo managed to capture the preparation, construction, and modeling that goes into making real fossils into objects of scientific importance. With both Popular Science and Rob expressing their satisfaction with the images, Theo couldn’t help but feel fortunate to have met and worked with such talented individuals.
Rob is a noteworthy figure in his field, although very humble and modest — he even has a dinosaur named after him. He and his wife Elisa were kind enough to send a replica T-Rex tooth to my five-year-old son, which is now displayed proudly on the treasure shelf.
See more of Theo’s work on his website.
Credits
Director of Photography: John Toolan
Founder of Gaston Design: Robert Gaston
Further reading
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