Journal Entry #288
Posted on Fri, 11 May 2012 07:05:41 -0500 by Robert Watcher
Posted on Fri, 11 May 2012 07:05:41 -0500 by Robert Watcher
Trying out my DVD Xpress video cature device on some old Beta video footage that I found of myself shooting the portrait section for a wedding in January 1987. I had been in business by this time for 7 years and was a ripe age of 30 years old. My - how time flies.
Anyone familiar with my work over the last several years since I've been frequenting forums, probably thinks I've always been the free wheelin' photographer looking for all the moments that traditional wedding photographers miss - without any appreciation or knowledge of the tried and true traditionalist. It ain't so. While I always did include a style similar to what I do today, I was influenced by what was expected of me - and while I didn't like to shoot 3 hour formals at a park, it wasn't uncommon for me to brag about only spending 2 hours.
It is so funny looking back at this video and recognizing how Medium Format Cameras, Studio Lighting Equipment and Painted Backdrops, while making for beautiful images - really slows down the process - - - everything has to be so deliberate. The footage I have made into a 1 1/2 minute web video is obviously only a very small portion of the whole. However, when I watch the complete video I can recognize all of the missed photographic opportunities in between the actual poses - that I do not miss anymore. Although to be fair, shooting digital allows me this luxury wheras with film I had to consider the dollar cost of shooting each frame and make it count.
One small clip at the end shows my Twin Lens Mamyia 220 setup with Porofinder and the wind and cock that was required to get to the next shot. I later moved on to a new Mamyia 330 before purchasing an RB67 then RZ67 in the early nineties. By that time I was shooting a lot with 35mm film for my weddings and Love Story work. A Metz 402 flash with big battery pack on my shoulder, was bounced off the ceiling with homemade bounce card attached with rubber bands - - - all on the fixed plate Stroboframe. I was really proud of my home made silver reflector that I used for studio type portraits and outdoors for fill, that used 2 thin pieces of spring steel that I picked up from a machine shop. These overlapped each other on the back and provided tension by fitting them through grommets in the 4 corners of the silver lame' reflector surface that my wife sewed up for me.
Anyone familiar with my work over the last several years since I've been frequenting forums, probably thinks I've always been the free wheelin' photographer looking for all the moments that traditional wedding photographers miss - without any appreciation or knowledge of the tried and true traditionalist. It ain't so. While I always did include a style similar to what I do today, I was influenced by what was expected of me - and while I didn't like to shoot 3 hour formals at a park, it wasn't uncommon for me to brag about only spending 2 hours.
It is so funny looking back at this video and recognizing how Medium Format Cameras, Studio Lighting Equipment and Painted Backdrops, while making for beautiful images - really slows down the process - - - everything has to be so deliberate. The footage I have made into a 1 1/2 minute web video is obviously only a very small portion of the whole. However, when I watch the complete video I can recognize all of the missed photographic opportunities in between the actual poses - that I do not miss anymore. Although to be fair, shooting digital allows me this luxury wheras with film I had to consider the dollar cost of shooting each frame and make it count.
One small clip at the end shows my Twin Lens Mamyia 220 setup with Porofinder and the wind and cock that was required to get to the next shot. I later moved on to a new Mamyia 330 before purchasing an RB67 then RZ67 in the early nineties. By that time I was shooting a lot with 35mm film for my weddings and Love Story work. A Metz 402 flash with big battery pack on my shoulder, was bounced off the ceiling with homemade bounce card attached with rubber bands - - - all on the fixed plate Stroboframe. I was really proud of my home made silver reflector that I used for studio type portraits and outdoors for fill, that used 2 thin pieces of spring steel that I picked up from a machine shop. These overlapped each other on the back and provided tension by fitting them through grommets in the 4 corners of the silver lame' reflector surface that my wife sewed up for me.
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