Life, The Universe and Everything

• Bomas Saturday

  Posted: July 29, 2008, 3:45 pm by egm

  
  
  Saturday I got to cover my first concert type event. And what a challenge that was! This was the live taping of the Idols Finale. Though I was on the front seat, that didn't make it any easier! You see, we were not allowed to stand at any time during the entire 90 minutes it took to record the show. Nor were we allowed to use flash. Failure to adhere to those two rules meant immediate eviction from the place. That's when I came to appreciate some of the features of the D200 which make it less difficult to capture photos in certain conditions. This experience farthered my resolve to get my hands on a D3. And some prime lenses.
  
  This was my first time watching Idols. I've just read bits and pieces here and there by various writers about it. That was the extent of my knowledge of it. I didn't even know who the contestants were! So it was interesting being in this place I had almost zero knowledge of.
  
  The show was nice. The two sang very well. The other contestants that didn't make it this far sang very well. The finalists of the previous competition sang very well. And they all looked good.
  
  After the show there was the press conference for the finalists, the sponsors and the judges. Some interesting questions were asked. Journalists can be a cruel bunch! One of them asked Eric if he felt good that it was Nicollete and not Trina he faced in the final. Whether he found he could take it easier since he faced a lessor opponent. How do you ask this in the presence of someone that doesn't really feel the good about losing out in this competition? Eric put him in his place. He stated that Nicollete must have been superb to have gotten to where she was, and so he was at the same level of attention with her as he would have been with Trina. Whether his statements concerning Nicollete were accurate or not, the fact remains he made her feel good by that response, given the circumstances. I admired him for that.
  
  I also got a chance to cover some of the chilling at the tent set up for the competitors and M-Net's guests before they went to Galileo's. It was interesting how everyone was clamouring to be next to these people. I met a lady there I went to school with who I told that this was my first time ever watching anything to do with Idols. She asked if I lived under a rock vile it was all over tv. I told her that I didn't own a tv, and that if I did, I could be least bothered by Idols. It meant nothing to me whatsoever. This, contrasted with everyone around me who wanted to be next to them.
  
  The thing that jazzed me most was how Eric got super bodyguard protection. Yaani surrounded kabisa with people being pushed away. There was this guy who approached rather enthusiastically asking for an autograph. The guy was roughed up, lifted up and dumped on the side. This guy has just won Idols! He isn't a superstar! I guess people are banking on the fact that he will become a superstar someday, and so they want something to show that they were with him at some point.
  
  This clamour to be associated with them was not limited to just the fans. Even the bodyguards themselves wanted that. A couple who saw me taking photos asked if I could email them any pictures where they appeared with Eric. I guess this is a human thing. I wonder who I'd want to be associated with. Definitely the musicians don't do anything for me, as shown by zero interest in Idols. Mabye some well known photographer.
  
  Anyways, I now leave you images as a slideshow taken at the event. Enjoy!

• Papparazzis: Godsent or Menace?

  Posted: July 24, 2008, 12:18 pm by egm

  Ssembonge raises a very interesting point in his comment on this post. That papparazzis should be outlawed. It has been interesting seeing the papparazzi phenomenon, first as an independent observer, and then as a photographer myself.
  
  The first time I got to know of them was at a wedding I attended during one of my trips back home while I was still based in the US. It fascinated me that I could buy prints taken of me at the same event only hours after the fact. I never did buy any, however. But the thought that I could had I wanted intrigued me.
  
  After I took up photography seriously, I got to see papparazzis in another light. One that was not as favourable as before. It felt like they got in the way of properly carrying out my work at events where I was hired as the main photographer. But then I managed to get around that by being more assertive. So for now it is no longer a problem for me. Once I have made known to the relevant people that I am the main photographer, it's easy from there on. During group shots, I tell them to look just at my camera, ignoring all others. It doesn't always work, but for the most part it does.
  
  The reason above is why I find it very hard to cover an event where I am not the main photographer, even though I may have been asked by the main people at the event to help out. I did a wedding two weeks ago as a favour for a friend. Though everyone had been alerted to my presence, I still did not feel 100% at ease. I made sure to talk to the main photographers and alert them that I had been asked to help out so they wouldn't think me as an unwelcome outsider.
  
  When it comes to the issue of whether papparazzis should be allowed to do their thing or not, I find that there are mixed feelings among people. There are those like Ssembonge who would rather they don't exist. I have covered weddings where they even had security to ensure said papparazzis were not even allowed into the venue. At one wedding I covered, my brother was helping me out with a second camera. Since the bride hadn't met him yet, she thought that he was a papparazzi and asked me about him. I told her he was with me, and that calmed her down. But one other guy that was there unkown to either of us was promptly shown the door.
  
  At yesterday's funeral, I got to see some guests who were walking in give any papparazzi that tried to take their photo a warning glance. Clearly they did not want their photos taken. At the start of the day at the funeral home, I was taking pictures when one of the family members looked at me badly and said she hoped I was not a papparazzi since she wouldn't buy any of my pictures. Were this not a funeral, I would have found that very funny, since my photography style is anything but!
  
  And then there are those that welcome papparazzis with open arms. I did one wedding where at the express wish of the groom several papparazzis were called upon and asked to help cover the event, complete with selling the photos during the reception. There were about 5 of them, in addtion to myself and the other official photographer. I also have a wedding coming up where the groom's side of the family wants papparazzis present to assist.
  
  And this is not limited to just low budget weddings. I was told of this high profile wedding with a very big budget where the family wanted the photographer selected to do some papparazzi style photography in addition to what he was offering as the main package. This photographer doesn't do that. But because his doing it would determine he gets the contract, he just had to.
  
  So, are papparazzis a menace, or a necessity? It depends on who you ask. For now, for as long as there are those that want their services, they are here to stay. If you outlaw them, those that want them will be up in arms. So I guess the best thing is to just work things out such that you can have them not barge in on your event if you don't want them. That, or just let them be. I don't know. Personally, I have learned to live with them. What is your take?

• Funerals are not my thing.

  Posted: July 23, 2008, 4:12 pm by egm

  This morning found me outdoors in a cemetry covering a funeral. This was my first time ever doing this. And my last. I have decided that funerals I won't do. Even if I get offered good money. It's just not my thing. I mean, how do you go snapping away at people grieving even if it's them that want it? If someone enquires about it from me, I'll direct them to other photographers.
  
  Today's funeral was extreme. 5 cameramen: 3 still, 2 video. And that's just the official ones. Of course the papparazzi were out in full force. I saw 3 at the cemetry. (An aside, one of the cameramen had Raul's twin. Right down to the flash, vertical grip and missing flash sync connection cover. Had I not being carrying Raul in my hands, I could have sworn he stole it from me!).
  
  If you think the above was bad, there was a funeral next to the one I was covering where, eh, I just got bemused. You know the way after a wedding service people pose with the bride and groom outside the church? That's exactly what was going on. Complete with the person co-ordinating the posing. I kept hearing, now it's the siblings. Okay, after siblings, let us have the uncles and aunts. Okay, now the cousins. I couldn't believe it.
  
  And so, as a PSA, let it be known Raul will never ever cover funerals. At least not while being handled by yours truly. If someone wants to borrow the camera to cover one, by all means let them do so after having left me a sizeable deposit to replace Raul should the grave suddenly appear too attractive to him, as well as paying a good use fee. Big enough to deter anyone from using Raul thus.
  
  I follow Alain Briot's outlook on photography. I will not cover things that evoke negative emotions. That's why I didn't take shots during the chaos earlier this year. That is why I am choosing not to cover funerals. Others that have no problem covering that can and are very welcome to do so.

• Mariana and Everest

  Posted: July 7, 2008, 3:17 pm by egm

  In this photo business, there are days when you feel like you've been tossed into the Mariana Trench and forgotten about, having never existed. Yet, at other times, you feel like you are atop Mount Everest, highest being in the world at that pont. Such are the emotions evoked in me in just the past one week.
  
  For the first case, I was so happy and all set for a big budget wedding I had gotten work for. Everything had gone well, the deposit had been paid, and we were discussing album options. Then one day, out of the blue, the wedding planner calls me and tells me not to bother. Some family members (not even the couple, mind you), thought I was too expensive, and so they didn't want to use my services. Ouch! After having beseeched another friend who had been contemplating that date for her own wedding to move it to another one that she and her beau were also considering! Hmm... next time I'm not even going to bother. Once someone has booked me, that's that. Good thing the deposit is non-refundable, as per my conditions when doing a booking. Otherwise this would have stung even more. So much for that.
  
  Well, over the course of the week, I put that behind me slowly. Figured something else would come up, and even if it doesn't, I can have another studio session for more practice photography. No point in dwelling on this and missing out on other things. Good thing I did that. I ended up enjoying the weekend greatly. Good stuff all around, including my first evern ngurario. I had been asked to go do photography for this event, as some sort of interview. The first part of doing the actual photography seems to have gone well, in that folks were happy with my conduct. The next part, of the actual product itself is still in the oven getting ready. I'm sure the pictures will turn out great. My hope is that they will be great enough to get the actual wedding come October. Sunday was spent with good friends catching up over some good kuku after a long time without meeting. What a way to decompress!
  
  Then the Everest moment. Remember the month of photography? Part of that exercise was having photographers submit 5 images from their work which would be curated by Gerard Planchenault (the Nikon France trainer who facilitated the workshop), and out of those he would select a few for printing and exhibition. In talking to some of the organizers of the event, my understanding was, about 40 people submitted their work. That's 200 photos. Out of those, only 50 would be selected. Which means, at best, about 1 photo per person for the 40, then maybe those that got lucky, a second image. Today I learned that the original exhibit area had already been booked by someone else, so now they have to use a different location, which fits just 35 images. That means, with just one photo per person, 5 people would miss out. So you can imagine my Everest moment when I learned that 3 of my images were selected! Ah, talk of a reversal of fortunes within the space of 1 week!
  
  I am stoked! Big time! The opening was set for today, but has since been postponed to Thursday. I am okay with that. So if you find yourself free Thursday evening, drop by Alliance Francaise first floor at 6.30pm. If you can't make it that day, the exhibit runs for the better part of this month, so just drop by and see the pictures. I saw thumbnails of some of the others selected, and they all look great. So you should be in for some good photography!
  
  To close, I leave you the three images that were selected from my submission.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Have a nice day!

• Photographing people and studio lights.

  Posted: July 3, 2008, 2:49 pm by egm

  I am very impatient when it comes to children. Or so I tell myself. It was with wonder, then, that I got called to photo the son of a friend. I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. Either I force patience upon myself and get some great photos, with the subsequent payments coming after, or I just be my normal impatient self and brush away that job. Good thing money-sense won out! And it was a surprisingly good shoot. Didn't have as many problems as I thought I would. I guess the presence of a big camera pointing at him made the boy more receptive to my guidance.
  
  Talking of photographing people, I now know that studio portrait work is not for me. I just don't have the personality to interact with models in a way that brings out the best pictures. So I either work with an assistant who will engage the models as I shoot, or I try my hand at other aspects of photography. That explains why I am more fond of capturing moments at weddings in a photojournalistic style, with my clients being almost oblivious to my presence, as opposed to me directing them on how to pose so as to get certain shots.
  
  How did I come to this realisation? I was fortunate to have at my disposal a studio, with complete lighting and backdrops for an entire afternoon on Saturday. And I had some friends come in as models to aid in that. The owner of the studio was with us throughout as we went throught he paces. He guided the models on how to pose and guided me on how to best capture the models. Even though I have decided that this is probably not my line of work, I nevertheless appreciated the time he put in teaching us that day. He extended an invitation to get back another afternoon and do some more shooting. Most definitely I intend to honour this invite. It would be stupid of me not to! Maybe after a while doing this my stance towards studio portraiture will change.
  
  The best thing about that day was the realisation of just how wonderful off camera lighting is. No wonder these guys are so cookoo about that whole arena! To them, the first and only commandment is: Thou shalt NEVER use on-camera flash! That day I understood why. None of my on-camera flash shots have ever come close to what I achieved that day with the studio lights illuminating my subject. I had seen examples of both before, but until I did it myself, I didn't fully appreciate the difference in quality of light. There are indeed certain situations where I will have no choice but to use the on-camera flash, but given the choice, I am now sold on off-camera.
  
  My next investment might just end up being a set of studio lights. Which I hope to put up in my tiny sitting room. And do lots and lots of shots. Good thing I have friends who have said I can call upon them any time I need models. So long as they get a copy of good shots from the sessions. The people at Saturday's shoot will all get copies of good pictures of them on disc. Which they are free to use in their portfolios should they wish to make one. Likewise, those that I work with will have the same deal.
  
  But beyond practicing on models, I shall also work on doing lots of still life photography. My understanding is, product photography is a big thing here. If you have even a modest portfolio, you can get lots of work. There is one guy already who says he has almost 10,000 items he needs photographed that he intends to put up in an auction site. Methinks that number is exaggerated, but that's neither here nor there. He wanted to know if I would be up to doing photography for those items for him. This makes my getting lights even more important.
  
  Time to go make that shilling so I can get me some lights!

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes