F&CK Digital
There must be some kind of movement going on. It seems to me there is a digital backlash at the moment. Maybe not a full scale revolt, but it seems to me like a lot of photographers I know who had all but switched to digital are now shooting more film.
I know I started shooting film again about 6 months ago when I decided to buy an old Rolleiflex to carry around with me from time to time. Just this week I went ahead and bought a Mamiya RZ67 Pro II (for really cheap I might add… a barely used demo kit with lens & film back for only $850!!!). And, a little over a year ago I bought a 4×5 camera primarily to shoot Polaroid Type-55 (that idea unfortunately went out the door quickly with Polaroid film’s demise).
Now, I must confess that most of my film shooting will be for personal projects. I’ll sprinkle in some film shots on editorial shoots when budgets allow for both digital fees and film related expenses. For commercial projects, it’ll be digital for sure since the Art Directors usually like seeing what’s going on as we shoot. But, for the projects that actually mean something to me, I’ll likely be using one of my film cameras (not that my paying jobs don’t mean anything… but you know what I mean).
I just got done shooting an editorial assignment for Inc. magazine. I brought out my new RZ67 and shot film for the first time on an editorial shoot for quite some time. Having never used an RZ67 before I didn’t want to rely on it alone, so I got the primary shot out of the way with my digital system (Contax 645 w/ Phase One P25+). But once I did, I switched over to the RZ67 and had a bit more fun with it. It was nice shooting and not running back to a monitor every 10 shots or looking at the LCD on the back of the camera to see what we had.
This isn’t digital vs film quality debate. I’m not going to say one is of better quality than the other. I’m not shooting film again for quality reasons. They are just different. I shoot differently when shooting film. I like the way I shoot with film. I slow down and think about things more than I would with digital. And anything that can get me to think has to be good.
When even $1 is too much for your photography.
As you can see by the iStockphoto watermark on these images, someone felt the images weren’t worth the $1 iStockphoto charges for them… which, for most microstock photography, that’s actually true.
Found these over at Photoshop Disasters.
Moving?
A couple months ago I visited New York City. It was my first time in New York since about 1984. I would have been 12 at the time. I was surprised by how much I liked the city. I guess the image of New York I had in my mind had no basis in reality. I found myself liking New York so much that I wondered what it would be like to move there.
Moving when you have a real job is usually not a big deal. Either you get moved to a new office by your company or you move for a new job. But when you work for yourself it’s a bit more tricky. It’s as if you would be starting over from scratch.
Quite often for editorial work, with both new and old clients, I get called on because they need a photographer in the Bay Area or Los Angeles. With editorial work I rarely get called to travel outside California. I’d love to travel more for editorial work, but so far that hasn’t been the case (That isn’t true of commercial work… for commercial work I’ve traveled all over the US and Europe)
I’m not suggesting I have some great name recognition as a “San Francisco Photographer” or potential clients instantly think of me when they have a shoot in the Bay Area (I hope they do). It seems that most of my new clients tend to call when they have a shoot in the area and find me on sites like Workbook, Blackbook, Photoserve, or they have been receiving my promo pieces and finally have a project for me. So, does this mean getting new clients after a move is as easy as updating my location information in the places I promote myself and sending a move notice to my current clients? Will my existing clients start sending me on shoots close to my new location just as they would at my old location?
So how do you do it… how do you pick up and move and start over as a photographer? Especially when you’re in my position: someone relatively new to photography (about 4 years now) who is constantly seeing an increase in work, types of clients, size of jobs, and actually discovers people do already know who and where I am when I contact them. Is this constant progress due to a response to my work and my promotional efforts? Or, is it because of where I live? Will I loose that if I move or will it continue in my new city?
I’m not suggesting I’m moving any time soon… or ever for that matter. But it has been on my mind and New York would be first on the list (in the U.S. anyway).
And I know you come here not only for your photography related information, but also political commentary, so… Don’t forget to vote tomorrow!
My First Protester
While setting up for a shoot in front of Moscone Center last week, I was greeted by a loud and dedicated protester. Inside the center was the annual Mortgage Brokers Association Convention & Expo. Outside was the lone protester. He was protesting the government bailout of the mortgage and financial industry. What he lacked in numbers, he made up for in heart. The fact there was only one of him didn’t stop him from taking the opportunity to disrupt the mainstream media (I guess that would be me) from glorifying the mortgage industry and the government bailout (again, me?).
Unfortunately for him we weren’t quite ready to shoot and were only in the setup phase. Sadly, he was ushered away by the time the shoot was ready to begin. I didn’t want him to feel like he didn’t accomplish anything, so I went ahead and snapped this shot of him in action.
Fight on lone protester, fight on!
It’s Been A Long Time
I was talking about my lack of blogging over diner with a friend the other day. She only recently has taken the time to read some of my writing and said she thought it was funny. I think she was just being kind. I thanked her in my typical uncomfortable with compliments kind of way. I stated the obvious and mentioned that I hadn’t really been blogging much lately, to which she asked why. I didn’t really know how to answer. I mean, I’ve actually been fairly busy with some interesting projects and there’s no reason I shouldn’t be writing about them and other things I’ve been working on lately.
