PKR
Veteran
From Jim Hughes on Stanley Greene :
"The amusing thing was, at first I had no concept of who Gene Smith was. I thought he
was this crazy old guy. He would give these rambling lectures while talking to you. I remember one day, Sandi was treating her Nikon like a very valuable item, and Gene got angry about it.
"He was already using an old Rolleiflex as a doorstop. So he took a Pentax—he had cameras all over—and used it to hammer a nail into a board for a sink stand he was building. He said, 'A camera is only a hammer.' He was adamant that she understand that cameras were tools."
©2017 by Jim Hughes, all rights reserved
from an article on TOP / Monday, 05 June 2017
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/blog_index.html
"This compact 24mm lens could be the only wide lens you ever need. I'm very serious: the more decades I do photography, the more I realize that my pictures today would be so much better if I would have shot with just the lens or two like this that I had decades ago, and spent my concentration and research time on learning how to take better pictures. Instead, like most of you, I also wasted most of the past couple of decades researching and buying more gear that I didn't really need and didn't do anything different than my gear did back in the 1970s."
from a 24mm Nikon lens review / Ken Rockwell. © 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
This thread is about making photographs ; it's not a "camera" thread, though hardware may be discussed as part of the process.
"The amusing thing was, at first I had no concept of who Gene Smith was. I thought he
was this crazy old guy. He would give these rambling lectures while talking to you. I remember one day, Sandi was treating her Nikon like a very valuable item, and Gene got angry about it.
"He was already using an old Rolleiflex as a doorstop. So he took a Pentax—he had cameras all over—and used it to hammer a nail into a board for a sink stand he was building. He said, 'A camera is only a hammer.' He was adamant that she understand that cameras were tools."
©2017 by Jim Hughes, all rights reserved
from an article on TOP / Monday, 05 June 2017
http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/blog_index.html
"This compact 24mm lens could be the only wide lens you ever need. I'm very serious: the more decades I do photography, the more I realize that my pictures today would be so much better if I would have shot with just the lens or two like this that I had decades ago, and spent my concentration and research time on learning how to take better pictures. Instead, like most of you, I also wasted most of the past couple of decades researching and buying more gear that I didn't really need and didn't do anything different than my gear did back in the 1970s."
from a 24mm Nikon lens review / Ken Rockwell. © 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
This thread is about making photographs ; it's not a "camera" thread, though hardware may be discussed as part of the process.
PKR
Veteran
Originally Posted by PKR View Post
Hi x-ray, I used a Sinar F field camera. My assistant now has it. It was great. My pal who has 2 8x10 Ps and a couple of 4x5 Ps has my other F. He was a big name food photographer. There were days when both 8x10 s were used on separate sets (two sets of lenses$$). I think he had 5 people in the studio back then. Times have changed. My studio neighbor used a Norma. What a great camera. I did/do most of my stuff with 35mm and now digital gear. Most of the people I knew who used 8x10 had at least 5000 w/s of light in their studios. Many had 10k. That's changed too with digital.
Begin X-ray
I closed my bag studio in 2000. I'd been in it for almost 20 years. I had 6000 sqft and could drive a semi truck in it. I was going to do an annual report shot with an executive and his Jet Ranger helicopter in it but the shot got changed to one of his factory locations.
I think at that time I had in excess of 50,000 ws of Speedotron black line and Norman strobes. I by far preceded the Speedotron. I sold a lot of it but still have a 4800 and 2400 with quite a few heads and 5 For e 10 1,000 Speedotron monolites and 5 Alien Bees for tiny stuff. I'm actually a big fan of hot lights and still use them a lot especially for illustrative product shots.
I foolishly sold a lot of equipment a few years ago as I was wooed by digital. After buying a Technikardan 23 with a Hasselblad digital back and a set of digital lenses I saw my mistake and bought a lot of my old view equipment back.
I have my original Norma and can never sell it. In the past few years I replaced my old beater 8x10 Deardorff and picked up a friends 4x5 Deardorff Special he bought new in 1960 and used it during his 70 years as a commercial photographer. I wanted to own something of his because he'd been such an inspiration to me as a kid. For my 60th birthday my wife gave me a new Ebony SV45TE, the ebony one. It's the finest wooden camera I've ever used.
Relatively speaking premium lenses are really cheap now. Some of the cult lenses like Dagor's aren't and Sironar S but they're not worth the extra money and not really better than 99% of the less expensive lenses.
I'll always keep my view cameras. Even if LF film were to go away I can mix collodion and pour my own plates and have done that in the past.
Hi x-ray, I used a Sinar F field camera. My assistant now has it. It was great. My pal who has 2 8x10 Ps and a couple of 4x5 Ps has my other F. He was a big name food photographer. There were days when both 8x10 s were used on separate sets (two sets of lenses$$). I think he had 5 people in the studio back then. Times have changed. My studio neighbor used a Norma. What a great camera. I did/do most of my stuff with 35mm and now digital gear. Most of the people I knew who used 8x10 had at least 5000 w/s of light in their studios. Many had 10k. That's changed too with digital.
Begin X-ray
I closed my bag studio in 2000. I'd been in it for almost 20 years. I had 6000 sqft and could drive a semi truck in it. I was going to do an annual report shot with an executive and his Jet Ranger helicopter in it but the shot got changed to one of his factory locations.
I think at that time I had in excess of 50,000 ws of Speedotron black line and Norman strobes. I by far preceded the Speedotron. I sold a lot of it but still have a 4800 and 2400 with quite a few heads and 5 For e 10 1,000 Speedotron monolites and 5 Alien Bees for tiny stuff. I'm actually a big fan of hot lights and still use them a lot especially for illustrative product shots.
I foolishly sold a lot of equipment a few years ago as I was wooed by digital. After buying a Technikardan 23 with a Hasselblad digital back and a set of digital lenses I saw my mistake and bought a lot of my old view equipment back.
I have my original Norma and can never sell it. In the past few years I replaced my old beater 8x10 Deardorff and picked up a friends 4x5 Deardorff Special he bought new in 1960 and used it during his 70 years as a commercial photographer. I wanted to own something of his because he'd been such an inspiration to me as a kid. For my 60th birthday my wife gave me a new Ebony SV45TE, the ebony one. It's the finest wooden camera I've ever used.
Relatively speaking premium lenses are really cheap now. Some of the cult lenses like Dagor's aren't and Sironar S but they're not worth the extra money and not really better than 99% of the less expensive lenses.
I'll always keep my view cameras. Even if LF film were to go away I can mix collodion and pour my own plates and have done that in the past.
PKR
Veteran
I use Dynalites. I had two 800 w/s generators and a bunch of heads. That got me through my stuff. I did a lot of traveling with them. When Robin Forbes passed away, her husband gave me her Dynlite gear. So, now I have 5 generators. I had 3 of them rebuilt a few years back. I use lots less power with digital. But, getting back to some film studio portraits. I use lowel lights at times. Always used a hot light for focusing the view camera in the studio. Had an assistant hold a Totalight or something similar.
Just checked B&H, they still stock 8x10 film in both B&W and color neg. That's really cool.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=8x10 film&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=
Just checked B&H, they still stock 8x10 film in both B&W and color neg. That's really cool.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=8x10 film&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&sts=ma&Top+Nav-Search=
x-ray
Veteran
W Eugene Smith was one of my heros in college. I worked my war through school as a PJ and tried to model my work after several photographers of the time, one being Eugene. There was a look to the images of that time and I felt he defined that look.
What words of wisdom. As I've grown in my profession and gotten older I look back on my best work and realized years ago that it really didn't matter what I shot with. It was about me and my skill not my camera or lens. No one I knew cared about how the OOF areas looked, how many aperture blades or even thought about what lens had the best micro contrast. Thinking about it the terms Bokeh and micro contrast hadn't even been invented.
Back fifty years ago there weren't many choices so we picked what felt right to us and started making images. We weren't concerned how cool we looked with our camera or any of the first world concerns of today's enthusiast.
A couple of years ago after listening to rave reviews of the newest Leica lenses and M9 I fell into the trap and went for the "best". It didn't take me long to realize that I ddnt care for the look of the new aspheric glass. It was hard looking and prod ed plastic looking images to my eye. I wound up selling all of it ( 24 Elmar, 35 FLE, 50 1.4 ASPH and 90 Apo Aspheric). I started looking at prints I'd made over decades and decided what I liked in them. It was the smooth transitions and tones got with my old Leica and Nikon lenses. Digging dealer I'd produced just as good images with a Pentax K1000 I borrowed from a friend and the Minolta SRT101 I bought in high school. My dads old Rolleicord V that I used in high school and the pacemaker Crown Graphic that he gave me in 1964 produced stunning images too. Even the early 1900's triple convertible Protar with the huge gouge in the front element made stunning images on my beater 1930's v8 Deardorff.
The thing about it when you look at the images you don't care what they were shot with. It's all about content not gear. A few years ago I was printing for a museum show I was working on and was printing a neg of a KKK cross burning. I'd printed this net since 1971 and had not printed another that included a robed man on horseback next to the cross. I ddnt print it because the neg wasn't quite as sharp. I was looking at the page of negs when it hit me that this image had much more impact and finally printed it. Holy cow what a difference in impact. I realized at that moment content trumps technical perfection every time. Who cares if the image is perfect and who cares what it was shot with.
If yo go to the link at the bottom and find that image I guarantee you won't care what it was shot with. Looking through the images you'll see a couple of carnival strippers performing and those were shot with a cheap-o Pentax K1000. The milling machine was shot with a B&L Protar from around 1900. There was a huge gouge out of the front element. The rock band photos, PR photos, were with a 1955 Rolleicord V.
My point and Eugene Smiths point, it doesn't matter what you shoot with. IMO it's dodging personal responsibility when we complain we don't have the right equipment. No excuses. It's all about our skill not the gear. Give yourself credit where credit is due for great images that YOU create.
What words of wisdom. As I've grown in my profession and gotten older I look back on my best work and realized years ago that it really didn't matter what I shot with. It was about me and my skill not my camera or lens. No one I knew cared about how the OOF areas looked, how many aperture blades or even thought about what lens had the best micro contrast. Thinking about it the terms Bokeh and micro contrast hadn't even been invented.
Back fifty years ago there weren't many choices so we picked what felt right to us and started making images. We weren't concerned how cool we looked with our camera or any of the first world concerns of today's enthusiast.
A couple of years ago after listening to rave reviews of the newest Leica lenses and M9 I fell into the trap and went for the "best". It didn't take me long to realize that I ddnt care for the look of the new aspheric glass. It was hard looking and prod ed plastic looking images to my eye. I wound up selling all of it ( 24 Elmar, 35 FLE, 50 1.4 ASPH and 90 Apo Aspheric). I started looking at prints I'd made over decades and decided what I liked in them. It was the smooth transitions and tones got with my old Leica and Nikon lenses. Digging dealer I'd produced just as good images with a Pentax K1000 I borrowed from a friend and the Minolta SRT101 I bought in high school. My dads old Rolleicord V that I used in high school and the pacemaker Crown Graphic that he gave me in 1964 produced stunning images too. Even the early 1900's triple convertible Protar with the huge gouge in the front element made stunning images on my beater 1930's v8 Deardorff.
The thing about it when you look at the images you don't care what they were shot with. It's all about content not gear. A few years ago I was printing for a museum show I was working on and was printing a neg of a KKK cross burning. I'd printed this net since 1971 and had not printed another that included a robed man on horseback next to the cross. I ddnt print it because the neg wasn't quite as sharp. I was looking at the page of negs when it hit me that this image had much more impact and finally printed it. Holy cow what a difference in impact. I realized at that moment content trumps technical perfection every time. Who cares if the image is perfect and who cares what it was shot with.
If yo go to the link at the bottom and find that image I guarantee you won't care what it was shot with. Looking through the images you'll see a couple of carnival strippers performing and those were shot with a cheap-o Pentax K1000. The milling machine was shot with a B&L Protar from around 1900. There was a huge gouge out of the front element. The rock band photos, PR photos, were with a 1955 Rolleicord V.
My point and Eugene Smiths point, it doesn't matter what you shoot with. IMO it's dodging personal responsibility when we complain we don't have the right equipment. No excuses. It's all about our skill not the gear. Give yourself credit where credit is due for great images that YOU create.
jbielikowski
Jan Bielikowski
x-ray
Veteran
When I was shooting a lot of studio work I did some huge sets with products. I used to do the Magnavox, Philco and Sylvania TV, radio and accessory catalogs. I also did the John Deere skid steer literature and catalog sheets. I shot sets where I used ever pack I had and would fire them up to 30 times in a darkened room to build up exposures. No models in those sets. That's what was necessary to shoot 100 asa Ektachrome in 8x10 or 11x14 and stop the 19" or 24" RD Artar down to f90. I did a lot of food as well and catalogs for Rubber Maid as well. It wasn't unusual to have a carpentry crew in to build the interior of a retail showroom or bring truckloads of dirt in to construct the corner of a baseball diamond or park with trees and grass.
A few years ago I did a huge shoot for HG TV where we brought in dump trucks of dirt, large trees, constructed a backyard with flower beds and fence. We even had a flatbed semi bring in a load of 4" germinated wheat for grass.
This set was so large I had to rent a studio about 4 times the size of mine. This was a fun shoot that we shot on 4x5 and 6x6. The funny thing that happened, the shoot went great, the film was excellent and the client loved the shots UNTIL some executive in a meeting thought the models THEY had picked looked too young.
Meanwhile I had received the order to strike the set and we did. Because one of the execs thought the models were too young, we got to set it up and shoot it again with older models. The grand total for that photo series in the end ran over $40,000.
A few years ago I did a huge shoot for HG TV where we brought in dump trucks of dirt, large trees, constructed a backyard with flower beds and fence. We even had a flatbed semi bring in a load of 4" germinated wheat for grass.
This set was so large I had to rent a studio about 4 times the size of mine. This was a fun shoot that we shot on 4x5 and 6x6. The funny thing that happened, the shoot went great, the film was excellent and the client loved the shots UNTIL some executive in a meeting thought the models THEY had picked looked too young.
Meanwhile I had received the order to strike the set and we did. Because one of the execs thought the models were too young, we got to set it up and shoot it again with older models. The grand total for that photo series in the end ran over $40,000.
PKR
Veteran
Yeah, it's funny, I have an old box of old Agfa prints that are of greater value to me than any of the new snappy pigment prints I have made. I photographed M.L.K. when in school with an old Pentax. The only thing I demand of a camera is that I can see well through it and that it's built well. I used all kinds of Nikon and Leica gear over the years. I mentioned this before.. when doing an archival edit a few years back (95% film) all the portfolio grade images were shot with a 35 or 55 Micro (my normal lens). This is for both RF and SLR cameras ..both color and B&W. In later years my black and white stuff has moved to 28 and 35. Pretty simple for having once owned 15 Nikkors and 4 Leitz lenses. But, work demanded I be prepared ...and I was paranoid and stupid.
I think Robin knew Gene Smith pretty well. She ended up with some of his Leicas when he died. I didn't know Robin well but knew her husband for 20 years before they married. I was looking for a M body at the time and she had just sold his stuff. I doubt she told anyone the gear belonged to Gene Smith. I met him in 76. I spent about a half hour with him and another friend. He impressed me as being (all photo stuff aside) an extremely kind man.
http://ilkahartmann.com/
I think Robin knew Gene Smith pretty well. She ended up with some of his Leicas when he died. I didn't know Robin well but knew her husband for 20 years before they married. I was looking for a M body at the time and she had just sold his stuff. I doubt she told anyone the gear belonged to Gene Smith. I met him in 76. I spent about a half hour with him and another friend. He impressed me as being (all photo stuff aside) an extremely kind man.
http://ilkahartmann.com/
x-ray
Veteran
Couple of years ago I bought basically the same equipment 35mm & 120 that I used in college. I like the images better than what I did with the newer gear I owned.
x-ray
Veteran
For many years I did a lot of catalog work. One of my lenses I regularly used was a very early Goerz Dagor 12". It was so old it wasn't coated but the glass was oxidizing and creating it own bloom, coating.
PKR
Veteran
Dynamite is still excellent.
When I was shooting a lot of studio work I did some huge sets with products. I used to do the Magnavox, Philco and Sylvania TV, radio and accessory catalogs. I also did the John Deere skid steer literature and catalog sheets. I shot sets where I used ever pack I had and would fire them up to 30 times in a darkened room to build up exposures. No models in those sets. That's what was necessary to shoot 100 asa Ektachrome in 8x10 or 11x14 and stop the 19" or 24" RD Artar down to f90. I did a lot of food as well and catalogs for Rubber Maid as well. It wasn't unusual to have a carpentry crew in to build the interior of a retail showroom or bring truckloads of dirt in to construct the corner of a baseball diamond or park with trees and grass.
A few years ago I did a huge shoot for HG TV where we brought in dump trucks of dirt, large trees, constructed a backyard with flower beds and fence. We even had a flatbed semi bring in a load of 4" germinated wheat for grass.
This set was so large I had to rent a studio about 4 times the size of mine. This was a fun shoot that we shot on 4x5 and 6x6. The funny thing that happened, the shoot went great, the film was excellent and the client loved the shots UNTIL some executive in a meeting thought the models THEY had picked looked too young.
Meanwhile I had received the order to strike the set and we did. Because one of the execs thought the models were too young, we got to set it up and shoot it again with older models. The grand total for that photo series in the end ran over $40,000.
My place is small so I rent studio space often. Most of my stuff is location work, mostly ad and corporate in the past lot more portrait now. I do most of my current portraits both in a studio and some on location. The biggest studio I use is 55x85 with a 25 Ft barrel roof. Small aircraft have been photographed in that place. It belonged to a guy who did auto commercials.
The most expensive shoot I worked on was as help to the director on a Dominos TV spot. Two day load in, five day shoot. Crew of 45 including food stylists .. $700k.. $100k/day. I was told that Dominos does that kind of thing several times a year. Lots of fun and all the pizza you can eat.. that lasted about a day for most of the crew.
As for re-shoots, I didn't have any of note. But, a food photographer pal who is pricy did a job for Nabisco. It was a simple cookie, with a bite taken, on a plate with hours of people tweaking crumbs with tweeters. The Marketing Director was to be there, but his flight was delayed. So, my friend had everyone in the studio taking a bite out of a cookie.
They searched the cookies for heroes and found a couple. This is 8x10 ektachrome. I came by his place after the shoot for a beer. He was a neighbor. So, I asked him how it went. The chromes were beautiful. He said the marketing director showed up after they had finished. He asked to see the film. My friend put several on his light table. The guy said they were great but not usable ... because the person biting the cookie was obviously left handed. My pal threw him out of his studio. He has a temper..
x-ray
Veteran
Funny story!
I did a huge shoot for Bristol Myers when they introduced the Gerber baby formula. I was shooting for a design studio and creative director I'd worked with many times. I had a crew with makeup artist and models out of Atlanta. It was a top secret project and we had to do the shoot in a grocery store. I wound up finding a suitable location approved by the client and due to the secrecy had to do it when the store was closed. The problem was they were open 24/7 so I had to negotiate a price to compensate the store for lost business and pay the clerks and staff for lost wages. The shoot wound up being an all nighter.
My crew had to totally restock several isles with their products.
I was shooting 4x5. Chrome and did 6x6 as a backup. You can never be too careful and cover all bases enough. Anyway the shoot went off without a glitch and finished up about 4:30am.
I went home and rested a short while until the lab opened and took several hundred sheets by plus about 20 rolls of 120. I instructed the lab to run one sheet and let me approve it before running half the sheets. After the first half cleared the processor ok then run the second half of the 4c5. I told them to hold the 120.
All sheets were run without a bracket so every sheet would be a perfect exposure. Now the horror story, they ran the test sheet as instructed and it was perfect. I approved running 1/2 the 4x5 which they ignored. They ran all of it and the processor malfunctioned. 8 sheets went through before the glitch and they were perfect. The next half were pushed 2 stops and the last half pulled 2 stops.
When I went to the lab to get the film everyone ran from the building. Let's say I didn't spare any words. They did however correct the problem in the machine and the 120 was perfect.
I called the creative director and told him what happened. He said to bring the good film by and he'd look at it. I took it by and as he looked at it he said this one, this one and this one are perfect. In the end he saved my butt and a lawsuit with the lab. He folks at Bristol approved the shot and never knew what happened.
In today's dollars to restate that shoot would have cost around $50k.
I did a huge shoot for Bristol Myers when they introduced the Gerber baby formula. I was shooting for a design studio and creative director I'd worked with many times. I had a crew with makeup artist and models out of Atlanta. It was a top secret project and we had to do the shoot in a grocery store. I wound up finding a suitable location approved by the client and due to the secrecy had to do it when the store was closed. The problem was they were open 24/7 so I had to negotiate a price to compensate the store for lost business and pay the clerks and staff for lost wages. The shoot wound up being an all nighter.
My crew had to totally restock several isles with their products.
I was shooting 4x5. Chrome and did 6x6 as a backup. You can never be too careful and cover all bases enough. Anyway the shoot went off without a glitch and finished up about 4:30am.
I went home and rested a short while until the lab opened and took several hundred sheets by plus about 20 rolls of 120. I instructed the lab to run one sheet and let me approve it before running half the sheets. After the first half cleared the processor ok then run the second half of the 4c5. I told them to hold the 120.
All sheets were run without a bracket so every sheet would be a perfect exposure. Now the horror story, they ran the test sheet as instructed and it was perfect. I approved running 1/2 the 4x5 which they ignored. They ran all of it and the processor malfunctioned. 8 sheets went through before the glitch and they were perfect. The next half were pushed 2 stops and the last half pulled 2 stops.
When I went to the lab to get the film everyone ran from the building. Let's say I didn't spare any words. They did however correct the problem in the machine and the 120 was perfect.
I called the creative director and told him what happened. He said to bring the good film by and he'd look at it. I took it by and as he looked at it he said this one, this one and this one are perfect. In the end he saved my butt and a lawsuit with the lab. He folks at Bristol approved the shot and never knew what happened.
In today's dollars to restate that shoot would have cost around $50k.
PKR
Veteran
I had my share of lab problems. Some really ugly stuff. When shooting Kodachrome I used two cameras. Everything was backed up. Film was labeled as per camera. The film went to Kodak via my local lab. I NEVER ran both batches at the same time or on the same day. With sheet film, there were a couple of good E6 lines within a 5 minute drive. All the photographers in my neighborhood talked. We always knew of any trouble.
The worst thing that happened to me was having a big batch of prints ripped off. When I did dye transfer prints for the gallery I would always make a series of C prints as test prints for my dye printer friend to look at. We would have coffee and talk about possible problems. The local lab would make a 4x5 interneg and usually an 11x14 or smaller print. The dye lab was really busy and my non commercial work was done during breaks in their AD schedule. I never had a problem with this as extra time was often given to my stuff for my understanding. So, I get a call from a printer friend at the C print lab. He had just started his shift and tells me to get over there and pull all of my work..no matter where in the printing process it was. He said that several lab workers had been making large prints of my stuff and taking them out of the building in batches. I pulled all my stuff. The lab owner said, prove it.. sue me. No one has made me pay yet.. I'm lucky I was able to recover my stuff. I told everyone I knew about it. And it turns out the same thing was done to a good friend with a Space Shuttle photo he took a few years before my problem. He didn't say anything about it. Labs..
x-ray
Veteran
I was pretty lucky that I didn't have many lab problems. There were 3 professional E6 labs within 10-15 minutes of my studio.
I never cared for Kodachrome. The one good size job I shot on it was ruined by Kodak. I went to my dealer to pick it up and the owner who was a good friend was standing behind the counter with a large brown paper bag with a letter stapled on it. Kodak returned the film I shot with a letter and replacement film. The letter just said they had process problems and sorry. Here's your replacement film. The film that was returned was almost clear. No idea what happened.
Generally I didn't have 3 days to get film back. Most art directors swan Ted film back next morning if not sooner. For years I had a Colenta processor and ran my own E6. That just made clients want it faster.
I never cared for Kodachrome. The one good size job I shot on it was ruined by Kodak. I went to my dealer to pick it up and the owner who was a good friend was standing behind the counter with a large brown paper bag with a letter stapled on it. Kodak returned the film I shot with a letter and replacement film. The letter just said they had process problems and sorry. Here's your replacement film. The film that was returned was almost clear. No idea what happened.
Generally I didn't have 3 days to get film back. Most art directors swan Ted film back next morning if not sooner. For years I had a Colenta processor and ran my own E6. That just made clients want it faster.
PKR
Veteran
I shot .. it must be thousands of rolls of PKR, Kodachrome 64 pro. I never had a problem with Kodak in all those years. I tried to avoid Monday and Friday processing. Many times I ran film during a two day break in a 5-20 day annual report job. I checked my cameras with my Polaroid back, but working for several days in various locations (air travel) and not seeing any film, made me edgy. But, never had any trouble.
I think you fly? I had a couple of close ones. Once in a Jet Ranger another in a corporate Cessna jet prop. Both very ugly. The corporate plane was the worst. The CEO was on board and not qualified in the type and told the pilot he wanted to land the plane. The stall warning went off when we were about 50 above the runway. I was the only passenger who knew what the loud buzzer was. I got into it with the pilot. We're telling war stories..pretty funny.
Ko.Fe.
Lenses 35/21 Gears 46/20
Using cameras as door stopper and hammer is old fart act of dementia.
My G.A.S. started in 2009. By now it is less. I have few cameras trashed and one was hammered (after it stopped working due to tiny old electronics).
My G.A.S. started in 2009. By now it is less. I have few cameras trashed and one was hammered (after it stopped working due to tiny old electronics).
x-ray
Veteran
I'm a pilot and flew myself to most of my jobs in the south east. Thats the way to do it. I flew mostly into executive airports and if I only was going to be there for part of a day and had the FBO top my tanks many times they had a courtesy car they'd let you use at no charge. All you had to do was fill the tank. If I was going to be longer or there wasn't a car I'd have Enterprise deliver a car. Often the lineman at the FBO would unload your gear from the aircraft and load your car.
If it was farther than I wanted to fly myself we often chartered a medium twin or exec jet depending on budget and distance. Often an account exec and AD would go so it was equal or cheaper than commercial. You can come and go on your schedule which often means no overnight stay which is less $ for me, less meals and no hotels.
It really spoils you especially now in the era of beating the crap out of the customer.
x-ray
Veteran
I've had some really cool clients. One of my biggest always flew me first class or in the corporate jet. They always booked 5 star hotels and fed me well.
I had a client in Chicago for years. I'm sure he was mafia;-). He was Italian and owned 50 race horses and was heavily involved in the sports industry up there. He was involved with the Bears and Cubs and chartered an airliner like a MD80 to take his friends to the games. You worked hard for him but he rewarded you very well. I did motion picture / TV for him and I'd take the crew and rent everything except the Arri I used from one of the local rental houses.
After working each day it was a serious experience in eating. He'd take all of us out along with his assistant / bodyguard to dinner. He take us to little mom and pop Italian places and pay them to close so we were the only people in the restaurant. It was always incredible food and wine until late each night.
When we completed our weeks shooting and we're headed back to O'Hare he'd charter a helicopter to take us or get a stretched limo with a bar. I had his account for 17 years and then he retired and sold out.
I had a client in Chicago for years. I'm sure he was mafia;-). He was Italian and owned 50 race horses and was heavily involved in the sports industry up there. He was involved with the Bears and Cubs and chartered an airliner like a MD80 to take his friends to the games. You worked hard for him but he rewarded you very well. I did motion picture / TV for him and I'd take the crew and rent everything except the Arri I used from one of the local rental houses.
After working each day it was a serious experience in eating. He'd take all of us out along with his assistant / bodyguard to dinner. He take us to little mom and pop Italian places and pay them to close so we were the only people in the restaurant. It was always incredible food and wine until late each night.
When we completed our weeks shooting and we're headed back to O'Hare he'd charter a helicopter to take us or get a stretched limo with a bar. I had his account for 17 years and then he retired and sold out.
PKR
Veteran
Yeah, that would spoil me. I mostly fly commercial air. Though I don't travel much lately. Many photo biz travelers ship gear ahead in order to avoid the TSA circus. I read it's going to get worse. With digital gear I travel with much less gear. I know some clients will make time for driving to a distant location. It becomes fun if given enough time. baggage handlers have tried to destroy my gear many times. I watched a guy throw one of my lighting cases a good 15' on to one of those luggage wagons at O'Hare. I don't like traveling but most always like it when I get there. I've seen a lot of big industry. Stuff that made my mouth hang open. I really like that stuff.
x-ray
Veteran
I'm semi retired now. I work some weeks and others I don't. I probably average 2 days a week now and only work for clients I enjoy. I was going to retire but couldn't handle it. I enjoy what I do and the people I work for. My clients really are good to me.
My health is good so keeping my FAA medical isn't a problem but I'm at an age now I prefer to use a co pilot so I don't fly much anymore. Safety first!
My health is good so keeping my FAA medical isn't a problem but I'm at an age now I prefer to use a co pilot so I don't fly much anymore. Safety first!
PKR
Veteran
Sounds like great fun. Chicago.. could be a family biz?
The weirdest one, that never happened, was a trip to the mideast to photograph Shake Turkey's fleet of oil tankers. A designer client who had the Peterbuilt account got this job. The Shakes people liked my Peterbuilt photos and I was good at hanging out of jet rangers. So, we began planning a two week shoot. Here's where it gets weird. It had to look like my client, a very good looking women, was working for me, rather than me working for her. Then, the pay schedule.. I was to be paid in gold at the end of each day. I really wanted to do this thing. But, a war broke out just as we were getting ready to submit our schedule. Oh, and no drinking..