On 31st July,2003, 3:20 PM, Paul Tansley wrote: > > Michael Wilkinson wrote on 30th July,2003 in response to Paul's posting: > > >> Sit back and enjoy your image making. If its taking 20 minutes instead of 10 > >> do some yoga or relaxation therapy and enjoy living a bit longer. > > > > Thank God , there are some sane people on this list ! Have often wondered > > reading the post of some of the most prolific writers on this list: they are > > all seem to be in a great hurry to achieve results. Where is the rush ? Is > > life that short ? > > Many of us are professional image makers, who work extremely hard off-list, > and have little time to contribute on-list. Hence sometimes, we write things > in a hurry, while trying to help out others. We are all different people > with different lifestyles, I often forget that myself.
Could not agree more. > > Swapan > > I'm on best behaviour, and will try my best to not be impolite. Michael and > yourself seem very happy at your casual photography lifestyle. As you say, > you are taking "personal art-photography" I can't remember what Michael > shoots. Bear in mine though that we do not all shoot for our "personal" > needs. Thanks for not being impolite. To avoid becoming a robot and moronic button pusher I had made it a point a few years ago to make time over weekends to indulge in "personal photography" to keep the creative juices flowing afresh. After all, most of us took up photography, not to become slaves of faceless, sometimes heartless, commercial entities, but purely for the love of it. Funny thing is that my "personal images" get me quite a bit of commercial work as well. I'm a professional fashion photographer, I shoot for a clients needs. > A client who is paying me a lot of money to get the job done, not for my > pleasure. Often times I'm being paid to get the job done in a very limited > amount of time. A normal day, studio wise has 8-9 hours shooting time, extra > time is charged at expensive overtime rates. I can't charge overtime, I get > a day rate, no extras. Often when shooting fashion for one of my clients, > the Daily Mail, they want the job started at 9am and have the pictures in > the office by 2am at the latest. Usually shooting 10 pictures or more. A > normal shoot can be anywhere between 4-50 shots per day. Usually 30 max if > its fashion. If you do the maths and calculate how long it takes a model to > get changed have her makeup changed/hair changed between shots, it doesn't > allow much relaxation time. Though I often have a yoga stretch while they > are getting ready :-) I am well aware of what is involved in fashion photography. Have done it for years. My best has been 22 outfits by 2pm, on four models from different corners of the globe, all getting togather at the Oberoi Hotel in South Mumbai (Bombay) to shoot in various locations of the hotel, a selection of Pierre Cardin's collection for the Indian press. This was long before the digital boom. Shooting Zandra Rhodes' entire Sari Collection in a shooting box, specially rigged up behind stage, before the eight models went up on the ramp was another occasion where I must have shot over 90 outfits over two shows, each lasting an hour or so. > So, when the Mail requires their pictures by 2pm, what would you suggest I > do, as a professional photographer. Sit back and relax, download my pictures > via USB, use a Powerbook G3? No, I have a fast firewire card reader, I have > two digital camera bodies, I have two G4 powerbooks, one of which is the > fastest currently available. I get the job done, each and every time. I get > booked therefore on a regular basis. I'm not saying that we all need such > speed in our lives, BUT some of us do. I consider part of me being a > professional photographer is having the equipment to do the job. At the end > of the day, the equipment is extremely cheap compared with my time, which is > not. Therefore please accept, that although you may be very happy with > "taking your time", not all of us are so lucky to have such time on our > hands. You are absolutely right. One must have the very best of equipment according to the kind of work one does. When I used to do only fashion I was quite happy with 35mm and mid-format, and monoblocks. But then my "personal work" began to get me still-life as well, which I mostly do now. Food to be precise. In India fashion isn't as big as in the West as yet but food is . So, I had to equip myself with a 4 X 5 mono-rail, 3,000 joule power packs and the like. Besides, shooting almost mindlessly, day-in day-out, fashion was just becoming too routine for my temperament. I still shoot some fashion, but food photography has become my "staple diet". (Trying to bring some humour as someone recently complaint a lack of it on the List). Now with some digital photography ( had to bring it in to keep the list mom happy and begging his/her(?) indulgence) over the weekends to satisfy the creative urges, which are usually not met while shooting to briefs. > > My mistake the other day, with my response to Karl, regarding USB, was that > I automatically presumed, that all the other people on the list are > professional photographers, doing the same high pressure work that I do. > Hence, my amazement that a fellow professional was still using USB when a > �50 firewire card reader could be used. I have been reminded by the list > mom, that this is not the case, there are all sorts of people on this list > from all walks of photography and imaging and I apologise for forgetting > that fact. At the same time, though, please remember that some of us are > professionals in high pressure jobs and "time does matter". Well, it takes all sorts to make our chosen profession so exciting. Having taken the time from your busy work schedule, and the trouble to post this response in detail, will certainly smoothen a few ruffled feathers. As some sage had said, " Speak is silver, but silence is golden". If one is rushed for time it is better to refrain than say things in haste and then regret it later. Just my two rupees worth. Regards. Swapan www.swapanmukherjee.com =============================================================== GO TO http://www.prodig.org for ~ GUIDELINES ~ un/SUBSCRIBING ~ ITEMS for SALE
