The Size of Their Toys
“What kind of a camera is that?” The Man says as he squints to read around the cowling that surrounds my camera.
“An Olympus-something or another.” I say as I adjust the lights. “It’s a five megapixel digital camera.”
“That’s kind of small these days, isn’t it?”
“Well, we’re not using these images to cover the side of a building, so they are plenty big enough for our needs.”
I remember when Phase One Digital Backs first came out. As a subscriber to Rangefinder I got a free disc filled with sample images from the huge beyond reason 20 megapixel digital back designed for Hasselblads and other high end Medium Format cameras. I was blown away by the size and quality of the images. These files were so huge that it was impossible to view the whole image at once-it broke down into a massive crosshatching of artifacts. But viewed at full size you could see the photographer reflected in the pupils of the model’s eyes and see the individual flakes of make up on her face. Cool.
Digital has been the greatest boon ever to people selling Photographic equipment-you may not need to buy new stuff every couple of years the way you need to buy a new computer every couple of years-but damn you sure want to. Or in the case of the Assembly Line Portrait photographer, you sure want The Company to.
I worked at one fly by night Assembly Line Portrait company that had excellent equipment, all kinds of light modifiers, reflectors, soft boxes, umbrellas, snoots, grids, a wide assortment of gels, three or four backgrounds and all kinds of drapes. These people were firm believers in the Throw Money At It school of problem solving and I was very glad to be the benefactor of that policy. But even while there, I would still get the Dennys, B&H, and Calumet catalogs and run to the office and say-Hey, I Want One of Those.
The current Company has an odd spending plan-they will replace the reconditioned thirty year old equipment with more 30 year old reconditioned equipment. We have floppy disks and dot matrix printers. The light heads and power packs are ready for their spot at The Smithsonian. The only new items I get on a regular basis are Posing Stools and Posing Blocks.
I have always been found of fiddling around with background lighting-I like cookies, swags in a muslin that create patterns, and a lot more gels than the Company hands out. I once worked at a High School Seniors studio and instantly fell in love with all the geewhiz lights and props and backdrops and whatnots. I was especially impressed with the Spotlight-which was capable of putting a perfectly round hot spot on the background and was great for making silhouettes. I have lusted after a small spotlight at every Company I have worked at since. If you have one your not using, feel free to contact me.
Once in a while I luck out and end up with something new. The Company has been experimenting with New Lights-alert Ripley’s! But they have not been experimenting in my Area. I did end up with a couple of light heads from working briefly in another division. These are good lights, I have shot with them before. One Master and three Slaves makes a studio. I am still using my old lights, but have added the new light heads as slaves for my background and accent lighting.
Wow. The new lights have about ten times the power of the antiques that I am used to using. This means that I can illuminate the entire background and not just a small spot behind the Subject’s head. It means I can throw light in funky patterns with a reverse cookie. It means I can put a super hot slice of light on the side of someone’s face for that Hollywood effect I love so much.
So, of course, The Company is now telling me I need to return these lights. I have asked one of my Managers to intervene for me, as I am using the lights to improve my images. They want us to do new and creative shots, but they don’t want to give us any new equipment. Your standard issue Catch-22.
I have never been a big fan of props and stage costumes-but I am very fond of lights and light modifiers. I love things like Lensbaby that allow you add a soft focus to an image and move around the clear spot that will remain in focus. All I need to do is talk them into giving me one to write a review on.
Simple tools like light reflectors and cookies and colored gels are mainly what I use now. I am not in a permanent studio, so I don’t need or want large and bulky items that I will have to drag from place to place. Though I am currently working on a home made Beauty Light and I will see how that works out.
I love playing around with light and lighting patterns on people’s faces. The Subject doesn’t always like it, but then, what do they know?