Wednesday, August 15, 2007

First Roll With the KIEV 88



My two favorite people...Jake & Hallie

Shot with my new favorite Camera.





Nanny Drama...


I have begun work on my semester project of photographing Nannies, Caregivers and Au Pairs with the children they watch over, and I have hit my first wall. SUMMER, apparently everyone is out of town or on vacation or in many cases summer time is sort of "down time" in that biz. I have called at least 15 families that have kids I know from school as well as referrals and no one is available. I feel like when school starts things will be back to normal for many families. Fortunately this is just a few weeks away However I will be working full time and I won't have the same available hours. I am noticing an interesting phenomenon however and that is I think people don't really want others to see the relationship their children have with a non parent. It is curious I had a women cancel today because she just did not want any pictures taken of her son with his Nanny. Yesterday I had my eyes opened a bit when I called a family that was refferd from one of my young student's. She told me this summer, in summer school that their Nanny was also the Nanny for the X family. I phoned up Mrs. X and asked if I could take a picture of their Nanny and children for my school project. There was a very long silence and she said "I don't have a Nanny I only have a Housekeeper!" I told her I was sorry to infer any thing but my student Elizabeth had told me your family and her's share a woman. She then informed me, yes they do share a woman that watches Elizabeth and her siblings however she only cleans her house, and Mrs. X watches her own children. I think there is a level of guilt that enters into this scenario if you use HELP to raise your kids. I had not considered this to play into my project. I also think people can't visualize what I'm trying to do. I am going to set up a simple sheet or folded card stock with a set up image of my daughter and the little girl she babysits, and a brief description of what I want to do. I think when people see a color portrait they might be more inclined to participate.
While all this preparation is going on I have not been idle. I have been shooting a LOT of 120 film in my Box Brownie Hawkeye. I did a series at the Fair and it turned out very well. I did another series at the beach and I like it as much as the fair stuff. I will post it soon. The most sucess I have had to date is purchasing a medium format Camera on ebay. It is called a KIEV and it is a Russian copy of a Hasselblad. I did some snooping around web sites and asked friends and family and shoot... I was the higest bidder! I shot my first roll, and yesterday I got it back from the lab. All I can say at this point is WOW. I am gaga over this camera. I will blog more later on my thoughts of film VS digital, probably a great deal in my paper comming up, but for now I have to say I love medium format FILM.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Mentor Meeting

Met with my mentor Frank Ockenfels. I discovered the amazing, talented, creative, renagade, risk taker Frank in Santa Fe while taking the alternative process work shop after my residency. On the evening of the fourth of July we attended a slide show where three very talented photographers/teachers presented their work. I was somewhat dissapointed that we did not get to see fireworks, however after seeing Frank's work I realized I had seen something more visually stunning than any plain old fireworks ever could be. It was, in a word...amazing. To say he photographs celebrites is an understatement. He has shot more famous film and music superstars than I have ever seen. But it was not the celebrity line up that impressed me, it was Frank's superb lighting, and uncanny connection with his subjects that knocked me out. I marveled at the subtle lighting flecks and flashes in his images, and the interesting uncommon camera choices. It was not the slick Hollywood stuff you are use to looking at. He was teaching a portrait class that week, and his students were running around with box cameras and Home Depot lighting equiptment. On the final Friday night of the workshops, all the groups gather for a slide show and dinner party. Our group agreed the next day that (besides ours) we liked most of Frank's classes photos the best. I decided I would ask him to be my mentor because he got such fantastic results from his students. And since my focus this semester is portrait work I could not imagine a more inspiring portrait person. He agreed and we met at his studio/home in Encino, California.
Scared? Yeahhhhh, I drove the 57 miles up to LA and the entire way I ran through some basic question in my head, lighting...cameras...film...digital... oh crap I'm at his house and all I can think of are the words of Wayne and Garth "I'm not worthy"... Ding Dong. Door opens, small adorable boy darts away to his room and I'm all of a sudden sitting in the studio. BREATHE. Within moments I realize we speak the same crazy language. I showed him some of my work and we began talking about my "Nanny" project. The first thing Frank said was, do not limit yourself going into this by choosing one camera. He suggested I take all cameras I use best and do some tests. Pick two willing families and go back a few times and shoot some different styles. I was in full agreement. Below are some bullet points from my first visit:
  • Pick 2 practice families
  • Bring all cameras
  • Look for LIGHT, available, canned, reflected
  • Try shooting digital @ 100 asa, with tripod. saturate!
  • Think about a slow shutter speed to show the movement of the kids
  • Be aware of backgrounds in homes
  • Look for similar chairs or furniture
  • Keep an open mind, be open for anything
  • Don't try to control too much
  • Keep it happy
We set a time to meet again and before I left he gave me a BAG of outdated color tungsten 120 film and told me to go EXPRIMENT!
Ahhhhhhhhhh.