Observed this over the Weekend

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

I was at a site with a lot of wildflowers and a number of people shooting them. Well it was moderately overcast so the sky was close to an 18% greycard grey in color but possible to shoot without too many problems, also there was a moderate constant breeze. Well while at the location I see this guy, guess he was a pro, take this couple out into the field and have them set down in the flowers (couple were 20somethings) to shoot their protrait but the problem that the guy had was that he was fiddling with so much crap that he lost the mood of the shot. I watched him drag a tripod out-there was plenty of light to shoot at F 5.6 at 250th of a second at 200 asa- then he had what may have been an expo disc and he fiddled with that many times- but I did not see him use a hand held light meter. Well he was messing around for well over 5 minutes setting all this stuff up and then fiddling with his toys before he even started shooting-the sky was pretty much the same mix of overcast the whole time. I shot many shots near them during this time and kept glancing over to see when he would take his shot (never did see him pull out a fill flash either) and I think he was finally shooting when I went to another part of the wildflower field.

Well my observation is, yeah having all sorts of "tools" may help you get a shot but jeeze loosing that spontaniety when doing a portrait really had him loose his best shots because the couple actually couldn't get that initial look back that they had when they first sat down in the flowers.

So this guy could have kept the tripod in the car, shot a quick shot of the SKY (if he didn't have a grey card and was worried about colors), kept the expo disc in his pocket and had taken a better shot of the couple (really it was so windy that you didn't want to shoot at under 125th of a second unless you wanted the flowers all blurry in the shot) and caught that first look that they had when they sat down. Yeah all that other crap may have impressed the cliet but the work produced was not being improved by it.

I also saw this other shooter with a stroboframe and flash shooting and all that they were doing was getting the flash a bit higher up and to the right of the lens-flowers don't have RED EYE PROBLEMS- to me the set up (they did not have the flash toned down because I saw them shoot a couple times and the flash was at what looked to be close to full power) was just plain funny looking and I don't know how it would help them get their shot.

So folks learn when certain things are needed and when to leave them in the car- I was out for 5 days and didn't pull my tripod out one time over that period even though at times I was in deep woods with a heavy overcast sky. No need to do a 1/60th or slower shot when shooting flowers because even a gentle breeze will make that shot useless unless you want the blurred look.

I was just laughing to myself about the first guy-he looked so serious as to what he was doing but really it wasn't all needed.

[xseption]

I know what you mean ... I was carrying too much gear in Big Bend where I only used two lenses while carrying five and a flash, then I got lost on the trail in the North Chihuahuan Desert and the extra weight was not pleasant ... then I ran out of water ........

[mobilezen]

I wonder if that guy is on this board

[boomerd35]

Equipment is like insurance - it's only good if you have it when you need it.

Figuring out when you'll need it - that's the hard part.


Troy T.

[jeffkohn]

Well, I agree spontaneity is important for portraits but in the case of landscape/nature/macro photography a good tripod is indispensible. As for the flash bracket there is one other reason to use them: they allow you to shoot verticals while keeping the flash on top. Plus the bracket I have can be attached to a telephoto lens. I didn't bother with a flash this past weekend when shooting flowers though. With the nice even light of an overcast day it just wasn't really necessary. But I did use a tripod, cable release, and MLU; that's my SOP even when shutter speeds aren't down in the double digits (which they usually are anyway).

[jeffkohn]

Originally Posted by boomerd35

Equipment is like insurance - it's only good if you have it when you need it.

Figuring out when you'll need it - that's the hard part.

Troy T.

Boy isn't that the truth. And unless I know for sure exactly what I'm going to need (which is pretty much never), I'd rather err on the side of taking more gear than I end up needing.

[brad]

And the part you left out is what kind of money he made with that shot... for all you know, he made a $10K sale... how much did you make?

Don't knock a guy for trying to take it seriously and do the best job he knows how to do.

[mobilezen]

Originally Posted by brad

And the part you left out is what kind of money he made with that shot... for all you know, he made a $10K sale... how much did you make?

Don't knock a guy for trying to take it seriously and do the best job he knows how to do.

Cub scouts always taught us to be prepared. I remember even just last week at the Dallas Auto Show...the first 3 days I carried too much equipment with me but better to have it there than to wish I had it when I'm taking a picture.

It's kind of funny for someone to have all this equipment and not be able to figure out how to use it... Maybe he was just being prepared to take the picture. Eh, either way I could see pros and cons....he did the right thing by having all that equipment.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Originally Posted by brad

And the part you left out is what kind of money he made with that shot... for all you know, he made a $10K sale... how much did you make?

Don't knock a guy for trying to take it seriously and do the best job he knows how to do.

First there was no way on gods green earth that it was a $10K dollar shoot more likely a $100 shoot at most for their portrait package-could have even been an engagement package.

Now as to using the tripod the conditions DID NOT WARRANT THE USE OF ONE PERIOD. If you wanted the bluebonnets in focus you had to be shooting at 1/125th or faster because the wind was blowing hard enough to blur anything slower. As to the guy using the expo disc (or whatever it was) it looked like he didn't know how to really use it since he pulled it out at least 3 times that I saw before he even took his first shot-I kept wondering why he kept fiddling with it because it kept drawing my attention as I was shooting some of the flowers to his side.

Doing the best job is KNOWING WHEN TO USE A TOOL AND WHEN NOT TOO AND ALSO HOW TO USE THE TOOLS THAT YOU HAVE. He must not have known how to use whatever he was using since he kept messing with it and the lighting conditions were not changing-it was a full overcast sky pretty evenly lit.

AS to how much I will make off of my travels this past week is my own concern.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Originally Posted by mobilezen

Cub scouts always taught us to be prepared. I remember even just last week at the Dallas Auto Show...the first 3 days I carried too much equipment with me but better to have it there than to wish I had it when I'm taking a picture.

It's kind of funny for someone to have all this equipment and not be able to figure out how to use it... Maybe he was just being prepared to take the picture. Eh, either way I could see pros and cons....he did the right thing by having all that equipment.

Having your equipment 40 ft or less away in your vehicle is being prepared, dragging it out and not knowing how to use it or using it in situations where it isn't needed shows your lack of skills.

Jeeze most of the best Pulitzer Prize Winning photos -DID NOT USE A TRIPOD, NEVER EVEN HAD AN EXPO DISC AROUND TO USE (I think it is useful in a few cases but knowing how to meter light with a hand held meter and how to use a color meter or how to use your white balance system on the camera is better to know) and the photographers knew what spontenaity is all about.

Reason that many photographers in the past used tripods for their shooting is because the equipment being used was not handheld friendly-no way to hand hold a 8x11 Deirdorf or even some of the old smaller large formats but some were hand held for some shots.

I still stand by my observation that he looked like he is in a set rut as to how he does things and he doesn't probably realize what it is doing to his product-like I said I saw the looks on the couples faces when they first sat down in the flowers and after many minutes of his fiddling with his equipment I could see that sparkle/look fade away and it just doesn't come back.

[brad]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

First there was no way on gods green earth that it was a $10K dollar shoot more likely a $100 shoot at most for their portrait package-could have even been an engagement package.

Prove it.

AS to how much I will make off of my travels this past week is my own concern.

And how much he made on his shoot is his concern. As is how he decided to go about making the image.

All I'm saying is that you shouldn't poke fun/ridicule another photographer no matter how they are doing things.... as a matter of fact, I seem to recall there being a rule around here about that.

Jeeze most of the best Pulitzer Prize Winning photos -DID NOT USE A TRIPOD, NEVER EVEN HAD AN EXPO DISC AROUND TO USE

Most Pulitzers are shots of opportunity. This was a portrait... completely unrelated. Why bring that up unless you are trying to obfuscate the fact that you are starting to feel bad for making fun of a fellow photographer... and one who was probably just out to earn an honest living.

[gardener]

Well while at the location I see this guy, guess he was a pro, take this couple out into the field and have them set down in the flowers (couple were 20somethings) to shoot their protrait but the problem that the guy had was that he was fiddling with so much crap that he lost the mood of the shot. I watched him drag a tripod out-there was plenty of light to shoot at F 5.6 at 250th of a second at 200 asa- then he had what may have been an expo disc and he fiddled with that many times- but I did not see him use a hand held light meter.

"guess he was a pro" is an opinion unless you asked him his status. Shoot, I've occasionally dragged everything along too just for practice and if someone didn't ask, they probably thought I was 'pro" which is at the very opposite end of the photographer bench from where I generally sit... hell, it's probably at the other end of a whole ROW of benches when you get right down to it. Having and using equipment is up to the individual buying and using that equipment and while he might just be a gear head, he may also be their brother in law who got some new goodies and wanted to try it out on the relatives who, we generally have to admit, may often be our unwilling victims while we learn this or that technique or how to operate some new photo toy we just had to have. Where and how better to learn than a field of bluebonnets and a nice willing couple? And unless you saw money change hands, don't automatically assume that he was a paid shooter...
When you get right down to it, how often have you seen the question on this or other boards about "I'm shooting my first (insert paid activity here, ie: wedding, party, family portraits, etc.) and I need information on what to get/buy/rent so I can try to do it right? Oh, and what poses, etc, etc, etc... do I need to include?" or some variation thereof... Then of course, there is the inevitable "how much should I charge?" Nothing essentially wrong with that practice except one has to be prepared for possible failure if even the slightest thing goes wrong. We all have to start somewhere...

Sorry Paul, I was going to pass this one by but felt a response was in order...

[CaptainTom]

Tripod - I personally use a tripod or some sort of stabilizing device every chance I can.
If I am going to shoot at the lowest possible ISO and want to manage my DOF and my shutter speed, I don't need to be concerned about any errant camera movement.
I also use the tripod in portraits because it allows me to set up the shot, and then get my head out from behind the camera so I can interact with the subject.

Mood - The mood you saw may not have been what the photog and couple were going for. It would have been nice to capture it spontaneously, and then shoot a "serious" mood later.

Money - It could have been uncle Fred, who may also be a full time portrait photographer, but it is irrellevent.

Equipment - Maybe you could have gotten a better shot than he did just with a mediocre P&S camera. His choice to carry "too much" stuff is not your style. You should see how much stuff I can cram into a camera bag... but that is MY style.
Using a flash bracket is pretty common. Once that thing is mated to your camera, it just seems natural to use it for non-wedding situations. Using "full " flash in daylight can bring out some great effects when done properly.

Final product - to me, this is the only thing that should initiate this kind of criticism. If we had the final product, and the white balance wasn't perfect, or the composition was weird, or the subjects looked funny; then we'd have some background from your observations, to critique the results.

Thanks for giving me this chance to rant. I needed an outlet today. I had a flat tire, and I didn't have a good jack. I hope someone doesn't show up on the "auto repair" forum and make fun of me for being "under equipped"......and I probably looked pretty haphazard to a full time mechanic, and well, maybe you get my point ??

[AndrewCCM]

I didn't read all of this.. But I think perhaps it was just an experience of the day that gave the opportunity to bring up the subject of not overdoing/over analyzing the shoot and capturing the moment. But that is sorta what I took from it. Probably a place for both. I am just feeling a bit chilled out right now. What a change.. LOL

[boomerd35]

Good one, Tom.