John and 203,
There is an invite only forum that is poplulated by the big boys in commercial photography (OK, not the Kleins and Meisels, but the big money commercial shooters). Discussions involve lighting, billing, bad clients, good MUA/Assistants/Retouchers, things that break, and some critique of editorial images. Too bad I've not been invited.
I have a new rant. I apologize in advance for the length, but I'm done for the year. I am usually quite constrained but I'm feeling all goofy now that I'm free for two weeks!
When film was King and Kodak employed all of Rochester, the would be and real scientists shot color charts, resolution charts, brick walls, testing testing testing like you see now a days on the web. These guys were usually very smart and somewhat articulate. The thing was, you only had to interact with these people at the film counter at Calumet where the discourse was civil due to the face to face nature of the interaction. You could also just run away from them as they blathered on about a fourth color layer being added to an obscure Fuji film only available in Japan. With digital, these same scientists and would be scientists are shooting test charts and step wedges, as well as legions of morons who really really like to take pictures of birds*, and posting their opinions and "findings" on the impersonal and isolating interweb, where there is no reality check. I swear its like an Aspergers syndrome support convention.
*(Disclaimer: I'm not knocking nature photography)
And as long as I'm ranting, the syntax used by the testers in discussing photography reads like a legal brief or a transcript of a Break Out Session at a chemical engineering convention. Example: Poster 1: "The Canon 85 1.8 USM is just as sharp as the 85 1.2 L USM at the same or similar F stop."
Poster 2: "Direct me to some proof, a suitable URL. Otherwise we cannot take your statement as valid".
Get over it! Photography is about mood and emotion. It is not linear. No proof is required. A soft image is not "invalid". A good image is one you remember, mainly due to the emoitional experience you had when you first saw it, regardless of shadow noise or if the print is a few points too magenta. Look at Sarah Moon's work. All emotion, Polaroid Type 55 film, out of focus, amazing.
OK, I can't stop myself. I think we may come to the point where the scientists and other amateurs have better gear than commercial photographers. I finished a corporate portrait shoot for an insurance company on Wall street and saw no less than two 1ds3s clutched tightly in the grubby little hands of some overly bundled tourist types overburdened by their big LowePro backpacks. They hunch to the ground, brace themselves for the shot of Trinity Chruch, take it, chimp, and walk away real fast like. I also note than some people on this forum do not appear to make a living from photography but have MFDB just the same. That's fine, but why? Ego? Anal perfectionism? I saw a guy at Prospect Park shooting an Afd2 with a Leaf 65. he told me he likes flowers and "image quality". I am jealous. Not afraid to admit it. I would like a 1ds3 and my very own Hy6 or AFi7 but I refuse to cary that kind of cost on a depreciating asset, as a business owner. Too much pressure to earn, what with a kid in private school, expensive health insurance, and crappy disability insurance. It irks me that some clown is looking at uninspired 122 meg 16 bit tiffs of a yellow belly sap sucker or a cliche street scene on his Dell while I'm too cheap to drop $8k on on a 1ds3, much less $12k for an A22. (I'm not that cheap, I did just buy some new lighting (Pro7A 2400, Pro7S 1200 and a D4 to replace my Pro6 Freeze packs and Acutes). The only camera gear I own are the 1ds2, 5D, RZ67, Afd, and Mamiya 7, and I feel I have too much crap. The Mamiya 7 is the only camera that doesn't earn its keep, but I keep it out of love.
I have no more jobs booked this year and am taking the wife and kid to France for two weeks. I'm taking a Mamiya 7 and 65mm lens and 20 rolls of 400nc. No chargers, no laptop, no cards or card readers. See you guys next year and don't let that chroma noise in that ASA 50 P45+ file you shot inside a changing bag then pushed 10 stops in C1 get you too down. I'm sure the next crop of backs is just around the corner!
