Take a deep breath, and RELAX! Sounds like a worthwhile day, and we can't
wait to see the results.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Norton" <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2011 10:10 AM
Subject: [OM] Freedom, How cool is that!
> So, a few weeks ago I told you guys about being commissioned to do the
> photography for a book. Yesterday we did a fair chunk of it.
>
> The choice was made to shoot the entire project on film. This was an
> artistic decision, but also turned out to be a practical decision. Huh?
> How
> can that be?
>
> Well, it's like this.
>
> Much of the photography was very intense in time-constraint. I had to have
> the shots completely previsualized and the camera set prior to the shot.
> There was absolutely no time for chimping. There were children involved
> and
> of course, this being a commercial project, model releases had to be
> gotten
> for everybody. The MR issue turned out to be a bigger deal than expected
> because we literally had to get stuff signed while chasing moving
> vehicles...
>
> OK, so the information you all really wanted to know...
>
> The camera gear for almost all shots was the OM-4T with MD2 and 35-80/2.8
> zoom. Film was exclusively Kodak Ektar 100. Alternate equipment used:
> 300/4.5 and 50/1.4, monopod and baby tripod. In the camera bag I also had
> the OM-3Ti as backup, Sekonic lightmeter and my filter packet. Oh, and the
> iPad for model-releases. Like an idiot, I accidently left my 24/2.8 at
> home.
> Duh!
>
> I'm not at liberty to describe the project in too much detail, but it
> involved specially shaped pastries, known as "Dutch Letters". These were
> custom made and not very edible. The funny thing was that this was done
> during a festival with parades and stuff. So, in a baby stroller we had a
> stack of pizza boxes stuffed with these larger-than-normal pastries. It
> was
> great fun moving around amongst thousands of people with a dozen pizza
> boxes. Talk about popular! Next time, we'll actually have real pizza in it
> and sell it for profit. :)
>
> Due to the festival, parking was a nightmare and then with the chasing
> down
> of parade floats before and after the parades as well as getting shots
> from
> rooftops, there was a LOT of walking/running/trotting involved. Not to
> mention the trespassing. Without exaggeration, I think we hoofed it for
> over
> 10 miles over a 10 hour time period.
>
> The cover shot for the book happened to be the first picture we took! That
> wasn't planned, but when the opportunity struck, we exploited it. The
> picture was sooo cute! As we staged it, the parents (remember the model
> releases?) immediately pulled out their cameras and got the picture
> themselves. No problem. Call it payment. Anyway, it was absolutely
> adorable.
>
> There was one picture which caused us no end to grief. We knew the concept
> of what we wanted, but the picture refused to happen. We must have hoofed
> it
> for four or five miles JUST for this one picture. All day we were trying
> to
> get it but we had to deal with refusals, political-correctness (which
> forced
> us to rethink things a little and altered which letter to use) and
> logistics. Finally, as the night parade was beginning, (we're running all
> over the staging area trying to find the one float with the person we
> needed) we managed to get the guy to agree to the picture but at the tail
> end of the parade where the kids were getting off. Meanwhile, I have no
> clue
> what to do with the shot--nothing is working about it. With about three
> minutes to go, the float is half a block away from us and its generator
> runs
> out of fuel which causes the lights to turn off! Understand that this was
> the ONLY opportunity for this ONE critical picture. An anchor picture for
> the book which had no alternative. This was it. I'm out of town for the
> rest
> of the festival and there is no restaging it. Talk about deadline!
>
> So, with extreme panic setting in, I ask if it's possible to get the
> generator fired up for a picture. The float driver gives it a shot and the
> lights come on... for a few seconds. "Stop" I tell him. Let's wait till I
> get all set up. So with all, but two kids off the float and the main
> character, I get them in position. There is just one dim street light a
> ways
> away so I'm working the OM-4T entirely by feel. We get everything all
> positioned and I'm wedged up in a nasty position about 10 feet off the
> ground. I've got a leg wrapped around something and the other foot with
> the
> toes stuck under something to hold me in place while I'm half dangling. I
> ask the guy to fire the generator up. The lights come on just long enough
> for me to rattle off about 10 frames. I did estimate the exposure and then
> wildly ran bracket shots. Fuel ran out, lights went off and that's all
> there
> was. Finished! The fuel lasted for maybe five seconds at best. Because of
> the proximity of the lights to the characters my ideal exposure was
> probably
> around F2.8 at 1/15 at ISO 100. I used my shoulder-stock thingamabob for
> that.
>
> Back to the subject line: Freedom, How cool is that!
>
> Earlier this week I shot a two-day even completely digital. The camera's
> exposure system just isn't the same as the OM's. Night and day difference.
> Therefore, there was a lot of chimping involved--especially in regards to
> the flash exposures. But MY operating mode with digital tends to be
> compose-shoot-chimp-recompose-reshoot-rechimp-repeat... With film, I tend
> to
> think-compose-shoot-shoot (two shots minimum for anything important in
> case
> of damage to the negative--I almost always do in-camera dupes for
> security).
> The choice in shooting film was absolutely liberating. I KNEW that the
> film
> was going to be exposed correctly and even if it wasn't, I can fix it in
> post.
>
> Another aspect, which turned out to be quite significant, was the
> viewfinder. Because of the tricky lighting, narrow DoF on some shots and
> overall aesthetic, manually focusing lenses were required. The OM
> viewfinder
> proved to be so pleasurable that it makes me wonder why we put up with the
> seriously junk viewfinders we get today. More to that point:
>
> I suffer from the occasional migraine headache which can sometimes be
> quite
> horrid. Well, yesterday was one of those. It was a puker of a headache.
> The
> 10 miles of running around probably helped it, but my vision was actually
> affected by this headache. I actually wouldn't have been able to focus any
> of my digital cameras with their nasty viewfinders. But the OM's
> viewfinder
> in conjunction with the 35-80 proved to be exactly what I needed. The
> image
> snapped into place and the focusing aids helped immensely. The headache
> finally subsided as it got dark, or maybe it didn't but the body was
> hurting
> so bad by that point that the migraine took a back seat. Regardless, the
> artistic choice, made last month, proved to be beneficial to me yesterday.
>
> Something else which is worth an observation or two: Responsiveness. We
> were
> dealing with lots of children. "The Decisive Moment" isn't some cliche,
> but
> actually a real thing. Granted, having to manual focus puts a bit of
> pre-setting of the camera in place, but one thing about the OM-4T with MD2
> is just how responsive the camera is. You press the MD2 shutter-release
> and
> the camera fires NOW. Not a half-second later, not five seconds later, but
> NOW. It really does make a difference! Also, the shutter-release button is
> so smooth that you don't move the camera while pressing it.
>
> When shooting casually, the OM-4T, MD2 and 35-80 is one seriously hefty
> hunk
> of camera gear. But when it comes right down to intense shooting, that
> heft
> really comes in handy and you really don't notice the weight. It's just
> balanced real well and the MD2 seems to counter any shutter-shock that the
> camera is generating.
>
> AG
> --
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>
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