thibaud_guerin_williams

<p>Jimmy Nelson spent time with several tribes around the world and photographed them "Before they Passed Away."<br>

His photos have been re-posted everywhere. http://www.boredpanda.org/vanishing-tribes-before-they-pass-away-jimmy-nelson/<br>

In photos ( http://www.beforethey.com/media/images/_DSC7021_website.jpg ) he is carrying a canon and a large format camera. What film do you think he is probably using to get such deep tones? </p>

<p>So I have had a Praktica LTL3 for a while now and the one thing that always bothers me when I use it is that when I pop open the back the frame counter will reset to somewhere around the 25-30th frame. Because of this I have over wound a few rolls trying to guess the end and tore the film. <br>

Is this a common issue? I love the camera but its definitely a pain at times. Does anyone know of a way to adjust the counter so that it resets to zero? <br>

Thanks,</p>

<p>TGW</p>

<p>Looking through info on Fotospeed Lith Developer I came across this thread. The "tragedy" that the OP encountered could be an interesting effect to duplicate in the future. Is there any way to consistently encourage pepper fogging? In this case, and as document by digital truth <a href="http://www.digitaltruth.com/products/fotospeed_tech/Fotospeed_LD20_Lith_Instr.pdf">here</a>, it seems to be an issue with paper compatibility...can only a certain few papers create this? Have others experienced pepper fogging with the Ilford paper the OP was using?</p>

<p>Never thought that you old farts could have me laughing so hard. Pun overload. </p>

I can't find any paid themes I really like. The only one I have found is by folio websites for 175 a year...includes hosting and a mobile site...html based. But the integrated proofing gallery of zenfolio is more appealing. I'll probably go there in the near future and redirect all my old traffic to the new domain.

Vail, ya that website is coming down in the next month. It is drab and I have been waiting to put up my new material until I have the new site laid out. Most of the photos up there will probably be coming down as they are sort of random. I am embarrassed of that site, to say the least. The functionality of WordPress is frustrating...but I won't go into it now.

 

Again, I don't want to give off the impression that I only want luxe clients, I mean if that's the kind of client I got all the time I wouldn't complain...but it's not realistic at this point and is a risk to go after only those kinds of couples me thinks.

<p>I would never say no to a customer face to face either. You can get referrals from a tactful "rejection," but I would be surprised if anyone said anything good about a photographer that would tell the customer no to their face. After all I think you would need a little more interaction with a customer a couple different mediums like email, an in person consultation, and phone calls to really get a feel for how a client is to work with. But of course they will be completely different on the day of.</p>

<p>The last wedding I shot, the bride seemed completely unimpressed, had no questions for me, answered questions in one word responses, and then at the end of the meeting whipped out a big pile of cash for me after I specifically told her I do not take cash...but the wedding was fun and once I send it off to her I will be submitting it to a few blogs.</p>

Mark, the personality issues I am suggesting are in line with the critical differences you speak of. Merely wanting alot of shots or alot out of me is not necessarily a problem. In fact I agree that the challenge is actually fun. But, demanding is not the same thing as difficult in my eyes. Clients who are unnecessarily difficult because they either don't know what they want or are intentionally uncooperative go down in my book as difficult....a couple that loves your work and believes in you and would like you to photograph a wedding party of 30plus people or get plenty of photos of the reclusive father, that's a challenge, and I am willing to accept it.

 

 

I have tried to distill this idea that I am egotistically selective. Again, I only wanted to know how you all say no, and for what reasons, because undoubtedly you all have at some point. And while people like Bob way see that the art aspect of this job involves shooting everyone for the sake of variety and the challenge, I instead see that part of the art of this job is knowing that not every subject is best suited to me for the reasons noted above.

<p>good lord...all my typos. I need to stop typing online with my phone...</p>

Hector, sorry again. Thank you for being gracious about it, and thank you for understanding that part of the point of running your business, especially in this industry, is to maintain a bit of your integrity. If I needed the money so badly as to work with clients I know I will hate to work with...well then I might as well do a job that I hate and not have to deal with the stress of running my own business.

Re my last post: that should say "I do think it is...understandable..."

Bob, as I have said a couple times now I am not trying to wait for that perfect couple and turn down all others. I was simply asking about how other photographers would politely decline clients they did not feel comfortable working with, and I feel that a few of us reached the consensus that it was ridiculous to turn away perfectly good clients just because they did not fit the bill of the perfect couple. I also sited that i know a photographer that doesn't like to shoot in churches and has turned a few weddings down for that reason, supposedly...to which i said seemed "unintelligible." if that confused you, I'm am sorry. But i will not amend the fact that i do not think it is, in some cases (like a couple that seems difficult, unorganized, TUXEDO SHIRTS) understandable if one were to turn down customers. If you feel that it is necessary to work for every customer that contacts you until you are booked up, then good for you. I will say it again, do not think that i am a new guy who already wants to turn away customers, because that was not what i intended. I was simply curious as to how and why other photographers have said no to past clients.

I'm pretty much getting the answers that I was expecting, that not that many photos are all that choosy. again, I'm not trying to come across as someone who off the bat without a tremendous amount of experience wants to turn away business. I just wanted to see how you all felt about the idea.

 

Katrin, I think we are all pretty much saying the same thing. I think getting "perfect" weddings is more f a matter of pricing higher so that you get those clients who have the awesome location weddings.

Hector, I meant no offense with my word choice. I have only ever seen and heard that word used in the context of calling someone incompetent. Sorry, it was a poor choice of words. And I don't mean to give the impression that I'm elitist in any way. Its just you hear enough advice on the net about being choosy with customers...and part of me wants to see to what extent others do that? To me, it seems easier just to go with couples who are reasonable for the most part and only blog/portfolio the ones that fit your tastes so to speak.

 

One example is church weddings, most people get married in churches, so it would be stupid to turn down weddings in churches. Personally, i hate editing the church segments because of the crappy lighting. And I am dissatisfied with the results at the end of it. No one has complained, but it just isn't what id like it to be. I know a photographer who turns away weddings in churches sometimes for that reason. I just wanted to know if any of you went to that extent, or knew anyone that did for "good" reasons. Like I said it seems intelligible to refuse church weddings, but the more I thought about many of the photographers I like hardly ever put church weddings in their portfolios. This is not an issue about churches specifically, but it was an example I thought others could relate to.

Do you think it's valid to turn down a wedding based on how you perceive the feel of the whole day will go, or for aesthetic reasons? For example even if you were competent enough to shoot the wedding but the bride told you that the groom and grooms men would be wearing tuxedo shirts and jeans, or you felt the couple was disorganized and that even though you discuss a shot list you have a feeling getting the shots to make it valuable to the clients and your customer would be stressful.

So this summer I essentially dedicated to shooting a few weddings in hope of building my portfolio, making

some contacts with wedding planners and clients' families. And for the most part everything went well. I am

comfortable with my ability. None the less, I am still my own worst critic...im a perfectionist with alot still left to

learn, but that's besides the point.

 

I would like to know how you guys say no to customers you do not want to work for...ie mainly so that you do not

attract clientele that you don't want in the future. In theory it should be simple, but after having a face to face

meeting it is difficult for me to say no.

 

So, going forward for next year and focusing now on branding my business, how exactly would you tell a

customer that based on the chosen location, personality of the couple, etc. that you don't feel comfortable

working with them?

<p>This article is a bit old, but i thought I might contribute a question I had.<br>

Larry, says he is opening a studio in a college town where there is no other studio to be had for around 300 miles. I am currently living in Richmond, VA, which is arguably just a large college town/city with very few professionals in need of a studio (not that there are no professionals here, but I have found it to be more Wedding/Event based). Meanwhile, the VCU photography students have access to their own school studio/darkroom/etc whenever they want without the hassle and expense of going to another studio.<br>

Keep in mind, Richmond is a fairly artsy place, but with regard to photography it does not seem as though there are really that many established photographers who are making a go of it on a "larger" business scale. Many of the photographers who seems to be known here appear to revolve around the music scene, and they don't seem to be making much money because they simply do not approach their trade with that direction in mind.<br>

All this said, does anyone have any experience in starting up a studio rental business where the predominant business demographic may already be spoken for because they either already have that resource covered or just aren't in need of it? </p>

 

I should amend some what I said before, I guess you wouldn't need a sediment filter. I was thinking John meant if I were using a water supply with a large amount of heavy metals.

 

Bob, I thought an RO system handled all suspended particles and dissolved minerals?

 

Anyways, all that to say, again, would such a system be a valuable addition to a darkroom or am I over shooting it?

Sorry, I just meant would having the already treated water be easier than having to boil it. Or am I thinking too much into it?

Yes removing minerals would also be necessary, but if you ran tap water through a simple sediment simple and then an RO filter do you think that could provide a better workflow?

I am curious as to the benefits of using a reverse osmosis filter to clean the water for a darkroom. I was thinking

that the lowered level of oxygen would limit oxidation of the developer in particular. I'm sure this has already

been thought of, but wondering if has been tried with any positive outcomes?

<p>Also, can you point me in the right direction to find some information on autochromes?</p>

<p>Do any of you know of any sites that have examples of purely collodion prints (not exposed in camera)? Or do any of you , like Louie Powell, have any work they would like to share?</p>

<p>I am thinking if offering Collodion prints to my clients in the future and would like to see if it is worth it at all...or if I should just wait until i have a large format setup.</p>

<p>I figured color wouldn't show up...what do you mean I can have color prints rodrigo?</p>

<p>I assume that if you had the settings on the enlarger already set, you could expose the plate and get it into the developer all within 30 seconds</p>