Photography, why are you so uninteresting compared with film making?

So why exactly isn’t photography as interesting as film making?
Lack of movement, for one thing. Photography is about static images. Film making is about moving images.
Once you have created a moving image, once you have had the satisfaction of shooting a video clip, once you have had the satisfaction of editing it in some video editing software, once you had the satisfaction of adding effects such as sound effects and music, it will be a case of ‘hello film making, goodbye photography.’
Compared with this, the time that you might spend adjusting the brightness and contrast of your photograph in Photoshop or Picasa or a similar piece of photo. editing software will seem pretty tame.

Photography and film making as candidates in a democratic election

Or will it?
Let’s imagine that photography and film making are candidates in an election – in a democratic election.
My prediction is, the photography candidate would easily defeat the film making candidate.
The reason for this is, there must be thousands more photographers than there are film makers.
Sorry, film making, the people have voted – they have voted for photography rather than film making.

A good personal injury photographer will look at the injury and discuss it with the victim before taking the photographs. In my experience this is the only way of discovering what should actually be in the photograph.
This photo. of a personal injury, which was taken at my Skegness photography studio, explains this.
It’s a photograph of a lady’s leg, but it isn’t a picture of what might be described as the ‘main’ injury, it’s a picture of what might be described as a secondary injury, an injury which is secondary to the main injury.
The main injury is a scar on her leg, which is the result of a deep wound. Obviously, I took photographs of this scar, from various angles.
However, because we had discussed her personal injury before I took any photos., and because she mentioned that she had a depression or indentation on her leg as a result of the main injury, I decided to take pictures of this depression, as well.
The depression, on the furthest leg, is the secondary injury that I mentioned.
It might not seem to be a very significant injury, but you have to look at it from the victim’s point of view.
A woman’s legs are very important to her. Abnormalities like this – and scars of course, concern them.

Personal injury depression on leg

As a freelance photographer with my own photography studio I notice that I am becoming increasingly involved in this branch of photography, a branch of photography which I suppose might be called personal injury photography.
This increasing involvement might be due to the increasing frequency  of personal injury claims, to the fact that they are becoming more common. It might be due to the fact that I have acquired a reputation for personal injury photography.
This isn’t as bizarre as it might seem; certain photographers acquire a reputation for wedding photography or portrait photography so why shouldn’t they also acquire a reputation for personal injury photography.
There are several aspects – things to consider – in personal injury photography. One aspect is the technical aspect, in the kind of studio lighting and photography backgrounds that are used, for example.
Another is the relationship between the photographer and the victim – the person who has suffered from the personal injury.
Another is the legal aspect, because perhaps surprisingly, personal injury photography involves an awareness of how personal injury claims are pursued in court.
Finally, there is a financial aspect to personal injury photography, to how much to charge for it.
However, this article is just an introduction, it’s just intended to make other photographers and perhaps college students and students at schools of photography aware that there is a branch of photography called personal injury photography.
The article – and future articles – might might also be of interest to personal injury solicitors and lawyers who hire or are considering hiring a photographer to help them pursue personal injury claims on behalf of their clients.
Finally, the fact that there is a branch of photography called personal injury photography might be interesting on a sociological level. Is it a reflection of modern society, does it mean that modern society is obsessed with personal injury claims?

Few if any genuine photographers are interested in taking photographs of the entrances to major strategic buildings and the means of escape from these buildings. The entrances to most major strategic buildings are of no interest to genuine photographers.
It’s the same situation with the means of escape from these buildings – the fire escape. Usually, fire escapes are of no interest to genuine photographers.
The reason for this is simple – generally speaking, they are not interesting enough.
To justify a photograph, the entrance to a major strategic building would have to have some really unusual features. Even if it did have some unusual features, some photographers would not bother to take a picture of it except under certain conditions.
Typically, these conditions might be a certain time of day when the entrance is illuminated by the sun in a certain way, or when it is half in shadow.
It’s difficult to understand how the fire escape from a major strategic building can justify a photograph. Again, it would have to have some really unusual features.
In reality, fire escapes hardly ever have any unusual features, so few if any genuine photographers would bother to take photographs of them. In any conditions, even if they were illuminated by the sun in a certain way or if they were half in shadow.
Genuine photographers often like to take pictures of the complete major strategic building, including the entrance to the building (but usually this is only possible if they have a very wide angle lens or a fisheye lens fitted on their camera.)
If you are a genuine photographer, be aware of the security concerns. If there is no reason to take photographs of the entrances  to major public buildings, or the means of escape from these buildings – and there isn’t usually any reason to do so, avoid taking pictures of them.
Hopefully this article will help the police and security agencies identify genuine photographers, and hopefully it will also help genuine photographers avoid any problems.

This is a pretty good birthday party idea, and it also helps the photographer, because all of the photographs can be taken with an attractive background.

Relevant prop in the photography background

The birthday cake, placed on a table in front of the background, is a very relevant ‘prop’, and it was a good idea to include this in the background.

‘Backup’ photography background

She also arranged the background in front of an attractive curtain, so if anyone moved out of the ‘official’ background, and if the photographer didn’t re-arrange them so that they were in the official background, it would still be a pleasant scene.

‘Intrusive’ prop in the photography background

Maybe the audio speaker is a little intrusive, but it was impossible to move it, and impossible to move the background away from it.
On second thoughts maybe it isn’t intrusive, maybe it’s relevant, because it was part of the sound system and along with several other speakers was used to play the music at the party.

The way they communicate with each other is, he touches her hands with his face, and in this way she knows that it is him.
He is her grandson – in fact she has several grandsons. But for some reason she knows that it is him – that it is this grandson, despite the fact that in theory it could be any one of her grandsons.
His expression could perhaps be interpreted as cunning, but in reality, he isn’t being cunning at all.
There are a couple of things that might give this impression. One is, the angle of his face in relation to the old lady’s face. He has had to lower his face to her hands, so that he can communicate with her.
Simultaneously, he feels that it is necessary to look up at her face. Or rather, try to look up at her face.
He can’t do this, it’s physically impossible. He can’t touch her hands with his face and simultaneously raise his face to her face.
So he raises his eyes to her face, instead, and this is what makes him seem cunning.

It takes a detailed look at tripods, looking at the types of tripods that are available and the types of photography, videography and film making for which they are suitable.

Tripods for  professional and amateur photographers and video makers

It’s aimed at professional photographers and video makers and amateur photographers and video makers, ie. at professionals who might be considering buying another tripod and amateurs who might be considering buying their first tripod.
It’s based on my several years’ of practical experience with tripods, including mini tripods (sometimes called table top tripods,) full sized travel tripods which are lightweight and easy to transport in a camera bag or camera backpack, and full sized tripods which are heavier and can’t be transported in a camera bag or camera backpack.

Photographers and videographers may have different attitudes towards tripods

Professional photographers and videographers usually accept that they have to have a tripod, or several tripods, for their work, and are willing to invest in a new tripod, because they know that it will be a good investment.
But a tripod can be quite an investment for an amateur photographer or videographer who won’t be using it for their work, and who, because of this, can’t be sure whether it will be a good investment.

My video tripod is a `ball head tripod’, which means that the head, the thing at the top of the tripod that you fix your video camera to (you don’t fix your camcorder directly to the tripod), literally rotates on and around a ball.
Apparently this isn’t the best solution for videography, apparently the best solution is to use a `fluid head tripod’. These have a more fluid action, there’s no doubt about this – it isn’t just sales spiel.
But, guess what – they also cost a lot more than ball head video tripods.

Video tripod heads comparisons

The big question for a newbie videographer is, how much better is a fluid head tripod than a ball head tripod, is it worth paying four times as much, maybe five times as much, for one?
To put it bluntly, do you get four or five times as much fluidity for your money? To put it even more bluntly, how much fluidity do you actually need?
As I’m a self-confessed newbie videographer who hasn’t actually used a fluid head video tripod, it’s pretty difficult for me to answer this question.
All I can say is, it’s a wonderful experience to be able to turn my video camera in any direction I want to do fluidly – without any jerky movements.
This doesn’t answer the question of whether a fluid video head is four or five times better than a ball head tripod, of course.

Wedding videographer’s tripod review

Ok, here’s some evidence that they are at least better, and they might be four or five times better.
The evidence is this: the guy that I bought the video tripod from is a wedding videographer, and he stated in his ad. that he was selling it because he was buying a fluid head tripod.
This isn’t a sales person who is trying to sell something, this is someone who is freely admitting that although the ball head tripod has been fine until now for his wedding videography, it’s time to move on to a fluid head tripod.

Video tripod conclusions

We can draw a couple of conclusions from this: one conclusion might be that ball head video tripods are ok for wedding videography and are maybe ok for other kinds of professional videography – film-making, for example.
Another conclusion might be that they are a relatively short-term solution – at some point it will be essential to buy a fluid head video tripod. Possibly – although this isn’t proven, because they are four or five times better than ball head video heads.

Coming soon

Video footage of my ballhead video tripod in action, a look at whether physique and personal attitude influence the way a video tripod is used, some yakking about the merits or otherwise of buying a tripod off eBay, based on personal experience.

It’s a `velour burgundy’ photography background; velour is the name of the material and burgundy is the colour, of course. It could also be described as deep red. So why is it versatile? It’s versatile because it can be associated with several ocassions.

Burgundy, deep red, is often associated with romance. Valentine cards are often this colour, for example. Because it is associated with romance it can also be associated with weddings, because weddings are also romantic events (obviously they are primarily religious events, but they are also romantic events.)
So it can be used for a romantic photograph, like this portrait photo of a blonde girl and her young guy boyfriend, and because weddings are also romantic events, it could also be used as a backdrop for a wedding photo of a bride and groom.

It’s also versatile because it doesn’t seem to crease. Some photography backgrounds have creases or folds in them when they are supported on a background support. The photographer has to somehow remove these creases and folds, often by stretching the photography background.
But this backdrop doesn’t crease or fold, so it’s easy to take care of.
My advice is, if you’re looking to buy a photography backdrop that is versatile and easy to take care of, consider a velour burgundy photography background.

]]> http://www.paulgoochimages.org/versatile-photography-backdrop/feed/ 0 http://www.paulgoochimages.org/combination-wedding-photography-and-videography-risks/ http://www.paulgoochimages.org/combination-wedding-photography-and-videography-risks/#comments Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:51:10 +0000 Paul Gooch http://www.paulgoochimages.org/?p=484 I’ve just started to combine wedding photography with wedding videography – taking `still’ wedding photos and shooting some wedding videography footage at the same wedding. This is pretty adventurous; at most weddings there is either just a wedding photographer or a wedding photographer and a wedding videographer.

Some would say that it’s also pretty foolish – that it’s impossible to combine the two roles, and I have to admit that I thought that it was impossible too. Surely there would be a price to pay; surely my wedding photography would be less creative because I was channelling too much creativity into wedding videography. Surely I would take fewer wedding photographs in order to shoot more videography footage.
These are important points to consider; it would be unethical and dishonest to agree to supply two different services – wedding photography and wedding videography - before the wedding, and then cut back on one of these services during the wedding.
It could also damage the wedding photographer’s reputation – as a wedding photographer; he could acquire an unwelcome reputation as a photographer who isn’t very creative, and who doesn’t take enough wedding photos.
And of course, it could also damage his future reputation as a wedding videographer; he could acquire an unwelcome reputation as a wedding videographer who isn’t very creative, and who doesn’t shoot enough footage.
And although this article is written from a wedding photographer’s viewpoint, it should also be considered from the bride and groom’s viewpoint. How would they react if, having ordered a wedding photography and wedding videography package, they received a package that was short on both?
So these are the risks, or rather just a couple of the risks. There are others, but these are probably the most important.

By `good’ I mean pretty – a good background is a pretty background, an attractive setting. The alternative is to take the wedding photographs against any kind of background, whether it’s pretty or not, but no professional wedding photographer will do this.

Wedding photo backgrounds competition

So there’s a kind of `competition’ between the backgrounds that are available at the wedding venue and the wedding photographer’s own backgrounds. Sometimes the backgrounds at the wedding venue win, sometimes the photographer’s studio backgrounds win.

Wedding photographer as a scout

When I was the wedding photographer at this wedding, held at the North Shore hotel, Skegness, Lincolnshire, the available background – the background that was at the wedding venue, won (there are plenty of scenic backgrounds in the hotel grounds but the wedding was held after dark, on a late November afternoon.)
Although I took plenty of photography studio backgrounds, including some with a specially-designed wedding theme, none of them was as natural as the background in the photo above.
After looking around for a good background, I found it in a room that was just off the main function room of the hotel. It had everything; it was tastefully decorated and there was even a large plant pot of ferns.

Hotel room with wedding theme

Probably the ferns decided it, they were the major factor. Ferns are often used at weddings, as a backdrop for floral bouquets, so these ferns gave the room a kind of `wedding theme’.

Hotel wedding photography check list

The conclusion has to be, it doesn’t matter how good your photography backgrounds are, it’s a good idea to check out the backgrounds which are available at the wedding venue.
*My thanks to the staff of the North Shore hotel for allowing me to use the room.

Street photography weather

What motivates photographers to take photographs of things that are out of place, that don’t belong, like this picture of a broken umbrella outside a body tanning salon?

Firstly, they must be able to see that these things are out of place, that they don’t belong. If they don’t have this kind of `vision’, this attitude to life, they won’t take pictures like this.
When they see that something is out of place, that it doesn’t belong, they are seeing conflict.
This photograph has conflict because it has two conflicting arguments.
The umbrella is arguing that the weather is pretty bad, that the wind is so strong that it has broken the umbrella. But the tanning salon is arguing that the weather can be pretty good – if you take a body tanning session.

It states: `This is to confirm that Paul Gooch Images, of Skegness, was the wedding photographer at our wedding earlier this year, and that we are delighted with the photographs and would recommend him as a photographer.
We were especially pleased with the photographs he took in the reportage wedding photography style because they captured every single moment of our very special day.’

The photographs capture some of the typical events that took place when British, American and other Allied forces attacked strongly-defended Nazi defensive positions in Normandy, France, during World War 2. 
In one photograph, American soldiers are taking cover behind a replica Nazi anti-tank defence, in the same way that Allied troops took cover behind Nazi anti-tank defences on D day, before making a dash for the sand dunes.
In another photograph, an American soldier is seen firing his weapon, while another moves up to re-enforce him. In the last photograph, both soldiers are seen firing their weapons.
The photographs are to be used in Skegness Revisited, a nostalgia type publication dedicated to the history of Skegness, featuring historical events and historical human interest stories.

World War 2 battle photo 3

WW2 battle photo 1

World War 2 battle photo 2 3

The photographs were taken with a special birthday photography background which included the birthday cake.
Studio lights were arranged around the background.
Photographs were also taken of guests arriving at the event and some `table shots’ – photographs of guests at their dining table – were taken.

The PR agency organised the dance for one of its clients, which published a magazine dedicated to 70’s fashions and music.
It was a dance competition, and dancers from all over the country travelled to the Butlins holiday resort to take part in it.
Although most of the dances were based on 70’s music, one of the acts was based on a 70’s movie. This was the James Bond movie `Goldfinger’, and during the act a guy painted a girl with gold paint.

Click here to view the wedding photo gallery

Photographs of each precious moment of the wedding

The photographs record each precious moment of what might be called a typical wedding.

Pre-wedding ceremony photos

There are photographs of:
The wedding dress which is to be worn by the bride and the dress which is to be worn by a bridesmaid, with the floral bouquet which is to be carried by the bride.
A red welcome carpet outside the hotel which was the scene of the wedding ceremony and was also the wedding reception venue.
The father of the bride arriving with her at the room where the wedding ceremony was held.
The groom with his best man shaking hands at the floral decoration over the area of the room where the wedding was conducted.

Photos of the wedding ceremony

A friend of the bride emotionally reading a poem during the wedding.
The father of the groom reading a piece of literature during the wedding.
The exchange of wedding rings.
The and groom kissing after the wedding ceremony.

After the wedding photos

The bride and groom posing in various scenic locations in the hotel gardens.
The bride and groom with their families.
Other wedding guests.

Celebrations after the wedding

Various photographs of the bride and groom enjoying the `first dance’.
Other guests dancing.
The bride celebrating by dancing with her friends.
The bride chatting with an elderly relative.
The best man releasing party confetti during the bride and groom’s first dance.
*A couple of the photographs have been taken at an angle.

By `scenes for the wedding photos’ I mean places where the bride and groom can pose when they are having their wedding photographs taken.
A quick point – it isn’t essential to have a wide variety of scenes, a lot of wedding photos are taken with the same scene or background in every picture.
But it does add variety to the wedding photo album or wedding video if the photographs or video shots are taken with several different scenes in the background.

Ideal wedding venue for wedding photos

At a recent wedding where I was responsible for the wedding planning and wedding photography there was a pretty wide variety of scenes at the wedding venue.
There were various flower beds – all with a different variety of flowers, there was a raised patio which provided an elevated view, a sun dial, a waterfall and even a traditional old-fashioned stone wall with roses climbing up it.
I took the wedding photographs at all of these scenes – and asked the bride and groom to pose in a different way at each scene. As a result of this, they have a wedding photo album which is interesting and varied.

Future bride and groom and wedding venue

If you’re a bride-to-be or a groom-to-be and are choosing a wedding venue it might be a good idea to take a look at the scenes and backgrounds which are available.   

Interesting wedding venues as an advertisement for your business

If you own a hotel or other venue where weddings are conducted you you might want to consider creating a few different and interesting scenes for the wedding photos.
They will be seen by quite a lot of people – friends and relatives of the bride and groom etc., and they might be a good advertisement for your business.

She rather bitchily describes the panties as `size humongous’, or pretty huge. By way of contrast she describes her husband’s condoms as `size small’. She wonders if the panties might be suitable as a `nice shawl’, although more imaginatively she also wonders if their allegedly huge size and black color means they could be transformed into a Halloween outfit.
She hasn’t devised another use for the supposedly small condoms although judging by her description if she tried the condoms\garden gnomes category of ebay…
The listing was at first removed by eBay because of its policy of declining to allow pre-owned underwear to be auctioned.
“We let her know about the policy and instead she’s now selling a photograph of the offending knickers (panties),” Jackson said.
The photo, which had a starting price of just 69 US cents, down from the original 99 cents asked for the actual items, had received 47 bids by Thursday, with the current highest bid being 127.50 US dollars and four days of bidding to go.