An Amusing Anecdote

[StMarc]

So yesterday, there was a photographer in front of a little boutique across the street from my office taking pictures of a model, presumably for some sort of ad. The designers called me up so I could see, and I watched for a little bit. They asked me, "So what do you think?"

I said, "I'm not all that impressed."

They were astonished, as he had a Big Camera* and a Big Lens and an assistant and a model they all thought was gorgeous. "What? How can you say that?"

I replied, "First of all, he's chimping** real bad. Secondly, he's not using any fill flash***. Thirdly, the model's not very good."

More astonishment. "What? What do you mean? She's gorgeous!!!"

"Well, she's okay****. But she's not holding her poses well, she's not transitioning smoothly, and her expressions are, as far as I can tell from across the street, not very natural. If the idea is for her to look like an upscale shopper having a good time, she's not cutting it."

I'm sure they all thought it was sour grapes on my part. But I calls 'em like I sees 'em.

M

*I couldn't make out what it was exactly, but it was a pro-level digital SLR, something along the lines of a Canon 1DS. Much nicer than mine.

**Most people here already know this: "Chimping" is when the photographer looks at the review screen after every shot. It's very tempting, but in a stable lighting environment, it's really not necessary and it slows things down. I had to explain the word.

***Trust me. Lighting conditions called for it, unless he was doing some sort of art thing. Which he could have been, I readily admit.

**** While she was far from repulsive, and looked good in the wardrobe, I've shot models who were just as pretty and, in my opinion, more talented. To be fair, I only observed her for about five minutes. Maybe there was some specific stylistic thing going on. I was asked for my impression and I gave it based on what I saw. If I had been able to see what they were actually trying to shoot, I might feel quite differently. On the off-off-off chance that the photographer (who was shooting in front of "Stitch," if that helps) or the model reads this, please feel free to tear me a new one if I've misreported the situation.

[JeffBlack]

He may say the same thing about your sidewalk shot.

[StMarc]

I had a defensive post all written out, and then I thought about it, and despite the fact that my defense was pretty good, in point of fact, I wrote that post in sort of a snarky way. Mea culpa. I'd delete it if I could, upon reflection. Any moderators are welcome to do so.

M