John D.C. Masters Photography » Add new tag

Not for everyone…

John — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 12:54:25 +0000

Wedding photography takes a special personality and I don’t have it. Sure, I know my way around the camera, but my skills are best used elsewhere. I guess you really have to like weddings in general, and I’m not the biggest fan. This understanding comes on the heels of my first wedding shoot last night down in Connecticut. I was the second camera, so the really good shots were taken by a pro who loves her work and does a spectacular job. I was responsible for the pre-wedding groom’s pictures (dressing, etc…) and some other things. I was, I hope, able to get those shots.

To be honest I was not comfortable in this situation. It reminded me too much of street photography-that sneaky, candid spying style that I am also not fond of doing. Other people can, and the best to them, but not me. I was told that as the drinks flowed people would loosen up. That didn’t cheer me either. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing or even documenting that experience. Still, it is better to know than not to, and now I have that knowledge. Plus, the event reminded me that I left the service industry for specific reasons, not just because I didn’t like the business.

Still, experience is experience and I am glad I was able to work with Stephanie. She’s a real professional and offers a wonderful service to her clients. She knows her way around the machine, has a wonderful eye and a charming personality. She is an asset to any couple’s wedding day. Please check the link on my site, or go here.

Next up…More adventures in commercial photography.

More will be revealed…

JDCM

Searching for Robert Frank…

John — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:17:39 +0000

I have just returned from a visit with my sister and her husband just outside Boston. While I was there we were all able to meet up with my father at a bookstore in Cambridge where he and his wife gave a reading of some of their new work. I took a couple of pictures, but felt very uncomfortable doing so. After refection I discovered it wasn’t the act, but rather the subject. There was nothing spontaneous and the observing seemed to draw the attention of my father, something I didn’t want. In fact, he pointed it out to the small audience at one point–very off-putting. Our relationship is difficult. His own narcissism has progressed as he has aged and he either contradicts what I say or disregards it. If I think of him as an old man with difficulties and not my father I have a better relationship.

The Robert Frank show is up at the Metropolitan in NYC. I have plans to go in later this month…I think on the 21st. I hope to spend the day looking through the viewfinder and trying not to try too hard. I’m lucky that I am an avid walker…The soles of my shoes are well worn. I’ll stay out of the park: too much wide open space.

JDCM

The Song of Sarajevo

John — Sat, 30 May 2009 14:48:14 +0000

After winding my way on the bus from the dry rocks of Herzegovina through the lush, rugged mountains of interior Bosnia-Herzegovina, I was let out at the Sarajevo Autobusni Stanica. I took a cab to my pension, the Pansion Cobanije, a quiet and family-run place off of the Old City. I dined that night with my delightful traveling companion, Femke, a graduate student from Holland–all legs and blue eyes with the brains to match…After walking her back to her hostel (she flew back to Holland this morning), I continued on and was stopped in my tracks by the
sound of raucous singing…

They were all pretty drunk, and invited me to join them..Orange juice for me, thanks. In this town of Muslim practices drinking juice is not seen as an oddity. There were 8 or 9 of them, all about 50-60 years old. One had an old guitar and he was playing furiously while they all sang gypsy songs as if their lives depended on it. I was able to get some images and they were open with conversation. They all spoke good English. One explained that they had all been friends since childhood and that they all came from different backgrounds. ‘In the past,’ he said, ‘to ask someone what they were was considered rude.’ ‘Like where I live’, I said. This meant that I was in an enclave of peace where Muslim, Catholic, Christian and Atheist alike all came together to pray to the God of Song – perhaps the only God they needed. Myths have been shattered. These were Yugoslavians.

I have been sparing with my cameras. The GIII Q17 rangefinder is fun and small, and I am anticipating the black and white prints more so than the immediacy of the digital. I am shooting mostly 200 speed due to the bright glare of the Balkan sun, but I have been lucky so far with the times I been using 400…mostly cloudy. There have been some good moments in markets and on the street, I think, in both formats. In Belgrade next week I will be focusing more on the Invisible People–those living on the street, Roma encampments, etc…

It feels good to unwind my eye from the American landscape.

John Masters