Re: [Leica] Q for the pros

[Donal Philby <donalphilby@earthlink.net>]

Alan Hull wrote:

> -------------------------
> 88 rolls .... on one boat?
> When my mentor. Beken, was assigned (many years ago) to photograph a large
> J-class ocean racer he positioned himself in Cowes Roads in a rowing boat.
> These J-class yachts had a professional crew of about fourteen and it would
> take hours and hours to get the boat to sea and hoist those massive mains
> and jibs and trim them just right for a photo session.  When that huge
> ocean racer thundered passed him, billowing thousands of square feet of
> canvas, Beken clicked the shutter on his 8x10 then told his assistant who
> was on the oars to head back to harbour.  "But you only took one
> photograph" grovelled his assistant, to which Beken snapped "He only
> ordered one."
> 
> Alan Hull

I do love Beken's stuff.  Rented a video the other day about the company
and very impressed.

Unfortunately, my task is a bit different.

We had 5 boats and 14 models (including two families).  In addition to a
number of "scenes" that become double page spreads with insets, there
were many other pix.  One was tight water skiing shoot with 300mm to
compress, kids blowing bubbles on aft deck, families swimming off boat,
portrait of family on bow to be composited with running shot with
mountains in background for a poster (shot 6x7), family and boat on
beach shot from cliff above (hd to scout to find a beach which looked
good, near a cliff high enough and all at good angle to sun), details of
canvas work on all boats, seating arrangements, helm station, lounge
areas, bow seating, storage compartments, cleat details, swim step and
platform, with most of the details shot with and without models.  Plus
there are the mandantory "running" shots.  These are starboard stern
quarter, midship and bow on and the same from the port side.  These
later and much else shot with gyro at 1/60th second to get blurred water
and sharp boat and people.  I shoot much from fly bridge of photoboat
5-15 feet away at 40-45mph.  So many blurred, hair in face, faces hidden
in window frames, turned wrong, bad expressions (hard to view
expressions on four people at once with wind in eyes, trying to stay
upright without touching the flybridge and transferring vibration while
watching focus and framing.  Frankly the J-boat shot sounds a whole lot
simpler than what I am dealing with.  I communicate with boat driver
with stomp commands because it is sooo noisy and wind a problem with
commo gear at high speeds and headsets and mics are awkward with camera
gear.  Much of what I am hired to do is depict the human side, the
boating experience, while still keeping boat as "hero."  With time and
budget crunches, it is getting more and more difficult.  There are only
so many sweetlight periods.  And when you are on two floating platforms
in the power of the wind and currents, getting compositions just right
can be one long frustration, especially if difficult to communicate
through engine noises.  Zoom lenses almost mandantory.  

I remember seeing perfect alignments of skiier and boat go by while we
were trying to get our distances sorted out before we tired out the
skiier.  I shot two people on a tube being drug behind the boat driven
by the guy who is the test pilot for these things, he swirls around and
back across wakes and I am braced semi-standing in a little runabout
doing hard turns and trying to keep tube and people in focus and
framed.  I have a couple sequences of framed tube, then sky, water,sky,
bit of tube, out of focus rear deck, tube with people all in mid air
flying and totally out of focus.  

So I have a trashcan full of rejects and the balance went out FedEx last
night to Seattle.

Gimme a J-boat anyday!

Maybe I'll post a few on web site in a couple days.

Donal
- -- 
Donal Philby
San Diego
http://www.donalphilby.com