Imagine a bar mitzvah without a book? In the seventies, eighties and nineties, those with a formal reception for family and friends had a photographer and then eagerly planned and anxiously anticipated the arrival of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah album, which would become a valuable heirloom to share with a future spouse and then kids!
For decades my clients felt that the product was absolutely essential. Perfection and thoroughness in the design of their child’s album was tireless. For Bnai Mitzvahs, parents required that each child have his or her very own book with tweaks to personalize it with that child’s friends and portraits revolving around him or her. What effort we went to in making those albums perfect! I cannot imagine the outrage if for any reason the “pictures did not come out” or, if there was no album to be had. Back then we shot a mere two hundred photos, which then seemed generous. If one shot was missed it was a big deal. Shoppers would ask “how many photos do you take?”. They wanted more to choose from.
A few months after the client received the proofs we would meet to plan the album. Then, book binders only bound the books. We had to pull the negatives, write up instructions for each negative, which then got sent to a photo-lab. Prints received from the lab would have to be quality checked and some needed reprinting. Then they would be hand retouched, and finally the set of all album pages would go for binding. All this took many months. For those who printed our own images, the details involved where tenfold. Today production can be much easier and faster.
Yet some parents never get around to choosing their child’s photos, or making the album. Why? They await the proofs; check that they looked good, and that they have pictures of all their friends. But then many never choose their photos. Invariably the old adage that the most important photo is always the one their photographer missed, has led real pros to shoot very heavy to increase the likelihood of having what is later desired while countless newbie pros simply shotgun their shoots – not knowing what is good or bad –“just to be sure”.
From the artist’s perspective this disinterest in albums raises questions:
Have phones made photos commonplace? Is there that one photo still missed which negates having any album at all? Does the quest for “best” image become such an obsession that it is never completed? Are so many photos of interest that rejecting them in favor of the few to be bound is more painful than not having any book at all, and therefore ever having to make that decision?
Might every day be meaningful, and a Bar Mitzvah celebration just one of those many days who’s photos are found in chronological order somewhere in our phone backups? With all our daily selfies, has the bar/bat album lost its purpose? My informal research leads me to find that everyone who has their recent album, values it much and enjoys both knowing that they have it and reviewing it regularly. However, some feel that it has to be perfect which not a clear specification so hard to undertake. Others feel there is no urgency. Having fewer shots to choose from does not speed things up, and having more does not always include that “most important” shot. Many simply never get around to it.
This article originally appeared in The Jewish Star Newspaper
The List of Shots You Do Not Want To Give Your Photographer
The list usually includes obvious basic combinations which any halfway experienced, remotely decent photographer certainly shouldn’t need. And the idea that an inspired artist could possibly work off a list casts doubt on whether the person writing the article really knows anything about what a photographic artist’s real job is. My advice: I can do the best, most thorough job when the client conveys in concept form what she is really looking for, and lets me know what she values in imagery by how she interprets what she sees that I’ve already done. Does the client want sweet, soft, flattering imagery, or would she rather have harsh, bold, dramatic imagery?
That is the kind of info that is helpful to doing great photography.
Instead, those preparing the list spend hours putting together lists of hundreds of combinations that include the most basic – like Bride and her Mom – as well as very odd combinations that are then never used.
But in every case that a list like this is provided, glaring omissions exist. Often numerous combinations are left out, that upon questioning, the client admits that surely they are musts! But they are not on the list.
There is a finite time to the portrait session, which is never long enough and always abbreviated by people not being present, or more important things to do, like conferring with the musical director, the caterer, the clergy, the party planner, the florist.
The last thing you want is for the photographer to take his eyes and mind off his subjects to peruse a list. No, the idea of an assistant is not much of a solution. The assistant cannot be a technical assistant if he is checking every shot being done against the multipage list. Nor can he always know that a shot taken was sufficient. The best photographers will loosen up stiff subjects by returning to them later, but he cannot do that, nor can he follow his creativity where it will lead, or work most efficiently by sequencing his shots based on lighting needs and other practicalities, if he is following a list in order.
Gary Rabenko may be reached at gary@rabenko.com. Rabenko Photography & Video Artists is located at 1001 Broadway in Woodmere.
Sometimes all the best intentions and advice do not work. We can learn from other people’s experiences. But watching how a situation tends to develop and continues to unfold for others allows us an opportunity to draw some nuggets of wisdom that can be extrapolated to our situation or applied in the future. Sometimes it helps us appreciate where we are coming from and the decisions we make. Sometimes it leads us to be happier with those decisions.
Photographers can often be misunderstood. Those that truly care and want to do good can be resisted and prevented from doing what they could do, due to this lack of understanding, to the point that they are not able to produce the superior results that they strive for. On the other hand, lesser photographers with minimal skills and substance can often be considered the defining standard of a professional photographer because they have always been helpful and are around the community always volunteering or being there when photos are needed. I have known people to lessen their interest in photographers because of the low-level results that they experienced from the pro they already knew.
Sometimes a better vendor is limited from providing the stellar results he is known for by situations beyond his control. That is sad, when it could have been avoided. The question is how. And is it something we can learn from?
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Religion has played a major role in world history. It will play a role in each of our lives, either because of us, or because of others. There are many sites that claim to be a portal for planning a Bar, Bat , or Bnai Mitzvah. But they will turn off those to whom the mitzvah is more important than the bar! I love passion. And Jewish history is certainly something to be passionate about. But it is not something that most 12 and 13 year old’s can be passionate about. That is why most bar and bat mizvah albums show cliched, or superficial photographs. For decades, my work has been featured on the cover of various tri state bar and bar mitzvah guides. Regardless of your affiliation, if you want images that speak to the viewer… if you want images that will make the Grand Parents proud. If you want imagery that can be shown to future generations of Jewish children with meaning, when it is time for them to become a Bat or Ben Torah, then you want imagery that is inspired. This has been a specialty of mine and I hope you will give me the opportunity to be inspired by your family and to create an heirloom of a Mitzvah album that does justice to the event, its participants and the craft of photography.
In this part of my blog I hope to share meaningful stories, suggestions, and advice for getting photography and video that means most to you of your simcha; the Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah or B’nai Mitzvah that you are planning.
