People At Work... in Detroit

[fj834@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dr. George A. Themelis)]

       People At Work... in Detroit -- My Perspective
                  by George A. Themelis

Exciting night in Detroit, with "People at Work" the subject of last 
night's competition.  For a third month in a row, a new record in number 
of slides submitted.  Stereo photography is coming back and the Detroit 
club is growing with new members joining every month.

A variety of pictures were submitted:  Construction workers, policemen, 
artists, industrial workers, firefighters, and many others.  I did not 
see the familiar "mailman" though....  Admittedly, "People at Work" is a 
tough subject.  It is difficult to take good stereo pictures of people, 
in general.  The "work" requirement adds an extra restriction.  One 
thing I learned is that many fine pictures of people look great in a 
viewer but do not look good in projection.  A successful slide needs to 
put emphasis in either the person or the activity.  Close-ups of either 
the person or the activity produce the best results, in my opinion.

All my pictures were taken with a Stereo Realist.  No SLRs, no 
enlargements, no tricks or "special effects".  Just plain and honest 
Realist format.  I used flash in every picture, including one of a 
lifeguard in full sun, during casting of a large heat of steel at work 
(there was enough ambient light from the molten steel), the band with a 
guy playing the bouzouki in the foreground (from the Greek wedding I 
stereo-photographed recently) and the close-up of my wife at the 
dentist's chair with her mouth fully open.  Once properly used, fill-in 
flash will improve many pictures by putting much needed light in shadows 
and people's faces (with a nice spark in their eyes too).

I noticed that many slides lose points in projection because of poor 
mounting.  For my entries I try to bring the main subject as close to 
the stereo window as possible and have objects coming out of it, if 
possible.  For example, sparks from casting were coming out of the 
window and so did the bouzouki and the dentist's tools.  Certain 
pictures would have done much better, in my opinion, with better 
mounting.  I was especially pleased with my dentist picture, a close-up 
(3 to 4 feet) that was successfully  mounted in a normal Albion mask.  
I did not have to use a close-up mask (half frame actually).  I try and 
avoid these because of the severe cropping they produce.

In addition to technical issues, this subject brought up an interesting 
etiquette question:  Do you need to ask permission to take a picture of 
a person?  In some cases I did ask and got a "No" for an answer.  In 
many cases just taking the picture and giving the details later might 
be the best thing to do.  

A great missed opportunity:  I was dying to take a picture of the pilots 
flying our plane during the 6 different flights in our trip to Greece 
this summer.  I figured that the crowded cockpit with all the controls 
might be the perfect setting for a good 3-d picture.  I never gathered 
enough courage to ask permission, and have no idea if they would have 
let me do it.

At the end, I am happy (and others in the club, I hope) for the 
opportunity to explore a new subject.  It's easy to get carried away 
with one's favorite subject (flowers, caves, buildings, scenery, macros, 
whatever).  A challenge is needed from time to time.  And the Detroit 
club delivers this challenge every month.  

Next month's assignment:  "Lighthouses".  Sounds simple, but how can you 
make your lighthouse picture better than your club competitor's?  

That's the challenge!


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