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I admit it. I am a film addict. I got my first camera in 1985 as a present for my 8th birthday and have been shooting ever since. My introduction to photography had one condition – my mom told me that I would get allowance money for film only if I learned to develop and print it on my own. I spent the next couple of years of my life begging, borrowing and, on one special occasion, stealing darkroom equipment and chemicals. By the time I was 11, I had a fully-stocked darkroom and would spend every free moment tinkering with an antique Soviet-made enlarger and inhaling toxic chemicals in a poorly-ventilated closet (which probably explains a lot about the way I turned out).Around 2005 I made a jump to digital equipment for my commercial work – at the time I did a lot of product photography and burning through 50-60 rolls of film per shoot was just getting too cost-prohibitive.
Even though more than 90% of my work was shot with digital cameras, I never stopped shooting film. I sold my Hasselblads, but kept a few Mamiya 645 cameras, plus about 20 (that’s right, twenty) 35mm film cameras that I accumulated over the years.
For years I have tried to make my digital photographs look like film and have always failed. Commercially available Photoshop actions didn’t quite cut it – the results never looked like what I was used to with film. When I tried to tweak settings on my own, the results were abominable.
A few months ago my friend Jenny Karlsson told me about VSCO Film Lightroom Presets from the Visual Supply Company. At first I was skeptical – over the years I wasted hundreds of dollars on presents and actions that supposedly emulated film. I finally decided to give VSCO a shot. I was blown away. Being true to my geeky self, I ran a few tests. I shot a roll of medium format Fuji 400H, Ilford HP5, Kodak Portra 800 and Kodak T-Max 3200. Then I shot a bunch of digital frames, edited the raw files in Lightroom using corresponding VSCO film presets and compared the results side-by-side. Like I said before, I was blown away. I don’t want to publish a ton of test shots on my blog, but if you are a skeptic, try to tell me which of the photos below were shot with Mamiya 645 + Ilford HP5 and which ones were shot with Canon 5D Mark III and edited with VSCO film:
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I October of 2012 I had the privilege to help my good friend Katia Forero of Katia Forero Photography to photograph Heather’s and Chris’ beautiful wedding. Chris and Heather are probably the most relaxed and easy-going couple I have ever met. Their ceremony was at the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church – it was interesting to photograph a Serbian ceremony and to observe all the similarities between Serbian and Russian cultures.
During the reception Heather sang to Chris, and I gotta say – this girl has an amazing voice!
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Last night I gave this presentation to an amazing group of Pittsburgh photographers at the Pittsburgh Pictage User Group (PUG). I am a huge geek and found a great niche for myself and my business – combining photography with engineering and becoming a cross between a photographer and a mad scientist. I build things because I can, because it is interesting and because some of what I build is actually useful to my clients. And because in my spare time I am Batman. Don’t tell anyone:)
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It is 3:30 in the morning as I am sitting down to write this. Sophia (my 1-year-old daughter) woke me up about an hour ago and I cannot seem to fall back asleep. Truth be told, I have been thinking about this for a long time and in my “fastidious project manager” mode made pages of notes and lists regarding this subject.
When we (photographers) first get into photography business, we usually concentrate on building a large client base at all costs. Very few photographers are picky about their clients, or about the projects that they take on. I know this because for years I had been guilty of that: I photographed weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, corporate events, products, families and babies, just to name a few. One day in the fall of 2003, as I was editing 1700 images from a product photoshoot, I realized that “specializing” in so many different things simply meant that I wasn’t particularly good at any of them.I sat myself down (at a bar, if memory serves right), ordered a shot (or three) of Grey Goose, and asked myself: “Dmitriy, what do you enjoy photographing the most?”
The answer was surprisingly easy – I liked photographing events. So I dropped everything else and stuck with weddings and Bar Mitzvahs. Now, almost 10 years later, I find myself in a similar situation.
Let me explain…
A few days ago I met with a very nice and beautiful couple who was planning a very high-end, high-fashion wedding. I talked to them for almost two hours, trying very hard to convince them to hire me as their wedding photographer. When I got home, I started thinking about the meeting. Here’s what went through my head.
- What the hell do I know about fashion? I am a jeans-and-a-t-shirt kind of guy.
- I could produce the types of images this couple wanted. After all, I used to photography beauty pageants. However, I shot my last fashion photograph 8 years ago – I did not like shooting fashion then and probably would not like it now.
- If I don’t like photographing fashion, I am not going to be excited about photographing this wedding. That’s not fair to the couple.
- I am the wrong photographer for this client.
- This client is wrong for me.
Brides spend an extraordinary amount of time picking photographers for their weddings, making sure they like the photographer’s style and personality. Photographers should do the same with their clients.
Yes, wedding photography is a business, and businesses need to attract clients and make money. However, at the same time it is our responsibility as photographers to provide the best possible service to brides and grooms, something that would be very difficult to do if we don’t like the couple, the venue, the style or the theme of the wedding.
I thought long and hard about what type of client I would absolutely love to work with. In my infinite nerdiness, I even drew a Venn diagram:)
And, just like 10 years ago, the answer was surprisingly simple. I love working with geeks – science geeks, music geeks, photography geeks, tech geeks, comic book geeks; geeks in the best possible sense of that word. To me, the word “geek” = “passion”. According to the all-knowing Google, the word geek has two definitions:1. An unfashionable or socially inept person.
2. A person with an eccentric devotion to a particular interest: “a computer geek”.The first definition has never not really applied to my understanding of the word “geek”. The second one fits perfectly. Note the word “devotion” in the second definition. If you look up “devotion” in a thesaurus, you will see synonyms such as “dedication” and “passion”. Which brings me back to my original point – “geek” = “passion”.
A few years ago I met with a bride who had a PhD from MIT; we had the most fascinating conversation about superconductors. Last year I photographed a wedding for a couple where the groom made guitars in his basement as a hobby; he could also play a really awesome rendition of “Stairway to Heaven” on a mandolin. I had the privilege to work with a couple whose combined comic book collection contained over 2000 titles, some of them signed by Stan Lee.
I love working with passionate people, people who don’t take themselves too seriously, who are willing to strike the Superman pose, jump into a pool during an engagement session, or drive a golf cart at night over a rickety bridge. I love photographing people who are so in love with each other that the groom is willing to walk a city block with his eyes closed just to be surprised and awed by the first look at his beautiful bride; where the groom is not ashamed to cry in front of 200 people when his bride enters the sanctuary.
If you are a geek, call me – I cannot wait to meet you and photograph your wedding. Geeks need apply!
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In 1998, when I first decided to photograph weddings, I apprenticed with an established wedding photographer for almost 2 years. When I moved to Pittsburgh in 2000 and started photographing events on my own, I was my own boss. As a general rule I worked by myself – I did know any photographers in the area and did not use assistants or second shooters. Nor did I assist/second shoot for other photographers.
Last year I met an amazing group of Pittsburgh photographers and became good friends with several of them. On average I photograph 25-30 events a year as a primary photographer; this year I also had an opportunity to work with other photographers and learn from them.I photographed Patrick’s and Amy’s wedding as a second shooter for my good friend Katia Forero of Katia Forero Photography. It was an amazing wedding – a gorgeous couple, a fun bridal party and a beautiful venue. However, I don’t know what I enjoyed more – the wedding itself or working with Katia.
Below are some of the images I took at this incredible wedding…
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For the past couple of years, I’ve been picking a completely candid shot that somehow appealed to me. Usually, it’s something like this photo from a Bat Mitzvah I photographed a year ago:
This year, my favorite action shot is a sequence. I’m especially proud of it since I had no idea that it was going to happen and still managed to capture it:)
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When I was a kid, I spent 4 or 5 summers in a row in a small village near a Ukrainian town of Korosten’. My grandfather and I would get on a train or a bus from my hometown of Gomel and take a 6-hour trip to his friend’s farm. Pavel and Galina (my grandfather’s friends) had a small apple orchard and raised goats and rabbits. To a kid a place like that was a paradise. I spent my days swimming in the river, hiking, roasting potatoes on a bonfire and goofing off with local village kids. I never wondered who Pavel and Galina really were and how they know my grandfather.
This past weekend my mom asked me put together a book of old photographs as a present for my grandmother. As we were going through a pile of old photographs, I came across the photograph below:
In the back, my grandfather is on the left and my grandmother is right next to him. In the front row, the two people sitting down are Pavel and Galina.
As we started talking about people in this photograph, I asked my mom how my grandfather met Pavel and Galina. As it turned out, like with most of my grandfather’s friends, he met Pavel in Vorkuta GULAG. Unlike his other friends, Pavel was not an inmate – as it turned out he was a guard at Vorkuta Mine #7 labor camp. He was one of the good guys and from what my grandmother and my mom told me he saved quite a few lives.
It’s been almost 10 years since Pavel passed away; Galina passed away 2 years ago. I was absolutely shocked and amazed that I had known these people since childhood and had no idea about their relationship with my grandfather.
Who knows what else I find out in the next few days…
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