Wednesday 3 April 2013

Job Profile Reflection

When I first took on this story I was really excited about it. I imagined an ornate sanctuary and powerful images of Fr. Michael, but didn't consider how obnoxious a guy with a camera could potentially be in the middle of a worship service. This was my downfall, and the reason I don't personally consider this project a total success, yet. 

I tried using the PEN system, which was quieter, but not much quieter, and also much much worse in low light, which didn't help at night church when there was basically zero light present. But, I can handle grain, I like it, actually, so it wasn't as much of an issue as the shutter noise. 

My biggest struggle was sitting through church service and seeing beautiful photos happening right in front of me, but instead of shooting I just sat there, because I didn't feel comfortable making the necessary "crick" to get the shot. 

This was a first for me. 

I'm used to shooting noisy events, things outdoors, or more intimate subjects where I'm free to explore every possible angle and shoot every photo I see. I'm not used to seeing a photo and not being able to capture it, and I'm an over-shooter so this hurt even worse. But in the 150 frames I actually gathered from countless hours of church services, I was able to scrap together some usable, and even good stuff to fulfill the requirements for the assignment and produce a video that I am proud of. 

Father Michael was a great interviewee and gave me some awesome audio, so that helped a ton during production. He was also an amazing subject and granted me all the access I wanted, but it was my personal adherence to disrupting the service that set me back.

Here's the finished product: https://vimeo.com/63256527


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