There is so much talk these days about “Moving Photographs” and stills people like myself doing images that move. Here is the work of Joan Logue, who has been deep into moving photographs, or as she calls her work ” Video Portraits”, for decades. What I find most interesting/disturbing, is the time element, or the lack there of. They are listed as 30 seconds, but they are more like 3 seconds. Just enough to register what is happening, and short enough to make them jarringly memorable. “In the Blink of an Eye” Murch talks about editing as blinking. These portraits are like memory blinks, the bit about a person that stays in the memory when all the rest has been edited away. The first few I viewed, I found annoying, but then I got it. She has stripped away everything to make a moving essense, which I find to be much closer to memory than with still photos. Great work. I would love to meet her and ask her about how she edits these.

Joan Logue is a pioneer in the field of video portraiture. She first learned to use the medium soon after it became available to artists with Sony’s introduction of the video portapac in the late sixties. As a still portrait photographer, Logue immediately recognized the new medium’s potential for expressing more fully the complexity of the sitter. Although Logue’s background was not in film (she studied painting and photography), early on she discovered that video expanded painting and still photography, taking the ‘instant’ out of portraiture to give it a presence in real-time. For this reason, she is recognized as the “originator” of the first video portrait in 1971. There, by using real time and silence to expose the sitter’s presence, she allowed the viewer to observe a person in contemplation and silence.

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Ah – The HDSLRs. The very first thing I want to say is that these opinions and anecdotal moments are based on what’s true in my experience with HDSLRs as of this writing, and the year preceding it. By the time the ink has dried on this answer things will be different, and I know that as well as anyone. But my experiences might benefit someone and at least make people think before they assume, and that might help somebody so here goes.

The “adjustments” to my shooting methods are just to overcome the hassles of focus, lens options, the viewing/monitoring of it all and the less capable files from these cameras when compared to what exists in larger and more developed professional systems. We have to work harder to achieve the same consistency that we know will be there with the professional systems. And with a system that usually assumes smaller crew and less help and less time and less money, working harder is always easy (if you had more of those things for a project you probably wouldn’t choose these cameras except as insert or crash cams; they’re too limiting in critical ways like dynamic range, frame-rate choices, heat build-up, etc). With less dynamic range at the moment than any other format out there for professional use, you have to think at all times about stuff that you wouldn’t have to when using the more capable cameras. I’ve learned that exposure-wise, you’d better expose your material within 2/3s of a stop max, of where you “see” the shot in the finished piece (which is something almost all of us do automatically anyway). The files are so limited in terms of how much you can push them around in post when compared to the purpose-built digital cameras and certainly film. Here’s another reason to know your director pretty well before you begin; you should be exposing your scenes with the precision that commercial Ektachrome had to be exposed with 40 years ago if you want the best and most flexible files on your block. The two of you better agree going-in on how things are to look because changing your mind in a big way after the fact might get painful to watch. But’s it’s still just taking pictures, which is where we come from and that makes it all work out.

There’s a gold-rush surrounding HDSLRs at the moment to be sure, but I heard that someone put it in context as it relates to the original gold rush of 1849: the only people that really made any money were the ones selling the picks, the shovels, the gold pans and the Levis. There are plenty of folks out there at the moment more than happy to send you on your merry way with all their latest vision crammed into your bag, your hard drive and your car. And then of course, you can come back in 6 weeks and buy it all over again. Maybe I can divide the bulk of my answer into two parts, the Good News about HDSLRs from my perspective and then the Bad News; we’ll see which answer is longer but as I start I really don’t know…

HDSLRs: The Good News
Never mind the kick to the economy that all the photo and cinema stores that are getting from HDSLRs a la picks, shovels and pans, (which is a boost we’ll take wherever we can get it); the main thing and absolute GOOD NEWS about the HDSLRs is that they make certain projects possible that certainly wouldn’t have been possible any other way, in terms of budget and equipment. I’ve photographed Public Service Announcements and several commercials with HDSLRs that didn’t have sufficient budgets for other cameras like one with film in it, or one of the professional digital cameras like an Arri Alexa or Red -MX. There’s no getting away from the fact that just for two HDSLRs, nine lenses, heads, and all the other stuff we needed on the job, the entire HDSLR camera package came to about $1,200 per day I think it was. In the “real world” of cinema rentals, you could rent my two favorite cine zoom lenses plus a finder for that same amount of money per day, but no camera to mount them on. With the adaptation of motion picture PL mounts for these cameras, the act of putting all our favorite motion picture lenses on HDSLRs has become simple, fast, predictable, reliable, entertaining and – “cheaper”? A friend at a rental house in LA told me about a camera package that they sent out, with a DP that has been a customer for years. The gentleman had ordered all of his usual cine lenses and support gear for the job, and it was pretty interesting to see a $15,000 package going out for two PL-mount HDSLRs. Interesting times, when all said.

If getting your project to the screen is the single most important factor, they are clearly the way to go. Low-budget commercials, PSAs, spec-spots for DPs and directors are perfect for these cameras because they are so cheap to buy, rent and use. Low budget features? Absolutely. I was called to possibly shoot one with the Canon 7D and “only lighting that could be plugged into the wall”. One of the requirements of the DP however was that he or she also live in the city that was to be the location for the film (no boarding or per diem necessary that way); I’m about 1,200 miles away so that was that but you get the idea. The available light capabilities are great (in as much as that’s some kind of deal-maker), and folks don’t “need” lighting to get their project finished (but see the Bad News). The size of the HDSLR is often mentioned as some sort of miracle, and it can be great for certain shots where lack of size really matters, but you have to be really careful about making too many hard and fast rules about too much in this business. It’s silly to say that these cameras are the best thing out there just because they are small. Yes they are, and occasionally that’s really important. But because they’re so small and are really just stills cameras, one of their best tricks is shutting-down dead in desert sun that established professional cine cameras would just shrug off. One of the reasons they can be so small is because the manufacturers left all the cooling stuff out that’s so important for keeping a CMOS sensor cool (heat makes noise; noise is not good), among other things that we take for granted in the motion picture gear that has survived decades of insane conditions while traveling the world over. But then of course they did; they were only building a really nice stills camera, weren’t they…

A producer friend wanted to see what the experience of producing high-quality broadcast spots with the HDSLRs was like, since as a production company owner he’s facing the “race to the bottom” as some have called it, in terms of production value in this economy thanks to insufficient funds. He’s run divisions of huge FX companies and now runs his own commercials shop, and has been at it in all it’s various forms for the 24 years that I have known him. He took on commercial projects that had entire budgets that we would have thought of as just a third of a “normal” shoot-day budget just five years ago to see if the HDSLRs could actually make such a thing viable. Keep in mind the difference between “doable” and “viable” as we see it: of course you can “do it”, but it’s only “viable” if after doing it it’s good enough to satisfy your client to the point of them coming back – and that you made at least some money. If you didn’t make any money the phone won’t be working when that satisfied client calls you back. The projects turned out fine, but not without compromise and time spent if not wasted, just dealing with the eccentricities of the equipment. We also had some laughs of course, which helps you do most anything.

As a person that seeks-out and schedules deliberately for backlit shooting situations, I’m not used to getting hit all of a sudden with the reality that the sensor I’m working with this morning can’t handle the morning sun on backlit wet pavement or the natural brightness of a hot morning sky thirty minutes after sunrise with a backlit actor working in front of it. You go for what you know from experience will look pretty great without tons of “photographic compensation” in the form of fill lighting etc, but suddenly you can find yourself saying “whoa; how will we get around this unhappy little camera and still get what we want, and fast?” And keep in mind that because we didn’t have the budget we would have thought to be “fair” on this HDSLR job, we didn’t even HAVE tons of stuff to go crazy with or the guys to go crazy with either. We “just made it”, but make it we did. The current reality (as of this week) is that this equipment wasn’t made to do what’s being done with it; they remain stills cameras that happen to shoot motion pictures. When they get that switched around and we know they’re working on it, things will get very interesting. It’s all being fixed at the speed of light and this “adjustment” period will pass. The next Canon 5D should be pretty interesting if even 10% of the rumors are true.

I’ve been thinking one thing in particular since the beginning of the digital “revolution”, with regards to equipment. If you are a working pro in any field or industry, and have demands placed on you by the convention of what’s known to be possible and repeatedly so within a given amount of time by other professionals in your same industry – and then someone comes along and tries to hand you a baton as in a relay race that represents a complete replacement of the established tools with which you have to complete your assignments, the hand-off better go smoothly. Don’t hand me a pineapple when I’m expecting a smooth baton; it might get dropped. When what’s expected of you stays the same or increases – but what you’re suddenly expected to use to accomplish the task actually reduces your capabilities instead of increasing them, something’s not right with this picture. This is how it’s been for the last several years, and while the digital cameras have largely caught-up with what our capabilities were before this all started, but they still have a ways to go. All I want to say is, give me something at least as capable if not better than what I had; not smoke and a shovel to move it around with. There’s nothing more ridiculous than having to say to a director “I’m sorry, but we can’t actually do that right now with this camera”. I never had to say that to anybody before “the revolution”.

As a “Motion Picture Professional”, it’s about “motion” – we are used to cameras that have one hundred and fifty choices of frame-rates per second, built-in and without any “rolling” from the shutter. It’s no wonder that if another camera offers you a whopping choice of four frame rates, you’re going to get a look. I actually do miss the other one hundred forty-six frame rates to choose from, and so do many directors I work for. Dynamic range? I insist on that too, and will always try to make the case for “better” as opposed to “ok ok ok”. So I guess in the end, as far as the really good news about the HDSLRs go, the “enabling factor” is the overwhelming reason to consider them. Would you like to be shooting as opposed to not? Of course you would.

HDSLRs: The Bad News
It really isn’t all that bad, it’s just that people are basically lazy and always want to point out what they think is similar and “the same” about two situations and leave it at that. We’re programmed as a species for that; it makes us head for the right campfire at night when we’re primitive and we therefore avoid the one with wolves and hyenas and other trouble huddled round it; we go for what’s familiar. Many people say there’s no real difference between shooting with HDSLRs and an Arri Alexa, RED M-X, Sony F35 or heaven forbid a film camera with the newest 35mm film stock in it; oh contrare. The thing about those of us who have been doing this for a long time and have used many things “a lot”, is that we know better. We know what speed and capability are truly like, how fast things can be done, and how fast they can be done again differently just for effect. We are not used to being limited by our equipment in any important way (including having to worry about how hot it’s going to be today), and I’d trade an ISO of 6,400 or above for frame rates per second between one to 150 in combination with variable shutter angles all in one camera, any day of the week to tell my stories. ISO 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 were plenty for all the greatest films and commercials that have been shot to date, period. Somehow their stories made it to the screen just fine without being shot at ISO 32,000.

The fact that HDSLRs can shoot at ISO 6,400 or 32,000 seems to be all that matters to some people, but for starters it’s been said (and wisely) that buying an HDSLR simply makes you an HDSLR “owner”, not a cinematographer. Not every story you’re ever going to want to tell will just naturally occur outside on a sidewalk 100’ from the nearest sodium vapor streetlight, at 3am somewhere near your local skid row. Someday somebody will ask you to light something. Somebody will ask and expect you to “create” the light from that streetlight to help tell a story, and “right now” during the day on a dark stage with lighting equipment and crew instead of how you shot your spec-spots. Hopefully you’ll see the importance of learning how to do that sooner rather than later and why that makes you a story-teller with the equipment working for you instead of the other way round. Capturing what’s naturally there is one thing and glorious in it’s own right (I come from photojournalism), but when a director wants and expects his or her story to be told with lighting that can only be created for the story and not found, it’ll be on you. You need to realize that learning how to create emotion through the thousands of ways to light something is what a “cinematographer” is supposed to be doing. You remember films like “Close Encounters” and “The Godfather” and “ET” because of the way those superb cinematographers lit them to help punctuate their stories – not because they were shot with an HDSLR at ISO 6,400; they weren’t.

It’s probably time to bring up something I mentioned a ways back however: that you always have to be mindful about the rules being a bit hard and fast at all times (excluding the ethical ones that is). There are a lot of gray areas in this business, and as many ways to do something as there are people doing it. I would never say that nobody should be out at night getting their reel shot, or their film finished, or doing whatever they have to do to progress (I had to). I simply want to remind people that just because they’ve found a way to get something done easily at the moment, that doesn’t mean that this other stuff isn’t true and some of it is out there waiting for you like a rock in the river. Available light? Love it. But remind yourself occasionally that it’s just as limiting as it is free. Be aware, and make your choices wisely based on all things considered, not always on what’s easy. Pick the easy way every time, and things will get hard.

The HDSLR will improve, the eccentricities will fade away and be replaced with flawless and reliable developments, the files will improve, the telecine sessions will yield results closer to what we expect from cameras with more bits and stops of latitude, and we’ll be down to budgets closer to one quarter of what they used to be. And if that’s where it all ends-up, see you there. But as of this moment, film and the cameras it goes in is are still the single most capable combination available (we simply know that from what we can do with it). Then come the professional digitals cameras that still have some work to do as of this month (mostly in the frame-rate department), and for now the HDSLRs are where they should be. It’s not political, it just is.

Click here to view the first 2 episodes.

Jeff Hirsch owns and runs Fotocare in NYC. Since 1968 they have been taking care of professional photographers. The word “care” is what runs through the organization. They not only rent gear, or sell cameras, they take care of their customers. I could relate a dozen stories of them going to bat for me with the camera manufacturers, overnighting a piece of gear, or going the last mile to research some obscure question I may have.

As someone who has for decades been suppling photographers, and now film makers, with the gear they need, Jeff has a great vantage point.

1. You wrote some fascinating comments last week about the DSLR video craze. Could you go into that a bit more? Ten years ago, the transition to digital from analog had been in full swing. Within two years there was no turning back. Now, we are in the midst of another transition that requires new skills and investment. This is another fresh chance to be seen and recognized. Our business is growing again and I trust so are our customers. With the drive to produce video content we will experience greater bottlenecks in speed, throughput and connectivity. We’ll get frustrated and there will be the threat’s to return to the days past of analog capture. A lot of video content may have no where to go because it’s being made without a buyer or viewer or the producer has not figured out how to get their message to buyers.
You might say that you had better get out of the way because the freight train is coming down the track but the change the train is bringing offers opportunity for those that want to be photographers or videographers.

2. Over the years, you have also been in a unique position to see the careers of photographers come and go. What do you think are the characteristics of the people who make it, and then manage to stay on top for decades? Be best at what you do with and develop an inquisitive eye. Look for interest in the mundane and show your clients and friends the world that they overlook. Make people smile not just in your images but in the way you relate to them. Every day presents new opportunities that unlike before.

3. Fotocare now has a web site, a blog, a Facebook page, Twitter. How do you see Fotocare in that universe? We look for the chance each day to make a difference by helping photographers solve problems big or small. Our use of social marketing now lets us reach a wider user group than in-print media permitted given the associated costs. We’ve undergone tremendous physical changes related to moving and opening two new facilities during an economic downturn. The initial downturn gave us a breather to take stock and re-organize. Our incorporation of social media helped us inform and publicize an active series of seminars that continues to grow

4. What is your background? How is it that you came to run Fotocare?
I grew up in a small town and learned about customer service from my Family who owned and operated a small chain of retail clothing stores. I discovered the magic of photography early. I found my Mom’s box camera and Kodak book that described the Darkroom. That was nearly 40 years ago. College experience gave me a greater desire to be a Professional Photographer. I assisted Photographers from LIFE . I shot professionally until I discovered I enjoyed serving customers more than Art Directors. In 1990, Foto Care found me rather than the other way around. Foto Care had been purchased by a group of investors who needed someone to take over the store. They found me and offered me the ability to manage and buy out their investment. That was exactly twenty years ago. For the past twenty years I’ve had the chance to be part of something much bigger and better than me. I have the greatest respect for our customers who so sacrifice everything to photograph. With so little business acumen, our customers start a business, have kids and put them through College all the while keeping alive their wide-eyed enthusiasm for image-making. I hear too often that we make so little any more in the US. One think that we never stopped making is creativity and entrepreneurs. Our business is built on thousands of them, all home grown.

5. Do you take pictures yourself? Not as much as I would like. I still find myself wishing I had more resolution when I like an image I made.

If anyone has questions comments for Jeff, please do write them. He will do his best to respond.
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