The badass photographer and a funny story
This is a story that I had decided to keep in the drawer, but then I said to myself that it deserves to be told to my readers.
Ghost - 2022
The photo you see here I took yesterday with the Canon Rebel.
It is part of that creative blurry with flash that has brought me some satisfaction in the past, for example with the Reality Remade project. And I created ghosts also in Oaxaca in the past. And our story starts right there.
I happened to meet a Swiss photographer, or rather, one who posed as a photographer. He had a large canon reflex of those so-called flagship cameras, with a whole series of equipment that helped to make him a super photographer for those who saw him around. A flashone with diffuser, a terminator backpack, and who knows what else. He was talking about who knows what special project he was going to do in Cuba. And, in general, when he found himself out and about with my expedition, he made himself known as a photographer: exactly what I generally tend to avoid. I immediately realized that he didn't understand who I was and, and by not understanding , he didn't even get why I shot with small cameras all the time.
Now you have to understand that Mexico and Oaxaca in particular are very dark at night. Although he had a big fucker camera he completely failed shooting at night and this fact made him nervous and annoyed. However, his attitude as a great photographer did not stop. But I was very calm and, in fact, I was also quite amused.
When he came to me a day later to ask me how I made those ghosts on the street, I smiled mentally. Was he testing me? Or simply, despite his huge professional camera and that attitude , he really didn't understand anything? His attitude had become even more annoying. But he remained calm. I showed him how I did it with my camera. So I said: now make it with your camera. I didn't completely tell him everything. I wanted to see how far the great photographer went. Guys, he didn't understand a shit about what he was holding! The thing was truly sad.
Before you say anything about me not being very good as an instructor I tell you: you should have seen his attitude from the start. He had thought of him and another dude coming to my expedition to sabotage it. I never did that in the past and never repeat it in future: but that time it was indeed a very uncomfortable experience. You can’t come to my experience with that bad behavior. Especially in a expedition there are rules of behavior. If you come with a bad attitude, with the idea you are better than the leader and if this has no basis, it is even worse.
That was the only time I purposely didn't teach a class of mine. And then there was very little to teach in the specific case. Except that I could not during an event, in which we would all waste time instead of documenting, take a basic course to a photographer who also acted as if he were Koudelka.
About the ghosts…in short with my small cameras I did this using a small wireless controlled external flash, i did it in sync with the camera flash. I did this with the built in flash. In short, it can be done easily in different ways. The technique however includes some empirical and you have to see how specifically the camera and lens work together. You have to check the settings of the camera you use.
For the photo you see here I share the shooting data. This is an image made with the Canon Rebel T3 and the Canon 24mm f2.8 lens.
I shot at f5.6 and 1/5 sec. ISO (Auto) 125. And… I didn’t even used the flash in this case.
What is the moral of the story? Make sure you know how to use your camera first. But above all… don't act like assholes.
