Photographers and Their Stories

[GD Deckard]

Ha! Great, webestang64. OK, I'm ready to hear about George Clooney.

Oh, and you might like this snapshot. Brad Pitt with his daughter on his knee talking to my Lady's granddaughter.

 

[GD Deckard]

The afternoon light and the rush of hot air through the opening door sent dust dancing in the dim interior. My eyes adjusted to brick walls painted ivory a long time ago but now curdled like old cream. A lone girl sat at a table, her eyes focused inward. On the wall behind her a sign proclaimed, "Fighters by Day, Lovers by Night, Drunkards by Choice." I snapped the photo.
- Angeles City, PI. 1967. Leica lllg

 

[AlanKlein92 8]

Actor John Goodman is one really nice guy.

Late 80's I was working in a one-horse photo lab called Webster Photo (1987-92). A new customer comes in with a few rolls of film. I process and make doubles 4x6s. The photos were of actor John Goodman filming a local commercial for the Missouri highway patrol. He is from Affton MO.
When the guy came back to pick up his photos Goodman walked in with him. I handed the pack of photos to the guy and John said to me "Thanks for getting these done on short notice." I replied "No problem, my pleasure and so nice to meet you." shaking his hand "How is your mom?" (she was still living in Affton). He smiled and said "She is doing fine, thanks for asking." I think he was surprised I was not a crazy fan even though I am but I wanted to stay professional.
After they both looked at the photos and paid John thanked me again and said he would tell his mom and his friends in town to get there photos done here. Sure enough I had a few people ask for me and drop his name.
Just a down to earth cool guy.

Next up, the time I met George Clooney while he was filming "Up in the Air" here in St. Lou.

Nice story.

 

[GD Deckard]

The beach between the cliff and the South China Sea narrowed as my two Air Force friends and I walked. The tide came in. Larger volcanic boulders blocked our way, forcing us to wade around through the water. Then the rocks became smaller and closer together. We were hopping from rock to rock when I dropped my camera into the waves.

"Wait!" I jumped in after it. I found it on the first dive and came up, gasping for air to see Douglas and Russell laughing at me. "This cost five hundred dollars!" I yelled, holding the camera high as I waded to the cliff. They stopped laughing. Five hundred dollars was three months' pay.

Before opening the back, I rewound the exposed film, careful to leave the tip of the film strip sticking out of its canister. The film cannister looked dry. I knelt at a small stream that ran down the cliff face and swished the camera around in the fresh water. "To get the salt out."

My friends shook their heads. "You’ll ruin the camera!" Douglas stated the obvious.

"It's an Alpa 9d," I replied, looking up at them hopefully and wiping the camera with a towel from my pack. After reinserting the film, I closed the back and wound the film forward to where it had been. "It's Swiss made. The electric wiring is gold plated,” I added with an optimistic smile.

The film was fine; all the shots on that roll came out.

Leica IIIg, Philippines, 1967

 

[GD Deckard]

Hmmm... why does it say, "Canon MG3100 series" under my photo?

 

[webestang6420 2]

Met George Clooney a bit briefly. When Hollywood came to St. Louis to film part of the movie "Up in the Air" the still photographer came to our lab here at Schiller's to get some custom prints because another lab did everything wrong he wanted. We did the work he needed and he was very happy. He gave us more work but asked if we could deliver to the set. I asked my boss if I could do it during lunch and got the OK. I go the airport, go up to the blocked off area and ask for the photographer. He walked over and said to follow him. I did and we walked over to a temp desk and I laid the prints down. As I was about to leave Clooney was walking pass me and said "Hi, how are you". I said doing fine and hope you have a nice time here in St. Lou. He said he was having a great time and hoped to go up in the Arch while he was here.
Short meet but very cool.

 

[IpseLux5 5]

College. Out caving with family and friends. Had taken a great photo class in the School of Journalism, theory and darkroom. So I knew a bit about exposure. Cave is pitch black. I'm doing a group shot, on a cliff. Canon A1, which is a pretty sophisticated and capable camera. Timer. Long exposure, and a few flashlights.
Mind you, this place is pitch black. But I knew we would get something on the TriX film. I had gotten pretty good results at a George Thorogood concert at the student center weeks before.
Picture is below, taken with the phone. Not the greatest ever, but I'm still quite fond of it. My friends loved it. Everyone got copies. And everyone thought of me as the greatest photographer in the world, taking pictures in pitch black caves with nothing but a few flash lights.... (Which meant I shot all their weddings for free! Ha. Ha!)
(Our little secret: camera doesn't care. Light is light. A light from the flashlights is not that much different than from a lamp in an indoor room. Whatever gets light, will probably print a zone in the final image. And it did. But they did not know that.)

 

[Kutavenn4 1]

That’s a hell of a story. The fact that the photo ended up changing how people treated you is pretty cool.

 

[IpseLux5 5]

That’s a hell of a story. The fact that the photo ended up changing how people treated you is pretty cool.

There's a bit more to the story. One of those weddings I was asked to photograph produced an image which served as remembrance of a passing friend at their funeral.
Photos matter. They have tremendous meaning and power in our lives.
Wishing you many many great photos, K.