I'm going to be honest in this post, because I know the guy pictured above will never read my blog. The subject is a famous oud player here in Jordan. An oud is for all practical purposes an oversized mandolin. The guy, who's name I never got, was an amazing musician, but he had one of the filthiest houses I've ever been in: mold everywhere, peeling paint, foul smells, piles of trash, bugs, rodents, etc. Out of complete filth I created the above photo.
Photographers sometimes don't get the credit they deserve. In a world where just about everyone owns a camera, there is typically not a distinction made between your garden variety camera owner and one who takes photos for a living. I've been told more than a few times after I've said no to an insulting job offer that "$50.00 to push a button is good money." Had I simply pushed a button in the above photo, people would have thought the article was about a homeless guy. Any good photographer wears many hats: set designer, wardrobe consultant, grip, lighting specialist, location scout, producer, director, bull-shiter, and finally, the guy who pushes the button (after all the other little buttons have been adjusted properly). For the above photo I was all these things. I picked a suitable location, designed my set, cleaned the area I was shooting, had the man change shirts as not to clash with the background, moved things, set up lights, adjusted lights, adjusted the subject, relaxed my subject, and then I pushed the button about 100 times. One thing that rarely happens that happened here was that the first shot of the session ended up being my favorite. I made the poor choice after taking a few photos of asking the subject to switch glasses with the writer, because his were a foot thick and reflected light from wherever I placed them. But the new glasses lacked the character of the thick ones. I almost forgot; a photographer is also a daredevil. I graciously drank a cup of coffee the man prepared in his ought to be condemned kitchen.
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