Where I found myself Saturday

sara505 · November 23, 2009

It usually feels weird photographing at such times, don't you think, but we're glad to have the photos afterward. I like it - but without the casket, it just looks like another choir rehearsal. The casket, of course, makes the whole picture.

Sorry for your loss...

bdcolen · November 23, 2009

sara505 wrote:

It usually feels weird photographing at such times, don't you think, but we're glad to have the photos afterward. I like it - but without the casket, it just looks like another choir rehearsal. The casket, of course, makes the whole picture.

Sorry for your loss...

Thanks Saran but father of a good friend - I didn't know the father.
Without the casket, it would have been just another shot of the choir - which, by the way, consists entirely of 'kids' the deceased taught as chorus director for decades in Ludlow.
As to shooting - it's just another part of life. (And the son of the deceased said to go for it if I could be discrete.

lizzard_nyc · November 23, 2009

I went to a wake a week ago and I debated taking the camera. Also the father of a good friend.

I did not notice the casket on first glance, too busy looking at the faces, did a big double take when I realized why the choir was there.

The backstory to your shot, about the choir, adds another unexpected element.

thoth · November 24, 2009

I was asked to shoot some photos, open casket and all, of my in-law's grandfather and, I must say, it was an unnerving experience. Many involved were grateful while others were resentful and discretion was extremely difficult. At any rate, it was an interesting experience and helped push my boundaries as a photographer I think.

The photo, B.D., would make an excellent addition to a series or photo essay in which the back story is provided. Without it there's just not much there except a funeral I'm afraid.

Patti · November 24, 2009

My immediate reaction was, how did BD pull this off in the middle of a funeral? It is an interesting shot made even more so by the back story. You can get lost in the choir, studying face after face and wondering what memories of their teacher are going through their heads at this moment.

rutt · November 24, 2009

Not the first time I know that B.D. has done this. There is one on his site that I like better. B.D. has right link protection turned off, but I hope he'll post it or a link to it.

I have shot at a few funeral receptions, but never had the nerve to pull out the camera when the coffin was around.

To pick a nit, I wish he'd caught the man's hand in a different position, not obscuring the face of the woman behind. I also wish for a lower camera angle.

bdcolen · November 25, 2009

rutt wrote:

Not the first time I know that B.D. has done this. There is one on his site that I like better. B.D. has right link protection turned off, but I hope he'll post it or a link to it.

I have shot at a few funeral receptions, but never had the nerve to pull out the camera when the coffin was around.

To pick a nit, I wish he'd caught the man's hand in a different position, not obscuring the face of the woman behind. I also wish for a lower camera angle.

These and previous crits all quite valid. It may well need the backstory, and if it does, it fails as an independent image. It might indeed do better in a series, though I hope it doesn't need that. As to the hand position and call for lower camera angle, movement made the first difficult, and being discrete would have forced me into a belly-shot for the second, which would have made framing anf worrying about that hand all the more impossible.
And, yes, thank you, the other shot is much stronger - and I'll post it later today.

Finally - remember that tomorrow is turkey shoot day!:D

Where I found myself Saturday

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