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Rangefinder Magazine
January 2004

Problems & Solutions

Please accompany your questions with a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish an immediate reply. Alternatively, you can e-mail me at: bhurter@rfpublishing.com.

From: d.thiago@lycos.com
I would like to know what type of pen most wedding photographers use for their signature son on wedding pictures.

PEC*PENs are fine-tipped permanent markers that can be used to sign or mark prints. The ink is quick-drying and permanent but easily removed with PEC-12 solution. PEC*PENs are guaranteed to always be removable with PEC-12 solution, regardless of when they were purchased. PEC-12 is a non-water-based film and print cleaner which removes virtually all non-water-based stains from color slides, negatives and prints. For more information, contact Photographic Solutions, ww.photographicsolutions.com/ or call (800) 637-3212.

From: Chuck Johnson
Ft. Walton Beach, FL
chuck.johnson@baesystems.com
I tried to locate an article I saw in Rangefinder—at least I thought I did, but could not find it in the archive files online. It had to do with a gentleman that photographed family groupings around the world. He used a standard backdrop and lighting setup, with natural light. He was sponsored by a film manufacturer and I believe the end-product will be a book. I was certain the story was in RF, but it could have been in another magazine. Does this strike you as familiar content from the last several issues? Thanks for your time and for a great publication.

The article ran in June, 1995, but there are no online archives that far back. The photographer/author, Peter Menzel did indeed do a book, Material World, A Global Family Portrait (Sierra Club Books). Visit Menzel’s web site for more info: www.menzel
photo.com/.

From: mike@aumanphoto.com
Please read the article (“Ten Most Overpaid Jobs in the U.S.” a commentary by Chris Pummer, CBS.MarketWatch.com, Nov. 6, 2003) citing wedding photographers as overpaid. I feel a response should be sent. Thanks.

Both Skip Cohen, our company president, and I wrote responses to Mr. Pummer, protesting the ignorance of his comments and his total lack of the facts. If he had bothered to check with the leading professional association for wedding photographers, WPPI, Mr. Pummer would have known that wedding photographers have overcome a great deal of hostility and prejudice in the past 25 years. Once perceived as “weekend warriors,” today’s wedding photographers are among the most highly paid and highly skilled of all professional photographers. But it has been a long hard road to change that perception. In fact, WPPI was founded 24 years ago by our company’s founder, Hy Sheanin, to counter these same stereotypes. It is my understanding that other WPPI members and the PPA have written letters of protest, as well.

From: Jim & Janet Delile
photography@adelphia.net
I enjoy working with natural light and I always use a light meter. I was told that using a flash will put more “kick and snap” into the picture? How does this affect the light meter reading that I get when reading natural outside light, plus using a flash?

Using flash outdoors will fill in the shadows created by the natural light, or the flash will overpower the natural lighting pattern. Both are possible depending on your exposure settings. Take, for example, an outdoor portrait in directional shade (as found under a tree or underhang, like a porch) where the meter reading would be, hypothetically, 1/125 at f/5.6. Setting your flash to fire at an output f/4 (camera settings: 1/125 at f/5.6) will provide a sparkle in the eyes and nicely fill in the shadows. Setting the flash to output at f/8 (camera settings: 1/125 at f/8) will overpower the natural light and create a lighting pattern dictated by the flash.