I said I would never blog
September 8, 2009 by Joe Edelman
Filed under Ramblings
I know, I know…I said I would never blog.
So the first lesson that I have for anyone interested in this business is that you should NEVER say “never”! Life has a way of making you eat such words.
So why blog?
It certainly isn’t because I like to write or because I think I am a great writer. I have however co-authored a book titled: Useless Knowledge: Answers to Questions You’d Never Think to Ask.
I am blogging to share.
Have you ever seen the movie Pay it Forward? It is a wonderful premise.
When I developed an interest in photography as a teenager I was fortunate enough to meet some people who were great mentors.
Actually I have my Father to thank for that. My Dad knew nothing about photography and didn’t really think that I would stick with it. What he did was find doors to open for me. First he found a small portrait photography studio near our home and literally opened the door and pushed me in so that I would ask them if I could hang out and learn some things in exchange for cleaning up and sweeping the floor. They went for it and that studio became my after school hangout in 7th grade and on Saturday the two photographers (Dean and Don) would take to me to weddings as their assistant. My weekly pay…a cheese steak. At age 13 that cheese steak was the highlight of my week.
I had a social studies teacher in 7th grade named Mr. Conrad. He was tough. Most of us were afraid of his punishments which included the dreaded paddle or pushups next to his desk (yes I am old enough to remember when corporal punishment was considered a good idea – I actually still agree with it but we’ll let the politicians deal with that topic) Mr. Conrad knew that I had a camera…I think because I always wore it to class like a trophy on my shoulder…and asked me if I knew who Matthew Brady was. I had no clue. He made me write a report on Matthew Brady. That was fine – except his class was about the American Revolution. He made me write the report because if I was interested in photography and photojournalism it was important to know of this man and his life.
Mr. Conrad worked for months to convince the school board to allow him to take two classes of 7th graders from a suburban Philadelphia town to Williamsburg, Virginia so that we could experience the history we were learning first hand. Two days before the trip he handed me a brick of Kodachrome ASA 64 (Yes that was before ISO) (If you know what a brick of film is – you are way old!) He told me that not only was I shooting pictures of the trip but that I was also producing a slide show with my images. I was excited for the film and asked him what a slideshow was. He told me I would figure it out. I did. A month later we premiered a 20 minute, 3 screen 6 projector slide show with dissolve units and reel-to-reel sound track for the school board.
My Father also took out a loan to purchase a tractor style lawn mower. He then went to a friend who owned to property of the industrial park where my father worked in a factory and convinced him to let me cut the grass. Beginning in May and ending in October, I spent several days per week and my weekends during school, cutting grass. The payoff was that by the time I was 15 I had more equipment than most professional photographers had. (Before you get too excited – almost all of it was used, but it worked just fine.)
My list goes on. I promise to tell more of the stories as we progress.
So the point is simple. I have been very lucky. Photography has provided me with some of the most incredible experiences that any person could ask for. It is time to share.
This business called MODELING is a tough one. Tough for the models who are trying to establish a foothold and just as tough for the photographers who would like to make a living either shooting for the models or shooting the ad campaigns that feature the models.
Let’s see if we can’t pull back the curtain and see what’s really going on.
