[Leica] Our Lady of Guadaloupe

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Tina showed:
>>I'm so far behind I don't know if I can all this a PAW!  Maybe AFPEOIAW - 
>>A Few Pictures Every Once In A While.
>>There are 32 here - part of the Families of Abraham project that I'm 
>>working on.  Our Lady of Guadaloupe is a huge Latin-American Catholic 
>>Church in Charlotte that has 6 or 7 masses a day - all standing room 
>>only - and all in Spanish.  The focus family in this case is the one with 
>>the pretty young pregnant girl.

Comments and criticisms are welcome, as always.

http://www.pbase.com/tinamanley/our_lady_of_guadaloupe&page=1

Tina,
I'm glad this is your shoot and not mine!!!!!!!! :-)

I'm sure you are aware by now to get those intimate moments we like, the 
lens choice goes something like this..

21, 35, 50 when you can get close, which you have with some fine Tina Manley 
moments. Then a 400mm to reach into the room. However, after a few good 400 
shots they begin to take on an "all look the same" because you can only 
shoot from the rt or lft. side of the church.

Or if you change angle to right up front with the 400 and the padre, you 
become part of the show and a distraction during solemn moments for these 
parishioners, certainly if you walk up during the service. Been there and 
had to do it, but it was during a funeral service for  a Governor General 
and we needed to see the big name folks sitting front row, along with 
family. Typically news thing... in, shoot, out! No flash, no fiddle.

However, having the Padre's blessing along with the time, you'd have to do 
this many Sunday's or prayer days as possible until you're satisfied with 
the pictures you want of the main subject. Here's what you do. Simple really 
as long as the Padre is a cool kind a guy with the idea. Many are when it's 
a photo series about their "flock."

You must be "on stage" up front in position before the people begin to 
arrive so they are aware you are there as part of the hardware. Then as a 
piece of furniture, not moving from the location until there's a break that 
you don't create a distraction, it is possible to get some different and 
more intimate moments. But without a 400 or longer forget it.

You also have to tell your subject before she comes to church the side to 
sit on, otherwise you're all set to shoot on the right side, she sits on the 
other and your screwed because you can't start moving about once you're in 
position, even with the parishioners arriving. Also as they come in you 
might shoot some to kind of get the distraction factor out of the way before 
the action starts. But it doesn't matter when yer up front and biggie lens, 
any time you put your eye to it people will look, period.

Then you do this every Sunday or prayer day in a row and eventually they'll 
forget you're there!

See I told you it was an easy shoot. ;-) How many months do you have to work 
on this? ;-) Oh I mean just these indoor church series? :-) :-)

Like I said, I'm glad it's you and not me! :-)

ted