Portraiture Guide by Zalmy Berkowitz

family portraiture guide winter 2014-15 zalmy berkowitz photography

preamble Sheesh, there are so many choices out there. In fact I’m honored that you even found your way here. Being in the field, I know the options and sometimes forget how complicated and downright annoying it could be to find a photographer whose style you like and then find out how their pricing works (and since everyone works differently it’s so hard to compare). So this little publication here is to help you through the process, show how I shoot, and more importantly why I shoot that way. Just to get it out of the way, there are many extremely talented photographers whose work is completely different from mine, and while I am a bit partial to how I shoot, please understand that when you are looking for someone to document your life a certain way, you want someone who sees the world a bit the way you do, and can capture the way you feel about your family. I think the best way to think about it is to visualize yourself in 30 years. Which memories would you like to see of your family? how would you like to see them? I know I would want to see (and I’m sure my kids would want to see) what we wore. What we ate, how we fought, how we laughed, how we cried. I’d want to see our house, maybe some

special place we went often. I’d want it to be real. We tend to associate certain ideas with certain words. So when we think of family photos, too often, instead of thinking about why we want them, we automatically think of a studio, or of pretty pictures in clothes we never wear in a park we never go to. Or of head-and-shoulder photos of kids smiling at the camera. All of these have their place, but for most, they don’t capture the life, the energy, the love, the absolutely beautiful craziness, that is our day to day life. When planning our wedding, we spend hours, days, looking for the right photographer, and we’ll go a bit out of our comfort zone to get the memories of that special day. But our family, into which we pour our life, energy, blood, and tears, sometimes the documenting of that gets pushed off a bit. Then a bit more… Or even if we do get photos done, it’s a quick jaunt to the mall. I’m here to make sure, that in 30 years from now you don’t look back and say: Darn! I wish… Peace.

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documentary Documentary photography is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a document of your life. It’s my favorite type of photography, both in the family realm and in the world at large. Stories are what we leave of ourselves, and with photography we have the wonderful gift of not just using words, but images. Images of the characters themselves. Of the details, the life, the interactions. I would give so much to be able to hold an album in my hands and see what my childhood was like. I mean I have a few portraits here and there, but I really don’t know what my life was like. What did our couch look like? Where did we hang out? What were our meals like? Documentary sessions are longer than portrait sessions, to allow life to unfold. It’s very hands off on my part, so you can just go about your day to day life. Just ignore the bearded dude in the corner. Sessions come in two flavors. Four hour sessions, and full-day, rock-your-socks (do people say that?), hard-core documenting.

Prices All prices reflect my special-just-moved-toBerkeley prices. Sale is in effect until January 21st. Four hour sessions are $1900 $1100 (Jeepers!! Berkeleyites rejoice!). Includes: 4 hours of documentary bliss in your home and/or meaningful place. Hardcover photo book. Disc with Hi-resolution digital files with full printing rights is $900 Full day sessions are $3600 $2700 (OMG! Kombucha! Organic, gluten-free, quinoa cake! Tiedyed hemp shirts! Raw, vegan, blended parsley!!) Includes: A full day of you, your family, me, and my cameras. A gorgeous (seriously, jaw-droppingly so), heirloom-quality, matted album. Disc with Hiresolution digital files with full printing rights is $1450 If you don’t see what you are looking for, have an idea that you want to try out, or want a custom quote for something else, just shoot me an email, phone call, text, fax, you get the point.

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portraiture If documentary photograph is defined as capturing a moment, then portraiture would be capturing the subject. So a portrait of a girl would be a photograph of that person, not of her face or of her body, but of that person. It’s the portraitist’s job to somehow, within the constraints given, capture as much of that person’s personality, character, traits, etc. in one image. A family portrait is a photo of the family. Not just a photo of all of the family members but of the family. The love that connects them, the feelings they have for each other, the dynamics, and again, the character, etc. of the family. If documentary photography is honest in the sense that it is unposed, portraiture can be honest in the sense that it captures the truth of the thing being photographed. Okay, enough of that stuff. The camera isn’t magic (though seeing film develop is the closest thing to magic I’ve seen), and I can’t pretend (well I could, but I won’t) to know you well enough to capture your essence. But I try. Hard.

Prices All prices reflect my special-just-moved-toBerkeley prices. Sale is in effect until January 21st Portrait sessions are generally 1-2 hours and lightly posed. $750 for a portrait session (lightly posed), includes $200 towards prints. Disk is $750 INCLUDED! Woohoo for me moving to Berkeley! Generally a week or two before we get out there and do the whole photography thing, we have a little skype/facetime/google hangout thing, and we can really go over your personalities, what you like, don’t like, hobbies etc. so I can get a feel for who you are and hopefully capture that with my magical photon-capturing light-proof boxes. Oh man, I can really go on about my magic boxes, and the even more magical film, but that’s usually best left for a cold winter day, over a cold, hoppy (very hoppy) beer or a hot coffee. Organic, free trade, yada yada.

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what to expect “Hey Zalmy! My name is Answahar Elihogum. I heard about you from a friend who said you rocked. So I got here this family, and it just keeps growing up so quickly, I need som documentin’ done!” “Hey Answahar! That’s an awesome name! Thanks for getting in touch, man, and tell your friend thanks. I’d love to photograph you guys! Have you seen my work?” That’s how it usually starts. Or an email. Or cryptic note left in the mailbox. In our ensuing talks I’ll make sure Mr. Elihogum knows how I shoot, what I shoot, and why I shoot. I’ll make sure that I know what Answahar wants, and we’ll make sure we’re on the same exact page.

don’t like, hobbies etc. so I could get a feel for who you are and hopefully capture that with my magical photon-capturing light-proof boxes. (Yeah, I copied and pasted this whole paragraph from the portraiture page. I needed to fill that spot!). We’ll set the location/s, time etc. For documentary sessions, we’ll go over things the family often does together and plan a few for that day. Even if you wouldn’t normally do all those things in a single day, they still are real memories of things you do with your family. If there is a park or other place you often go (ice-cream joint, hike, beach, etc.) we’ll talk about going there as well. Generally I think it’s best if families just wore what they normally wear. If it’s memories we want, then we want them to be real.

We’ll set a date someday between Sunday and Thursday (Sundays are the most popular choice, so try booking in advance), at which point Answahar will deposit 50% in unmarked bills to a predetermined location (or he might send a check or paypal).

I shoot differently than many, and shooting film, with all its benefits, is definitely more timeconsuming. The photos will generally be ready for viewing and purchasing 6-10 weeks after our photo-taking-date.

A week or two before we get out there and do the whole photography thing, we have a little skype/facetime/google hangout thing and we can really go over your personalities, what you like,

At that point I’ll shoot you an email saying: Hey Answahar!! Your photos are ready! I’ll walk you through any question you might have, and all will be right with the world.

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film I’ll just come right out and say it: I shoot film. All film. All day.

looking at the screen. Just the photographer and the subject.

“Am I a dinosaur?” you ask. No, silly, dinosaurs have been extinct for well over 60 years now.

3. With film I am much more careful with my shooting. I make sure that the elements are where I want them, that the light works, and that the angle rocks. I’ll climb over that fence, run down the hill, etc. Digital tends to breed laziness .

I’ve been reluctant to talk about film here, because, honestly, as long as you like the images, it doesn’t really matter the medium. But it’s so much a part of how and even why I shoot, that it will help you understand how I work, and ultimately will result in a better experience and better images. Here’s why I love film. 1. The cameras. Film cameras are (mostly) simple. The fancy part that’s always being tweaked and worked on is the film. As such, the cameras were made to last. For 10, 20, 50 years. Also, being relatively easy to make (no fancy billion dollar R&D department needed,) they were made in all shapes, sizes, etc. and being that we don’t all see the same way, it’s nice to have cameras that work well for the individual artist. I LOVE my square Rolleiflex SL66, which was made sometime in the 60’s. And I adore my silent and deadly Leicas. Those are from the 50’s, I think. Mechanical, batteryless marvels. 2. Much of photography is about connecting with the client as a person, getting to know them. And film gets out of the way. No constant checking, no

4. The actual print!! Film just looks better. It really does. The colors are rich, but real. Organic almost. The way film retains highlights is just amazing. Skintone looks wonderful and natural. And don’t even get me started on black and white film. It’s like g-ds gift to photographers. Which brings me to a point I should have made long ago. Photos belong on a wall, or in an album. Maybe in a wooden box. The experience of browsing through photos on the computer cannot even begin to compare to taking that handmade album with rich, fine art prints off the coffee table and browsing through it. Or having that beautiful framed print on the wall. Most of my sessions include a book or an album, and the ones that don’t, should. And the quality of the print matters. Really matters. Print yo’ photos foo’!! (For those who aren’t as hood-savvy as I: Print your photos kind sir/madam!)

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about zalmy aka about me, because there ain’t no way in heck Zalmy is going to write this in the third person. Wait, what? Well, here’s the short of it… Born the youngest of 5 in Long Beach, CA, moved to Westminster and on to Huntington Beach a few years later. Specialized in reading, skipping homework and essays, playing hooky. Oh, and I was an absolute pro at spacing out. Like in the major I-don’t-hear-you-even-ifyou-scream-in-my-face type. I’m sure if doctors were as label-happy as they are now I would have had USOD (ultimate space out disorder) and I would have been diagnosed brandy or coffee or something. School was in a local day school, and then to LA for 6th and 7th grade. Where was I? Okay. When I was 12 I moved with my mother and sister to Brooklyn, New York. Got my street cred on for a few years (by which I mean I walked to school and played by all the rules), hitched a ride to Israel when I was 15 and stayed there for 3 years (intermittently coming back to the states for summer and the like). One of those years I convinced my dad to buy me a camera. Its was an Olympus Stylus Zoom (the gold one!) with a 38-270mm zoom. Left it on a roof half year later and someone nabbed it. (The probability of which

is why my dad needed convincing…) Then I went camera-less for more than a decade. School took me back to New York, back to Israel, on to South Africa (where I got my rabbinical degree), with odd stops in Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Czech, Australia, Canada, you get the point. All without a camera of course. Shortly thereafter I married Estee, had a million kids. (Okay, not true, we’re up to five, but hey! Anything is possible!) We lived in a small town in North Israel for a year, and someone downloaded photoshop onto my iMac (Dan!!). After we moved back to Long Beach and the project for which we’d moved went south (far south, like Venezuala or something), I started in graphic design. Bought a camera to take some stock photos of Jewish stuff (There isn’t much of that out there). I never ended up taking those stock photos, but I did end up taking a million photos of my kids. And a couple of years, and who knows how many cameras later, here I am. Photographing the heck out of life… (Because, seriously, who needs heck in their life?!) Oh, and we moved to Berkeley. Because we are Berkeley are like soul mates. It just took some time to find each other.

Photo by the Brothers Wright

zalmy berkowitz photography

zalmy berkowitz photography me@zalmyb.com • 714.460.3967 • zalmyb.com berkeley, ca