"It was about 8:50 pm, the last night of Mudbug Madness, 2007," writes painter-photographer Tony Reans, who owns and is learning to use a gigantic, archaic instrument called a view camera. "For those of you who aren't from here, it's an annual festival where locals eat boiled crawfish and drink beer. I know, who would have thought Southerners did stuff like that?
Here my wife, Danielle, and I come, walking through the crowds, carrying a tripod and a backpack full of camera equipment. It was hot and humid, and the place was crawling with our fellow North Louisianians, drenched in their own sweat and the smell of mudbugs. I decided the bridge (on Spring Street) over the train tracks was the best location to capture the moment. The cop standing on that bridge didn't agree.
He felt we would block pedestrian traffic with our tripod. He told me as much before I set it up. I told him we'd only be a minute, and promised not to endanger anyone, so he let us set up, with a warning to, 'Make it quick.' Nice guy. That's not the funny part.
Danielle thought we were going to be arrested at any moment. I had to hold back giggles as I set up the tripod, got the camera out, set it up, got the lens out and attached it, got the film, film holder and light meter out, took aim, focused, checked the lighting, and ran through all the motions, just getting ready to make the photograph. She was sweating and glancing over her shoulder at the mean-eyed policeman. That was the funny part.
I comforted her with words like, 'Oh forget that jerk. What's he gonna do, arrest us for being artists?' She didn't laugh. When I was happy with my composition, I clicked the shutter release, and waited about 22 seconds before closing the shutter, finishing the shot. Done. Then we had merely to break everything down, pack it up, and walk past the friendly man in blue. I called out, 'Thank you, officer. Have a good night!' He grumbled something and Danielle sighed and mumbled something to me about shutting up. She sort of grimaced at him.
Wow, that's really a wild life we live, huh? We almost got griped at by a cop. Dangerous stuff. It really was fun, though."
2 comments:
Another plus for living and creating in Shreveport.
New York City is thinking about making photographers carry a million dollars in liability insurance. You can read more at pictureny.org.
Being an arty photog in S'pt is fun. You just tell em who you are and what you're trying to do and you can basically expect cooperation. Of course, Tony's view camera rig complicates things.
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