A Sweet Blast from the Past

Two years ago, I posted about the sudden death of John Marshall, my undergrad photography mentor. Last year, I shared some photos from a wonderful memorial for him at his house

Last week, I stopped by his widow's home because she had some more photography equiptment of John's for the college where I'm teaching, and she also smiled and handed me this:

That was the copy of the NY Times Magazine that I'd shot the cover photo. It's not an image I'm necessarily super proud of, but it was an experience I was proud of. John still had the copy that I gave him, and I had forgotten that he had wanted me to sign it (lower right). I hadn't laid eyes on that cover for at least a decade.

Inside image.


Photo credit.

Thanks John. We miss you.

In The News: Three Photography Links

Here are 3 recent photography-related links... just things I found interesting:

• ONE: Highest Resolution Photo of the Sun:

About a week ago, Miami astronomers released the highest resolution images of the sun that anyone has ever created. It shows "a surface that’s divided up into discrete, Texas-size cells, like cracked sections in the desert soil. You can see plasma oozing off the surface, rising high into the solar atmosphere before sinking back into darker lanes."

The surface of the sun in motion.

Here's a bit about the technology behind it:

To observe the sun, you can’t just build a telescope the old-fashioned way. DKIST boasts one of the world’s most complex solar-adaptive optics systems. It uses deformable mirrors to offset distortions caused by Earth’s atmosphere. The shape of the mirror adjusts 2,000 times per second. Staring at the sun also makes the telescope hot enough to melt metal. To cool it down, the DKIST team has to use a swimming pool of ice and 7.5 miles of pipe-distributed coolant.

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• TWO: Capa's "The Falling Soldier" Sold:

Late last year, Sotheby's Paris sold the famous photograph "The Falling Soldier" shot by Robert Capa, hailed "the most emblematic image of photojournalism." It sold for €75,000, or just under $100,000.

Taken in 1936, it captures the last moments of a Spanish Republican fighter, in a shocking and fascinating composition. Capa made this photograph while reporting in Spain. It became famous a year later, when it was published by Life magazine in large format. Since then, many have speculated (and many have "proved") that it was a set-up image.

One of Capa's famous quotes that I like to share with students is:

     "If your pictures aren't good enough, then you're not close enough."

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• THREE: New York Times' "The Year in Pictures" for 2019:

I always like to share this because it's an important curation of photographs. Check out the The Year in Pictures 2019 by the NY Times:

New York Times "The Year in Pictures"

Here's part of what Susan Chira wrote for the opener to the 2016 New York Times "The Year in Pictures:"

IT WAS A YEAR to be confounded, shocked, humbled.

Donald J. Trump won the American presidency, defying polls, mockery and fear to defeat Hillary Clinton. Britons jolted their country and the world by voting to leave the European Union. Syria’s agony played out before a largely indifferent world, its children staring into the camera with eyes wide in terror, blood flecking their clothing.

The president of the Philippines unleashed a merciless war on drugs, boasting of killing drug dealers himself when he was a mayor, and many of his citizens cheered him on. Climate change created a new class of refugees, even as climate-change skeptics were nominated to key United States cabinet posts.

And talk about shocking: The Chicago Cubs won the World Series after a drought of 108 years.

It was a year so unexpected, so tumultuous, that the fight has just begun over which narrative might possibly explain it. For some, it was the comeuppance of the elites and the rebellion of the forgotten white working class. Or it was the triumph of resentment, rage and racism. Or payback for identity politics. Or perhaps it was a rallying cry for identity politics. [...]

There are hundreds of amazing pictures in this gallery. I can't even try to pick a few to share here. Go check it out for yourself. Please. It's amazing.

My Work as part of the 'Voyages' Issue of the New York Times Magazine Website

As I explained in my last post, I was one of many photographers hired to do a nationwide project for the New York Times Magazine. But after shooting, the Times changed their idea to just be around the New York City area.

A few weeks after that (under a week ago), they opened it back up to anyone around the nation - they were going to feature more work on their website. Thursday night, I saw that one of my photos had made the cut - I was one of about 30 photographers included on their site, and I was among names like Walter Iooss and Gregory Heisler.

The NY Times Magazine website for their "Voyages" issue.


My image in the middle from along the Mississippi - an area I run by a few times a month.


Close up from the website.

A few more photos have since been added, so now there are 42 in the gallery. Check out the online "Local Voyages" project here, and look for the "Voyages" issue to come out this Sunday on newsstands.

Go to my last post to see everything I shot for this project.

And go here (and start scrolling down) to see details from the other 4 projects I've done over the years for the NY Times Magazine. I've had a few friends ask about my other projects for them recently.

New York Times Magazine "Local Voyages" Project

I originally posted what appears below on Saturday, February 9th. I took it down temporarily right after that because the NY Times didn't want anything out there about the project (even if they were images that they weren't going to publish). Well, the project is being published this weekend, so they're now ready for any of these shots to go public.

You'll read shortly that I was hired to be one of the photographers doing this project for the Times Magazine, but then they decided to make it a local project a few days later and not use any photos from outside of the NY area (which includes my images). The GOOD NEWS is that they changed their project AGAIN, and one of my images below made it onto their website. More on that in a few days.

In the meantime, here's the original post of mine from earlier last month:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[Originally posted February 9, 2013.]

On Wednesday, I got a phone call from one of the photo editors at the New York Times Magazine. She asked me to take part in a nationwide photo project they were calling "Local Voyages." They were asking photographers who use Instagram from all across the USA to take a short "local voyage" to show or uncover something that might make people say "who knew that was there?" It had to be a short trip or something that could be discovered over a long lunch. The only other rules were that it had to be near home, you couldn't touch the images in Photoshop, and you had to use your camera phone and Instagram to submit your images.

Intriguing!

And in typical magazine fashion, they wanted the photos in 5 days.

I had a few ideas, and they all revolved around the Mississippi River. Everyone KNOWS the River is there, but there are parts of it that are a little less known. I ended up using the idea that someone working in Downtown Minneapolis could head south over a long lunch and run / hike along the Mississippi River to Minnehaha Falls. There's the popular "River Road" that has a trail right along it that could get a person from downtown to the Falls, but there are plenty of hidden trails that wind directly along the River's edge that I wanted to explore for this. (I live less than a mile off of the River, and there were plenty of trails that even I hadn't explored, and I run down along the River a few times a week.)

Before I show some of my photos, you need to know the rest of the story. I was called by the NY Times Magazine on Wednesday, and I went out to shoot / run on Thursday morning. On Friday, I learned that they changed the project to just be about NY City and the surrounding area. So my photos won't be used by the Times, but I'd still like to show them here.

So here's my edit of 16 photos from this project that starts with foggy downtown seen from the Stone Arch Bridge:

Under the Interstate 94 bridge connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul.


Frozen sewer drains below Franklin Ave.








Lake Street Bridge.


Hidden waterfall near the University of St. Thomas.

And then I arrived at Minnehaha Falls, and all 50 feet of it was frozen solid:

Slowest run ever.

So none of these will be seen outside of my blog, but I still wanted to share them all with you. I can't wait to check out the "Local Voyages" photo project in the New York Times Magazine in the next few weeks to see what it ended up looking like. I'll let you know if I learn more about when that project is being published.

Update on New York Times Project

If you're here to see photos that I shot a few days ago for a project for the New York Times Magazine, I had to take that post down for a while. My images won't be used as a part of the project, but they didn't want any publicity out there regarding the project until it's printed. So once it's published, I'll re-post my images.

Thanks!

Photography Gifts from the NY Times

(Image from the NY Times)

Last week, the NY Times published a nice, concise story on how to purchase photo-related gear for your "photo geek" loved one. It gave good tips on different topics:

- Picking a lens that fits his/her personality.
- Looking for lenses based on f-stops.
- Checking on the construction of a lens.
- When to buy a generic lens.
- Many things to consider when looking for a new flash.
- Good "photo education" resources and books.

So click here to go to the NY Times article on how to purchase photo gear for the camera buff in your family.

“16 Days In Red Wing”

Here’s the finished book!

I have 48 of them in my possession right now. I’ll have 12 more shortly, and I’ll make the final 40 when there’s enough demand. The edition (if you can add) is capped at 100 books. All books are signed and numbered by me. Right now, I’m selling them for $45, which is a steal! (Add $5 if you’d like me to ship it to you.)

Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a book: stevestenzelphotography @ yahoo.com or 763.913.2977.

Also, in case you missed it, I had another piece in the NY Times Magazine this past weekend. That makes 3 pieces in the last 4 months.

Check the NY Times on Sunday

I think I’ll be having another piece in the NY Times Magazine on Sunday. I’m not 100% sure. I think they’re going with it. Have a look, and try to find my name on an image in an article about sustainable farming practices.

New York Times Magazine: “What Every Child Needs”

This past weekend, The New York Times Magazine contained one of my images for a story about pre-school. Here’s how it appeared in the magazine:

They also used a nice detail of this image on the table of contents page. If you subscribe to the newspaper and your magazine is still laying around from this past weekend, have a look-see. Thanks!

New York Times Magazine THIS WEEKEND

So, it’s a go! Clinton, someone in the photo department of the Times who I hadn’t worked with before, took over for Stacey when she took a day off. I sent him that image (from the previous post) a week ago, and he told me a few days ago to send an invoice. My understanding of it is that it will be used in a photo essay about Preschool. It will be used in the story AS WELL as in the index page. We’ll have to see how it looks.

So go purchase a New York Times Newspaper this weekend and check out the magazine. Stay warm out there!

Times? Maybe?

I may be having another image in the NY Times Magazine sometime shortly. I received a call yesterday from Stacey Baker, and she liked one of my images but didn't want to use that one. So she asked what else I had like it. I scanned a handful of contact sheets and e-mailed them to her within the hour. They like this image:

But they don't know if they'll end up using it. It would be for a story/photo essay about pre-school. We'll see...

New York Times Magazine: “Universal Faith”

If anyone has the New York Times Magazine from August 26th (a week and a half ago), take a look at the first article on page 13. I was asked to provide an image for a report by Noah Feldman entitled “Universal Faith.” The tag line is “Religion can have a place in public school. It just can’t be for believers alone.”

I know this is late notice, but this project came up quickly. I wasn’t even sure when it was going to be published until I saw it myself. Here’s my image on the first page of the article:

I was contacted by Stacey Baker who works for the Times. I got to know her a little bit from when she worked with the Golden Light Awards in Maine a year and a half ago and I won the “Golden Light Award.” She actually bought a piece of mine. Now, she’s working at the Times, and knew that I had an image that could work for this article. So she gave me a ring. Funny how things work...

Thanks

Since the NY Times article was published, I’ve been hearing from old friends, new acquaintances, and complete strangers. The response has been very warm. I just want to send out a big "THANK YOU" to everyone who has taken the time to send a little note or to inquire about my work. It’s always great to hear from anyone. Thanks for the notes.

Also, here are a few new places my work appears online:

• The New York Times Magazine
You need to be a member and login to see past articles.

• Golden Light Award Winner Gallery

• CVA Faculty Highlight

• MCAD Alumni News
Photo Program Gives Alum Its Top Award

• MCAD News
Award Leads to 'NY Times' Photo Shoot

• Kevin Sisemore’s Photo Blog
Random appearance on a strangers blog.

It’s Officially Official...

At 9:33 a.m. this morning, the Fed-Ex man arrived with 10 copies of the NY Times Magazine that will be out tomorrow. My image was on the cover. I wasn’t going to believe it until I saw it, and now I can say that I have seen it.

Go out and purchase your own copy tomorrow (Nov 19), but to hold you for the next 12 hours, here’s a small version of the cover and the table of contents page (the places that my 2 images appear):

We’ll see what happens next. I have no idea. This is virgin territory for me. Maybe it will be the start of an uphill career; maybe it will be the start of my dive into the gutter. Only time will tell.

New York Times Cover THIS WEEKEND!

I received an e-mail from someone at the NY Times this morning asking for my address so she could ship me some copies of the Magazine this weekend. I was confused. My story wasn’t coming out until the first part of December, right? Well I guess not. It’ll be out this Sunday, November 19th. I found out 4 days before my story was going to be pushed back that it wasn’t coming out when expected, and now I’m finding out 4 days before it hits news stands that it has been moved up a few weeks. That’s the way it works I guess.

My photo will be on the cover, and I’ll have another photo that is inside on the Table of Contents page. They didn’t use any of my photos along with the story. I was assured again and again that it was not because the photos were subpar. The reason (and I hope I’m not giving away any NY Times secrets) was that we only photographed one family, but the story talks about many families, and the Times didn’t want to only use images from 1 family along with the story. At least that’s what I was told. I was told it would all make sense when I see the magazine this weekend. We’ll see.

So, bottom line, go purchase a copy of the New York Times this weekend because my photo will be on the cover!

Check back in the next few weeks for stories about how all this goes down.

Cover Story for the Times: I've Been Bumped

It’s going to happen, just a little bit later. And it’s all because the war in Iraq...

This is how I feel about the war and the current presidential administration:

So full of rage

If you’ve been reading anything on my blog over the past 2 months, if you've talked to me in person in the past 2 months, or if you’ve stepped foot in CVA (my undergrad school) which has been over-hyping this for promotional purposes, you know that I’ve been doing some work for a cover story for The New York Times Magazine. It was supposed to be printed and on shelves this weekend, 3 days from now.

I just found out (literally minutes ago) that the Gay Fathering story that I made photos for is going to be postponed until December 3rd. The Times is doing something quick about the war in Iraq. Great...yet ANOTHER reason to be against the whole situation over there. So this means I have another 5 weeks to be nervous about how these photos will look (and if it will even run). Crap.

I know things like this can happen, and it's just the way it goes. I've told Sarah all along that I won't believe my photo is on the cover until I SEE my photo on the cover.

So I'll direct all my rage at Bush.

Directing rage....

...directing rage....

Done. Good.

p.s. I'm really not that angry of a guy. I'm pretty laid back and friendly. But please, someone, do something about that guy in the White House.

Anatomy of a New York Times Magazine Cover Photo

The following is a rough timeline of events leading up to the photoshoot for a cover story for The New York Times Magazine. They are just random notes on events that took place that led up to the publication.

Enjoy:

• August 16, Wednesday: First Contact: Photo editor leaves me a message, phone tag ensues, e-mails back and forth between editor and myself.

What? You want me to shoot the cover? Well...OK...Are you kidding me?!?...

• August 17, Thursday: Phone tag with the photo editor, many e-mails back and forth.

• August 18, Friday: Set up first shoot with the photo editor for the next day. Many e-mails regarding the details of the shoot.

• August 19, Saturday: First Photoshoot: Left residency to drive to a NW suburb of the Cities to photograph for 5 hours at a BBQ get together. Made many photos and earned the trust of the families involved. Drove back to the residency, downloaded, and evaluated images.

• August 20, Sunday: E-mailed the photo editor and the writer.

• August 24, Thursday: Photo editor wants a CD of the images sent tomorrow. Prepared a CD of images and web photo gallery with a note. Sent the photo editor an e-mail.

• August 25, Friday: Sent a CD through Fed-Ex to the photo editor, sent an e-mail.

• August 29, Tuesday: Received an e-mail from the photo editor requesting an EDITED CD, not simply all the images. Spent 4 hours editing images down to a select few, and then prepared another CD with images and web photo gallery.

• August 30, Wednesday: Sent the new CD through Fed-Ex to the photo editor.

• September 4, Monday: Prepared JPEGs to send to the writer so he could have a few visuals to write about.

• September 5, Tuesday: Sent a handful of JPEGs to the writer via e-mail.

• September 19, Tuesday: Spoke on the phone with the photo editor for a long time. She will be flying in for the shoot being the turn-around time is going to be so quick. Received many e-mails from the photo editor of previous cover images from the Times Magazine that had multiple people on them. Wrote her back later in the day.

• September 21, Thursday: Made many phone calls to the members of the family involved in the shoot to try to line up the date for the shoot and a quick scouting shoot. No luck; no calls returned.

• September 22, Friday: Many e-mails between the photo editor and myself regarding contacting everyone. Talked to one person regarding the upcoming shoot that he will be part of.

• September 27, Wednesday: Spoke with the photo editor on the phone to discuss details of the photoshoot. Made contact with everyone by phone involved in the shoot and set up times to scout their homes.

• September 28, Thursday: Scouting Photos: E-mailed the photo editor to keep her up to date. Met at 2 of the homes in the afternoon to take test shots for potential locations for the cover shoot.

• September 29, Friday: More Scouting: Scouted and photographed at the last home in the morning. Made test photos of more possible locations. Edited all test photos and resized them to send via e-mail. Started to look at equipment that is needed to rent for the shoot.

• September 30, Saturday: E-mailed many test shots to the photo editor of the different possible locations. Wrote much about my input and what I thought would and wouldn’t work.

• October 2, Monday: Received a long e-mail from the photo editor with her input on what to shoot and when. Wrote her a long e-mail back with my response and many of my own questions. Lined up a photo assistant for the upcoming shoot. Looked at equipment to rent.

• October 3, Tuesday: Stopped at West Photo to reserve equipment needed for the shoot. E-mailed rough timeline of the upcoming photoshoot to the photo editor.

• October 4, Wednesday: Called everyone involved in the shoot to give them details. Left messages and asked them to get back to me. Talked with everyone by the end of the day. Talked more with the photo assistant.

• October 5, Thursday: Cleaned out car to prepare for photoshoot (I’ll be driving the photo editor to the shoot, and my car is a sty). Shot 2 rolls of film, had them processed, and picked them up - as a test for my camera backs. Played phone tag with the photo editor. Finally talked with her for a few minutes about photoshoot details (what the families should wear, where to eat, what time to pick her up, etc). Complied large list of items needed for the shoot. Met with the photo assistant for an hour and a half to talk about details for the shoot.

• October 6, Friday: The Day the Sh*t Hit the Fan: Lined up Sunday morning snacks for the family. Wrote directions for the photo assistant. Received a frantic phone call from the photo editor because one member of the family that we are making photos of needs to leave the shoot WAY too early. Picked up extra photo-related equipment at the College of Visual Arts and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Bought some items at the Art Cellar art store. Picked up rental equipment at West Photo and purchased everything else that I needed there as well. Stressed over if the shoot is going to happen or not. Talked twice more with the photo editor. Called my photo assistant to inform him of a possible early start for the photoshoot in order to accommodate the person who has to leave early. Whatever happens, he’s on board - thank God! The photo editor called again with final details: we’ll be starting an hour and a half earlier than planned, but all is OK. Everyone will be there. Worked out details to pick up the photo editor from her hotel on Sunday morning. Called the photo assistant to let him know of the change. All systems go!

Holy shit, time for some sleep.

• October 7, Saturday: Played with the strobes to familiarize myself with them (they’re Dynalites - super easy), and tested my cameras with the strobes. Inspected all the rental equipment to make sure everything works. Set almost everything up and took everything down. Called to confirm everything with the photo editor and my photo assistant. Double-checked what time the bakery and coffee shop open in the morning in order to get goodies for the family in the shoot. Made goodies list. Loaded my car with everything, saving room for the photo editor. Slept (not well).

• October 8, Sunday: The Cover Shoot: Alarm at 5:45 am. Finished packing the car. Picked up rolls, scones, muffins, juice (apple and orange), bottled water, and napkins at Kowalski’s. Got a large “thing” of coffee at Caribou for everyone. Picked up the photo editor from her hotel around 7:40 am. Drove to the first location. Pulled up to the house, and the photo assistant pulled in right behind us. Got settled and made photos. Fought with the sun, but I won. Moved on to the second location. Set up lights, etc. Made more photos. Packed everything up. Total time on location: 4 hours, 45 minutes - not too shabby. Took the photo editor to the airport. Talked about what she needed me to have on the invoice. Returned some equipment to MCAD. Dropped off film at ProColor. Wrote up invoice to send to the Times.

• October 9, Monday: Returned the C-Stands to CVA. Returned the rental equipment to West. Picked up the processed film at ProColor. Cut and sleeved the negatives. Printed 2 sets of contact sheets (one for me, one for the photo editor). Went to Fed-Ex Kinkos to Fed Ex the contact sheets overnight to New York. E-mailed "thank you’s" to the photo editor and the photo assistant.

• October 10, Tuesday: Finalized invoice for the Times (or so I thought). E-mailed photo assistant again. Received 2 urgent phone calls from the photo editor. She needs high-res scans FTPed to her in the next day. Received instructions via e-mail for what images to scan and how to log in to their server. Found time to start making scans for the photo editor (although not feeling well). Scanned and fixed up 4 files and sent them along. E-mailed and called the photo editor to let her know. She e-mailed me back; everything looks fine. Scanned 7 more files, fixed them up, and FTPed them. E-mailed the photo editor the list of file names and a couple of questions.

• October 11, Wednesday: E-mailed the photo editor a few questions.

• October 12, Thursday: Called the photo editor to talk about when to send the match prints. Copied scanned files to portable hard drive. Received match print order and amounts for invoice. Printed 7 match print at the CVA digital lab. Altered 2 of the files, saved them in order to FTP them again. Got the prints packaged and ready to Fed Ex tomorrow morning.

• October 13, Friday: Fed Ex-ed the prints early in the morning. FTPed the 2 files that I altered for printing. E-mailed the photo editor.

Over the hill - coast down the other side.

• October 19, Thursday: E-mailed a few random questions to the photo editor. Received a reply and was given the final amounts for a few things on the invoice.

• October 21, Saturday: Finished up the invoice. Made copies of receipts and got everything in a mailer to send to the Times.

• October 23, Monday: Mailed the invoice and receipts to the photo editor.

• October 24, Tuesday: E-mailed the photo editor to let her know to expect the invoice.

• October 29, Sunday: Magazine In Print: The cover should be on newsstands (I say “should” because this is in the future, and I won’t believe it until I see it).

I may update this with actual events once it’s printed. We’ll see what will happen now...

Need a Photo Assistant? Here, Take Mine! He’s Super!

I need to thank my photo assistant for the New York Times Magazine photo shoot, Graham Simpson. He was a great assistant and super with the kids involved in the shoot. In fact, when we were all getting ready to go, the littlest boy came running over to Graham for a hug and a kiss. Everyone in the room gave out a hearty “Aawwwww!”

Here’s the man of the hour in an early exposure/lighting test at the second location on Sunday:

Lookin good in your velcro shoes, as usual

Thanks for all your help Graham. The check is in the mail. Seriously, it is.

New York Time Magazine Cover Shoot

Yesterday was the big day. I woke up at 5:45 am after not falling asleep until about 3:30 am (a GREAT nights sleep before such a big shoot). My mind was racing all night with lighting possibilities, troubleshooting things that could go wrong before they went wrong, and random nervous tics. I had breakfast, packed the car, and drove to Kowalski’s to get morning snacks for the family in the shoot. After a quick stop at Caribou to pick up coffee for the family, I drove to downtown St. Paul to pick up the photo editor from the St. Paul Hotel. It was great to finally put a face to the voice and the e-mails. She was personable and easy to talk with. I thought someone in her position could be a bit pretentious, but she was super.

We arrived at the first location, and my photo assistant pulled up right behind us. We all introduced ourselves to the family with breakfast goodies in tow. I had met everyone before, but the assistant didn’t know anyone, and the photo editor had just talked to everyone on the phone and had never met them in person. Everyone seemed in good spirits, so we got set to take the first photos in the backyard.

Everything went OK at the first shoot. We had some issues with the littlest guy (a cute three year old) who didn’t want to always be in front of the camera, but we were all patient and worked at his speed. The photo editor helped keep everyone happy during the whole day, which was very helpful. We fought with the sun in every other shot, but everything came out.

I burned through 6 or 7 rolls, and we were ready to more on. We had the cover shot. It was in those few rolls. I was thinking about this later, and I realized that it should have been more of a turning point - knowing that I had the photo for the cover in the bag. But I just kept pluggin along. I knew that if I banked on the thought that I knew I had to cover photo, that would be my excuse for anything else that happened later in the day:

Oh, that light doesn’t look perfect? Well, that’s OK - I’ve already got the cover shot.

The kids won’t cooperate? That’s fine. We can stop. I have the cover shot already.

I didn’t want to say those words. I didn’t want to fall into that trap.

The photo editor and I hopped in my car and drove to the second location. The photo assistant and I set up lights, ran some tests with my digital camera, and got ready for the second run. We started making photos with the new "TV trick" (see previous post) and all seemed to be going well.

Then my heart jumped into my throat, and I actually choked.

My camera back was set in the horizontal position - the position that I always use in my work, but NOT the position that I was supposed to be using for the vertical cover of the magazine. This was one of the potential issues that kept me up the night before the shoot. I was always used to using that horizontal position. So when we started shooting at the second location, my camera was set back to its standard horizontal position, and I didn’t even give it a second thought. I reshot the last roll that I had just shot incorrectly. I thought I had covered my tracks, but shortly after, I was questioning how long the back had been set like that.

It kept me awake yet another night.

Well, today I picked up the film and I think everything is going to be OK. No one’s head was chopped off by the horizontal back, although it’s tighter than I’d like it to be at the top of the frame. We’ll see what the photo editor tells me tomorrow. I sent her contact sheets today, and I hope to hear from her shortly.

Time for bed. More later...