Who are you?

Watch out…..in today’s world, if you aren’t careful, somebody will stick a name tag on you!  Name tags……they drive me up a wall.  I have heard that your career is in big trouble if you are over forty and you still wear a name tag.  Don’t misunderstand me, I know that name tags are necessary for security purposes in some organizations.

People in jail get an ID number….usually on their backs.  Dogs have a tag….usually on their necks.  Cattle get branded….on their rear ends.  Everything now has a serial number.  Cars have license plates….my plate reads “I SNAP M” and everybody knows that I am a photographer!  Incidentally, I have heard that people with personalized plates get fewer tickets.  Maybe that’s because if people know your name, you act nicer!

Our wonderful new rector at my church has name tags for us to wear on Sundays.  I can understand that….if it is temporary (I hope)!  It helps him learn our names.  It probably helps everybody in a temporary learning process.

 My point is this:  We need to get to KNOW each other….not just each other’s NAME.  A name tag allows people to appear more sociable in a group setting.   If a name can be really remembered, that’s even better.  But, we must take the next step……GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER…..not just their name.

Try this….can you tell me who you are without telling me your name? 

Fiesta Medals!

King Antonio has had a Fiesta coin since the beginning in 1927.  Then in 1971, King Antonio Charles Orsinger had the great idea of making the coin into a medal that you could wear.  He had 500 coins put on fabric that could be pinned on your shirt and worn.  Those 500 medals lasted about 10 minutes!  Everybody wanted one.  He ordered 1,000 more and they were gone quickly.

Today, 41 years later, everybody and their dog has their own medal.  Medals come in plastic bags, on little cards and in boxes!  Originally, the King pinned your medal on you….personally!  Now, the Fiesta medal is a form of advertising for all sorts of businesses, cities, schools and clubs.  They are ordered by lots of people for lots of groups…..too many to name!

Yesterday, I saw this chef at the Westin Hotel wearing his collection.  Other people make hats with medals.  Every time I think I have seen it all, I see something else.

The funny thing is that after Fiesta is over, nobody wears a medal.  You would look like a nut walking down the street wearing a medal any other time of the year.  I have a framed collection of medals that goes back to the beginning.  Sometimes I use them for decorations at a party.  People say, “What in the world are those for?”

An iPhone Ceremony

Every time I think I’ve seen it all….I see something else!  That happened last weekend at a wedding we photographed.

The wedding was in the International Center and was supposed to start at 6 pm.  All the guests were there and seated.  The person who was supposed to officiate was not there.  There was no contact information with a phone number to call this person.

I told the mother of the bride that I could do the ceremony but that I had not brought the book with the information.  Jenna-Beth said that she could find a ceremony on her iPhone.  I said that would be great except the print was so small that I could not read it.  Jenna-Beth said that she would read it and I could sign the paper work.  The bride’s parents thought that was a great idea.  The bride and her father were walking down the aisle while Jenna-Beth was still searching on her iPhone!

The ceremony began only a few minutes late and everything turned out fine.  I signed the marriage license and had the two witnesses sign it, too.  The guests thought it was a beautiful ceremony and asked Jenna-Beth where her church was located! 

What about body art?

I’ve been told that tattoos have been around since sailors had them in 1769.  Or, maybe people have had them in other parts of the world before that.  They have just become popular in the United States since the 1990’s.  Now, it seems that men and women have an equal number of tattoos.

People have these “pieces of art” all over their bodies.  When a bride and her bridesmaids put on their dresses, this “body art” becomes part of their costumes.  It is hard not to notice a bride with a tattoo walking down the aisle at her wedding.

I saw a groom who had his face painted on the back of his head.  When he was at the altar it looked as though he was facing the congregation!  It really made you think twice!

When the bride has this art on her legs, it makes quite a show when the groom is removing her garter.  She has to make sure that the garter matches the tattoos.

Maybe someday a bride and groom will have their rings tattooed on their fingers.  That would mean that they have to stay married because it would be practically impossible to have the tattoos removed!  Or, maybe they could put something in their marriage contract about who would have to pay for a tattooed ring removal!

New owner, same traditions

As of March 1, 2012, Parish Photography belongs to Jenna-Beth Lyde.  We hammered out an agreement for the transfer of ownership of my 48 year old organization.

Parish Photography was started in 1964.  I had just graduated from Trinity and had completed my service in the Army.  I thought I would take a few pictures until I figured out which bank I was going to work for….since my major was “Commercial Banking.”

My uncle, George Parish, joined with me and we became so busy that I didn’t have time to worry about working for a bank.  Our studio was at 5021 Broadway for more than 20 years.  Then my uncle retired and I moved the studio to 7701 Broadway where the rent was lower!

I met Jenna-Beth at an Alamo Heights Chamber meeting a couple of years ago.  She had just graduated from Trinity University.  She came to work for me and after a short time, I was doing everything she told me to do!  She has great ideas and lots of energy.  So we just worked out a deal where she would own Parish Photography and I could work for her.

Now, I can come to work late!   We do weddings together….Jenna-Beth does all the modern things that brides love and I do all the old fashioned things that the parents love.  What a great deal for everybody!

Charles and JB

 

 

A look back at wedding photography

In the “good ole days” (forty years before digital photography) producing a wedding album required different products and skills.  Good cameras were scarce and very expensive.  I used a 2 ¼ inch Rolleiflex that was recognized as one of the world’s best wedding cameras.  I owned five of them and always had two with me in case of a failure.  They had to be “manually” set for every exposure.  There was nothing “automatic” about anything in those days!  Even cars had just gotten automatic transmissions!

Flash units were very large, cumbersome and expensive.  They required a big battery that was attached to my belt or carried on a separate strap.  The flash output had to be great because the film speed was slow.  Film speed was ASA64 when I started taking pictures…which is about the same as blue print paper!  We were excited when film speed went to ASA100.  These slow film speeds required a lot of powerful flash.

Our film was Kodak 120 which made 12 exposures per roll.  Professional 120 color film wasn’t always available locally and it was very expensive.  Film processing was slow…..some labs only processed film once a week.  Proofs were printed 5” x 5” because the negatives were square.  These proofs were then put into books that had to be numbered by hand.  This took time and was labor intensive.

So the “good ole days” were really the “slow ole days” that required us photographers to have a really different set of skills.  We were much more mechanically oriented.  Now, with digital cameras everything is automatic….except remembering to be on time for the event!  If anyone ever has a question about anything, please ask me.

Charles, himself