BANQUETS Banquet photography has proven itself very profitable to a number of concerns who have specialized in this line, but for some reason or other, it has always been surrounded by considerable mystery in times gone by as to the methods they followed in turning out finished prints so quickly.
The commercial photographer in a city of average size does not usually have enough call for this class of work to spend very much money on equip ment. For this reason, the banquet camera, made by the Folmer & Schwing Company, which is a very good and fine-looking- instrument, is not a bad invest ment, as it may also be used for outside groups and similar \vork. It has one attachment which is exceedingly handy, and that is, the tilting front. This attachment comes in particularly good where the camera is elevated off the floor, and, in using it, you do not, as it would seem, take in much 'more fore ground. The advantage gained is that you equalize your focal plane from the back of the room to the front, get the heads more nearly the sante size, and a sharp negative is obtained of the people and tables with a larger diaphragm and, consequently, less powder.
As this point is better explained by demonstration, if you will try it out yourself, tilting- the front of the camera, and keeping the ground-glass perpen dicular, you will quickly' see the advantage of this tilting front board when you are raised off the ground, that is, when working, with a tripod of seven, nine or twelve feet in length, or from a platform.
The cameras used by the specialists are nothing more nor' less than compo board and are of fixed focus—thereby eliminating the necessity for bellows, with the tilting front the only' movable part about it. That only has two move ments, one for the seven- and one for the nine-foot tripod.
The lens generally used for banquet work is a Goerz Dagor series III, Number 6, that is, a 12-inch lens, and by working the tilting front and stopping its diaphragm to f16, it cuts a 20-inch plate very satisfactorily.
The bags used are either the Prosch, or those which they make themselves, and these latter are sometimes made to fire down\vard instead of upward as in the Prosch machine. This feature is rather an advantage in photographing in a room with a low ceiling, as it gives light at a higher point, thereby throw ing the light downward instead of sidewise. These bags are also made to sus pend from the ceiling, or balconies of the room, which does away with the necessity of carrying heavy apparatus needed to hold them in position.
However, it is not a good idea for one to make his own bags unless he is an expert at the work, or his own flashlight powder either, for that matter, and personally I advise against it, for, as is well known, it is a criminal offense to jeopardize the life of anyone, and an accident might put one out of busi ness for all time.
The plates which are popularly used in connection with banquet work are the English Imperials, Eastman portrait film and Graflex plates. After the exposure, the negative is developed, fixed, washed very little, hardened in formaldehyde, immersed in alcohol to dry off superfluous water, and then dried quickly before an electric fan. Prints are then made, wiggled in the hypo, twisted in the water, mounted on a card or slipped in a folder and taken back to the banquet hall. Orders and money are received at one time, receipt given and the finished pictures are then mailed within the next couple of days.
Such a procedure, as is apparent, requires quite an organization, ordinarily, to be a success, and there have been several young fortunes made in the busi ness, but the banquets which have proven the most profitable have been those where notables were present, in which case the pictures have sold like hot cakes. Also, such work is profitable if it is new in the community, but when repeated year after year with practically the same crowd, it becomes an old story, and the reverse of profitable, for unless a large number of prints from each banquet negative are ordered, the immense amount of work entailed, and the keeping up of extensive equipment, eats up whatever profit there might have been.
The amount of powder used and number of bags are, of course, governed by the space to be covered and the color scheme of the room, dark walls requir ing more powder. At least two bags should be used to properly balance the light, and from that number up to ten are usually sufficient.
If the hag system is used with cartridges, and more light is wanted on any bag, split the cartridge and add more loose powder. In fact, I always split the cartridge, anyway, for what I think is a better effect.
A very good example of expert modern banquet photography is shown in illustration Number 14. This was made by the Kaufmann & Fabry Company of Chicago, pioneers in the game.