to a young film-maker's benefit

Filming Mitzvah celebrations greatly benefits a young photographer such as myself, offering an incomparable job experience in which the pressure to deliver the best possible product to a client is always engaging. So long as the video photographer is capable of using their technology: the most basic of digital cameras or the best current quality; there will always be a demand for photographers who can preserve an event on DVD.

Formating: Analogue vs. Digital

Analogue cameras are more difficult to edit in post production than their digital predecessors. Many photographers who film Mitzvahs choose to use digital format rather than analogue because of the user-friendly editing software available at a cheap price. Before the innovation of digital technology, editing required an expensive lab to prepare the raw film. Spools of unedited video and audio were fed onto large reels and viewed by projector in a private theater. What was considered unusable was spliced as individual frames from the master copy. The remaining clips were collected as segments of a given scene, and compiled to create the full-length film. These post production facilities cost more than most photographers could afford, and were typically owned by large studios. Editing on analogue format was extremely difficult, and transitions like fade in, fade out, cross hatch, dissolve, and other effects were left only for Hollywood technicians to use in their films. The digital format allows a photographer to place effects into their movie using a home computer with the proper editing software. Burning DVDs for clients using these effects is the standard for most professional photography agencies.

weekend worker

Working on weekends provides an amateur photographer with a long period of time during the week in which they can pursue interests other than photography; for college students like myself this is especially important. In the Hebrew faith Saturday is a day of Sabbath. Mitzvah celebrations are held on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday in correspondence to this weekly day of worship. It is an excellent opportunity for high school and college students to make money on the weekends when they are most available to work.

preserved tradition

Thousands of Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations are held each year in honor of Judaist custom. They are a rite of passage in which a child recites from the Torah to his or her community, afterwards there is a celebration to honor their faith and congratulate them on what is to be one of the most important days in ones life. It is important to family and friends of the child being celebrated for this memorable experience to be documented on film so that future generations may have a glimpse of past family and religious tradition.

The creation of Diversified Photography's Blog

As of 5:35 p.m. Tuesday, September 16, 2008, Diversified Photography has a blog.