Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Stamp of the Day: Photography

Back to the basics (see O.K.'s post below).

5 comments:

PP said...

I remember this stamp! I used to (and may still) have some...When I was a teen my life plan was to be an industrial photographer.

EH said...

Perfect LS. This is exactly what I was looking for, (I thought to post a stamp of the day for OK, but didn´t find one with a camera on so the task went to LS)

I like the lamp also, but what is it used for?

LS said...

Isn't the lightbulb just a lightbulb? Or a flash? But it doesn't look like a flash.

D.A.Wagner said...

Sorry, I'm about a year late on finding this posting. This photograph was taken by the late Ben Somoroff, and it was the first American stamp to use a photograph instead of an illustration. I worked as Ben's photo assistant in the early 1970s and, although I wasn't on set for this shot, Ben did show me the 8 x 10 transparencies of this before publication. The light bulb in this photo, btw, is a huge 10K tungsten bulb that Ben used often as a light source in a "skypan," a type of flat, frying pan style reflector that was a favorite of his for its broad spread of light over a diffuser. The camera is one of his many Deardorff folding view cameras. This was photographed on a bottom lit light table (there is a top light, too). Bottom lighting was an original concept of Ben's. He was one of the first photographers to use bottom lighting through "milk glass," in the days before Plexiglas.

LS said...

Dear Wagsfx,

I am so glad you found our post, and don't worry about being late, there is nothing too late about this. That is amazing, that you were involved with this stamp, if even indirectly. Thanks about all the details about the photography. This blog has several photographers, even is some don't post that frequently. We are so honored that you decided to comment on our post! Have a great 2009.