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You can read about more of Ed's exploits with cameras at Graflex.org


If you concentrate on trying to give a "perfect" performance, this puts a tremendous amount of pressure on you. If you look at audience members and mentally ask yourself what they need to hear from you, then you will do just fine.


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Creativity with a camera
      Ed's parents sent out a Christmas card at Christmas of 1940 with a picture of him looking through the back of a Speed Graphic press camera when he was just six weeks old. At the age of 18, he was a good enough news photographer to be offered a job as a staff photographer for the Atlanta (Georgia) Journal and Constitution. He suggests:
Picture of Ed Bernd Jr. for the family's Christmas Card in 1940, That's a Speed Graphic camera that he was already learning to use.
     "Cameras take photographs; photographers make pictures. Use your creative abilities to make pictures. Relax and let your creative energies offer you suggestions.
     "Watch the background. It can make your photo great, or ruin what might have been a good photo. That's one of the big differences between amateurs and professionals...the pros are always aware of what's in the background. Program yourself at your level to always remember to check the background.
     "If you use a zoom lens, never zoom just for convenience. Select your perspective first, then zoom to the correct focal length to give you the perspective you want.
     "It takes light to make an exposure on film. The quality and direction of light is the most important element you are working with. If the light is behind you, people look like cardboard cutouts. If the light is towards one side or the other, this will add depth to your picture. When looking at your photos, take time to go to level and ask yourself if they could have been improved by a different perspective, different lighting, etc."
     Here are some tips for lecturers:
     "Meet as many members of the audience as possible before you start. Talk with them, find out what they are interested in. It is much easier to get up and chat with friends than to have to lecture to strangers.
     "Mental Rehearsal is great. Go to your alpha level and lecture to an imaginary audience. When you do this at your level, this is almost as valuable as doing it in front of a live audience.
     "Always level with your audience...tell them the truth. The great broadcaster Larry King said that when he finally got his first opportunity to be on the radio, he was terrified. The station manager had told him to use the name Larry King instead of his real name. Nobody was there to help him. Although he had wanted this opportunity, it was very intimidating. What was the first thing he did when he turned on the microphone?
     He told the audience that this was his first broadcast ever, that he had just gotten a new name, that he was nervous, but that he wanted to be of service to his audience, and if they would bear with him, and let him know what they wanted, he would do his best. Trying to fool people will just make you more nervous, so go ahead and level with them.
     "Remember that whatever you are talking about is not for your benefit...it is for the audience's benefit. If you concentrate on trying to give a 'perfect' performance, this puts a tremendous amount of pressure on you. If you look at audience members and mentally ask yourself what they need to hear from you, then you will do just fine.
     "If you forget what you were going to say next, just ask if anyone has a question. Somebody will probably ask you about the very thing you were going to cover next.
     "It is easy to know what to do: Whatever the audience responds favorably to, keep doing it, and do more of it. Trial and error is a great way to continue to get better and better. People can only sit still for a certain length of time; when they start getting up and leaving, it is time to take a break.
     "Study great presenters and entertainers. Notice how they get an audience involved, how they get people's attention, how they evoke emotion in audience members. Then, at your level, use what you observe them doing to help you build on your own strengths and unique talents to continue to get better and better.
     "Timing is your most valuable tool. What is timing? Timing is made up of pauses. Timing is not doing something at the right time, as most people think. Timing is not doing something...until the right time. Every successful professional wrestler knows that when you perform a great move - body slam your opponent or whatever - you have to strut around the ring for a few moments in order to give the audience time to absorb and appreciate what you just did. It might be good wrestling to do several things to your opponent and then try to pin him, but it's not good showmanship. Watch them yourself...when you see wrestlers perform several moves one right after the other in rapid succession, how much to you recall of what they did? It takes time...there must be pauses in order for people to absorb what you want them to absorb. Listen to singers, how they often sing lyrics after the musical beats, not on the beat. By the way, have you ever noticed that the most successful professional wrestlers may not be the most skillful wrestlers, but they are definitely the most creative? Art instructor Dord Fitz, who worked with a lot of Coach Bear Bryant's football players at the University of Alabama, and said that the best athletes were almost always very creative people.
     "Always remember to analyze your own performance at your level. Also analyze the performances of other people at your level, so that you can gain more insight into what they do and why they do it, and what effect their actions have on the audience. Then see what you can do to improve your own performance, and become even better and better.





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