Marcus Maschwitz Photography Blog » Documentary

My Profoto Babies

Marcus — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:03:57 +0000

Today is the day. Today is FINALLY here. I have been so excited about it that I have really battled to keep focused on anything else unrelated. For years I have wanted to own my own Profoto kit but have sadly waited it out because there was always something else in the line up waiting for my attention. I have rented these lights on several occasions along with various Elinchrom kits and the Profoto stuff has always won my vote.

As a very greedy Christmas present to myself I purchased myself 2 Profoto kits that after anxious waiting have landed. The guys from Pro Center called this morning to ask if I would be around to accept delivery so here I am waiting for the door bell to ring. AMAZING.

Anyway, I had to share my excitement and mark today as another day for me to step it up a notch. I have never been as excited as I have been about anything regarding photographic equipment except for the arrival of my D3 which was over 2 years ago.

So let me introduce you to my Pro-7b 1200 babies as I welcome them to the family …… names to follow shortly.

(Obviously as they haven’t arrived yet the photo below was pulled from the Profoto catalogue, I’ll try shoot my own one sometime)

Website Launch

Marcus — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:04:12 +0000

So I have been working like crazy lately which is a good thing but I hate that I have so much new work to show and no where to show it. I mean, I really liked the way my old website looked but it really just was too much distraction as apposed to just showing off the photographs. It’s always hard to think of the best way to showcase online because I do not like Flash based websites purely because I have seen so many people having issues using them and in the end I think I wanted to make sure that mine would be as user friendly as possible. The website I had also never allowed me to put the photos up at a decent size so with all this in mind I have created a new one from scratch and although I am still filtering through photographs and updating the content, there is a good amount up so that I can release it.

If you have a chance, make sure to check out www.marcusmaschwitz.co.uk and have a look. As I said I am still busy uploading content so keep checking back.

This is a screen grab of the home page, hope you like.

Shooting with Papa Roach

Marcus — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:41:22 +0000

I shot a few portrait press photographs for Clink Music Magazine with the guys from Papa Roach last month at Oxford Academy and it was super easy to work with them. Honestly not knowing much about their music I decided to stay for the live show which really was one of my favourites this year. The band has an onstage presence that is almost engulfing and they all make you feel like it means the world to them that you are there. It’s weird but in a really cool way.

Anyway, I am telling you all of this because during the time they were being followed around by the guys from Pocket TV filming a tour diary of sorts during their Oxford stay and I just got sent the video which came out really rad. You can see me shooting with the band in the rain on the roof (around 2min35) and then again snippets of me shooting the show during their live set.

If you are at all a PR fan then you should watch the video so you can get to know them a little bit more and if you aren’t you should watch it anyway and see me hard at work, I think the video will interest you enough to want to give them a listen which will be worth it in the end. Some people say they are arrogant but I never saw this during the time we spent with them. It wasn’t long but don’t always believe what you read.

This is one of the portrait shots (see more here) that I shot and below is one of the live shots (see more here). You really need to see the portraits high resolution to appreciate them because it was raining quite hard and you can see each of the drops. If you care to see a higher res image, contact me and I will send it on to you.

Young Guns on Front Army

Marcus — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:51:23 +0000

Haha, I just saw this video interview of The Young Guns that was done by Front Magazine on the day that I photographed them and you can see a little bit of the shoot taking place with me hard at work. It’s quite weird to see myself working because I never have. This was a really fun shoot to work on and I really enjoyed working with these guys and look forward to shooting with them more again in the future.

Our Car in Snow

Marcus — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:37:07 +0000

We bought ourselves a car this week and it’s really cool. It’s a black Ford Focus and I shot this photograph of it now in the drive way while it is snowing. It’s the middle of the night and the sky is so bright and yellow and I shot this freehand with only natural light. It isn’t the most amazing photograph but I am really excited by it.

Identity and Business Cards

Marcus — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:29:02 +0000

I have just moved to the UK and wanted to step it up a notch and really try concentrate on myself and my photography work for a while. That is the plan for a while and I have some projects in my head that I want to work on in my free time and really push myself to move up to a new level and work on projects that I really love and have interest in.

My friend Jon helped me create a bit of an identity and I love the work that he did for me. He designed a logo for me as well as business cards that I have just actually had delivered and I love them. This is the front and the back of the card and I have a bunch of really other amazing elements that I am working on that will be out in a while. I just wanted to show you my card.

I hope you are all well. Chat soon, Marcus

Excited and Inspired

Marcus — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:07:59 +0000

I spent a few hours today at the Annie Leibovitz exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery and it was really exciting and inspiring for me. I felt this even more than when I watch her documentary a few months back. The thing is that for some reason her work REALLY gets me thinking and I love her for that. The exhibition was really cool because it included some of her best and strongest works as well as some of her personal collection of images that she has taken of family and friends at home and on holiday and I love that they did it this way.

Annie makes use of HUGE budgets when shooting commissioned works and then very little when just shooting on her own steam and I cannot say which I preferred. All I do know is that she makes me want to rethink about everything again and try to not just think of big scenes that we can create in a studio like environment, but to also remember to just document and capture what is really going on. Big budgets aren’t always necessary although we do know that they are fun. Haha.

Anyway, I wasn’t obviously allowed to shoot in the exhibition so I tried to be sneaky and just get a shot for my collection so one day I will remember I made the show. This is that shot, it’s nothing great but it has a good memory for me.

I hope you are all well and getting back into the working way of things.

Regards as always, Marcus

Sunset Construction

Marcus — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 07:41:41 +0000

There is a photograph that I have been wanting to shoot for months now but every single time that I go to shoot it, there are a bunch of drunk trouble makers that really do not want me to be there so I end up leaving with no photo at all (one of the joys of living in South Africa). Yesterday I tried to go back and the same thing happened so I ended up driving to a construction site nearby to shoot some photographs of the sunset because it really was so beautiful and weird.

I have 4 sunsets left in South Africa before we make our move to the UK and I am really hoping that I will be able to get the shot before I leave so hold thumbs.

Other than that, I hope that all of you have had a good Christmas with your loved ones and that you are all getting some rest.

Chat soon, Marcus

Happy Christmas

Marcus — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 05:50:00 +0000

This is pretty self explanatory and is just to wish all of my clients, and friends, all the best over this festive season. Thank you for your invaluable support, be safe and see you next year.

Melon Graphics South Africa
Studio Melon Ltd
Melon Videos
Melon Invites

Homeless Man

Marcus — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:31:57 +0000

In 2001 during my photography studies, I was working on my portfolio and I remember clearly wanting to photograph this man because of his unique features. He was a homeless man that walked by my fathers work every day completely drunk and saying the funniest things ever. He had a trolley (shopping cart) with all his belongings in and he always carried around a bottle of metholated spirits which he either used to sniff or drink. Anyway, in May 2001, I had the chance to photograph with him and chat with him for a bit and he just kept mumbling the funniest things and laughing and even though I felt really awkward, it went well. I was shooting then with my Nikon F90X camera (amazing) and I had no idea if I was shooting rubbish and I only had one roll of film with me that I had hand loaded so I was really hoping for the best. I went right home to process my negatives to make sure they were alright and this frame explained it all. Sadly, my dad called me the next day to say that the guy fell down just across from his shop and that after a few hours an ambulance came and took him away and we never saw him again. I presume that he passed away that day and I am sure that I was the last person to photograph him. I thought I would share.

Enjoy life, it goes by quicker than you think.

Hope you all having a good week. Marcus