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There are just a few of us who write on goats.
Whether the movie currently out, "Men Who Stare At Goats", is a success or not, makes no never mind. George Clooney can bust a blood vessel just thinking about making a goat pass out - but he won't approach the anxiety and joy of beginning a writing project on a nice piece of parchment or vellum.
The skins are two different animals. Parchment comes from goats and vellum is calfskin.
Many centuries ago, other writing materials existed, but were unavailable.
Papyrus was invented in Egypt, but was prohibited from export or even ownership by non-Egyptian holy folk. That cartel was busted up with the demise of the Egyptian empire, but writing on papyrus remains a challenge (fun) to this day. Papyrus is thinly split slices of the papyrus reed interlaced at perpendicular angles and sanded smooth (sort-of). We can do our own pumicing and sandaracing and then be very careful with our lettering. The problem comes when we try to use a too sharp broad-edge writing tool with too much pressure. I love writing on papyrus - there is something about working with such an ancient material - just like I did when playing with little Moses before his Momma made the little boat out of the papyrus and pitch and you know the rest of the story.
In Pergamos (from which the word parchment is derived), a city in Asia Minor, the art of splitting and curing goat hides as a writing material was truly clever. Cured hides could be bound into scrolls and they have lasted through the centuries.
Vellum, made from calfskin (veal-skin), is another science, makes a less oily writing material. It is the favorite of most serious scribes.
As you can imagine, the skin of an animal is not cheap and this is before the art is applied.
NOTE: at this point please do not confuse vegetable parchment or vegetable vellum or vellum surfaced papers with the real thing.
When a skin arrives, it is not ready for writing. It needs to be flattened, pumiced (true volcanic ash) and thoroughly smoothed.
If there is a STARING at the goat or calfskin, this is the time. The art or commission will find its place and the general outline will be made. Then the work begins.
I use only 7-9H pencils or my hard silverpoint pen or a steel stylus to make marks on the precious skins. I do not want carbon residue on my skins.
The lettering is applied and the the versals and then the illustration and finally, the gilding.
I stare at the goat or calf at every level of work. The goat or calf stares back.
We are in this together. The animal gave themselves and I have put myself into the project. The finished goatskin or calfskin will be around a lot longer than me.
The goat who stares at Tim.
The goat wins. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
Videos complete! Completed videos are now posted on my website and You Tube. Thanks for the encouragement!
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I've added a couple of new videos to these sites for your viewing pleasure and information about making broad-edge pen letters.
The latest has to do with capital letters.
Capital letters - used only 2% of the time in normal writing - ought to be done well. (If you are a teacher or parent or just interested in checking this out, PLEASE get a straight-edge, a few pages of non-illustrated, non-technical text and start counting. LC vs. CAPS You choose caps. Let your students choose the lc. Count, total and do the percentages. Good for reading, good for math. Good for YOU.)
Just IN CASE you were wondering, we hardly use the terms upper and lower case in the scribal world. Until movable type came along, there were no such terms regarding letters. The names came along because the lc letters were used 98% of the time and type was set on the floor in huge type holders - less to lug. 2% of the time the typesetters could grab the caps and set them. Less to lug. In that day, leading, kerning and eventually casting was done by hand.
Any of you who has ever endured watching me type must realize that I learned typing on a Linotype machine - not a typewriter. Google THAT and love ME and my fingers and know why the keys sometimes hop around when I get excited timtyping.
Technically these letters are majuscules (major letters). They are monumental, since they are carved on monuments and they are versals, since they began verses. Most of them existed in a form familiar to us since 2 BC, when I was a feral child in the mountains of Virginia.
8 years of Latin studies will not be repeated here or in my classes. I use it only to torture people hanging from chains who keep muttering something about the death of handwriting.
In most cases italic capitals are 2 pen widths or so shorter than the ascenders in the body of writing in which they are used. Their pen angle is flatter. 35-40 degrees instead of 45 - 30-35 if you are using a 35-40 degree italic hand.
The angle has to be less to make the verticals more stout.
Flourishes are nice - but control them. It is wisely said that under every flourished letter is a simple, strong letter trying to stay in. (You know, the old too much make-up and overblown yah-dah, and so on.)
The capital letter exemplars I have created do not pretend to be perfect. They do come with my high-tech angleometer attached to the back of the Sakura marker. It reveals how and when I change pen angles while making the letters, crosses and flourishes.
I have also made punctuation marks even included the little-used interrobang.
No one will watch the whole thing at a sitting. You might look at a particular letter or two.
I was writing out of my writing window and comfort zone. If I had been writing where I could have seen my marker point, all you could have seen was my very thin hair and the finished work.
There are some other new videos and others are coming.
I plan to cover the 4 major hands: Uncial, Blackletter, Foundation. I will add the final italic numbers and a few missing miniscule letters.
Classes through Wake Tech begin in January and are being moved to Reedy Creek Middle School, near Harrison and I-40 in Cary. I hope to see you there. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
Traditional Gilding Techniques
Tim Johnson, Th D
RTP, North Carolina
www.timjohnsonphoto.com
tim@timjohnsonphoto.com
919.345.4615
In the most basic terms, the purpose of adding gold to a document is to bring light or "illuminate" it. Gilding on objects has been practiced for centuries but applied most commonly to documents after the 3rd century.
Because the media, commonly vellum (calfskin) or parchment (goatskin), is flexible and changes dimensions with changes in heat, humidity and use, the gesso or other materials must be sticky, firm and flexible in just the right amounts.
Gum Ammoniac
Gum ammoniac is an exudate similar to frankincense and myrrh. It does not have the pleasant, exotic odors of the other gums, but perfectly earns its name - ammoniac. A deep inhalation will choke many people. DON'T BREATHE DEEPLY. This gum is harvested from wounded branches in small clusters and air-dried and stored until ready for application.
Because of the presence of debris and dust, the ammoniac must be filtered after it is soaked. Distilled water and time will break down the gum. Straining the gum through cheesecloth has been a favorite filter for many years. However, cotton and linen fibers can migrate through the process of straining and hang in the quill or pen. A superior material is women's hose or stockings. Make several layers and gather the corner so that no liquid escapes being filtered. Keep the mix covered. Note:To my olfactory sense, it stinks.
Aside: Glair is the part of the egg white (albumen) that will not whip into meringue. It is a very small portion of the egg white (albumen). A dozen eggs will produce about a teaspoon. It is very, very sticky and is a treasure for the calligrapher. Store it in a separate jar in the refrigerator. Occasionally pick out any parts that become stringy. Glair can be added to gouache, watercolor, tempera and is essential in the making of gum ammoniac and raised gilding gesso.
Back to the ammoniac.
When the exudate is dissolved and filtered, a very small amount of Armenian Bole (highly graded and ground ferrous oxide) is added to the ammoniac. This turns the white gum into a slightly pink gum. Add the bole when you are using gold - not when you are using silver, palladium or platinum.
This gum can be carefully thinned so that it will flow through a quill.
Another name for gilding using this gum is "flat" gilding.
The real issue is that the gum can hold the gold, but cannot be burnished. You can make various passes with the ammoniac, just don't exceed the first lines you made.
PVA
NO. Just no.
Raised Gilding
The classic, Cennini recipe is the basis for successful raised gilding. You can find it and variations in Latin texts and in Edward Johnston's Writing, Illuminating and Lettering as well as Donald Jackson's Story Of Handwriting. The recipe creates a hard, yet workable gesso for use of vellum, parchment and fine papers.
I agree with Jerry Tresser, who has been doing this for as many years as I, that there is no true substitute for the traditional ingredients.
Gesso may be made in fairly large quantities and stored for quite some time. Samples of raised illumination are centuries old and are still brilliant. Many pieces are in the Vatican library and are in climate controlled conditions. Other precious documents have been ravaged and destroyed to be framed as individual pieces.
Most destruction was done as scribes recycled older documents to provide writing material for their current projects. Parchment and vellum are quite tough and the ink, decoration and gold were scraped off and the skins were cut into new dimensions and new text and smaller writing was added to the older pages.
Fire, theft, hatred, ignorance, neglect and a horrible soup can account for a lot more of the missing, precious documents.
Back to the gesso recipe:
7.5 or 8 parts slaked plaster (rotted and biologically inactive gypsum)
3 parts white lead (toxic and cumulative -WEAR MASK AND GLOVES)
1 part rock candy (it is pure sugar)
1 part Secotine (fish glue, Asian) or mucilage (hide glue, European)
Armenian Bole (very slight touch) [not to be used when working white metals]
Distilled water and glair in the proportions you like the best
2 frosted glass mixing surfaces.
In a room with perfectly still air and little hand and body movements, mix dry ingredients on one side of the frosted glass. A high humidity day is also helpful.
The reason? It cuts down on static electricity and particle movement.
Mix thoroughly and spread the mixture into a thin layer on the glass. cover with a glassine tent and allow to dry thoroughly.
Again, while wearing mask and gloves, collect in a dedicated jar.
Use glair and distilled water to reconstitute for use.
Your gilding tools will include:
A pair of scissors for cutting ONLY gold (all traces of oil removed)
Pure silk cloth (It does not carry a static charge.)
A gold cutting board made of padded chamois
A gold knife
Several agate burnishers (agate is a cold stone)
Sharp awls, punches, scrapers and knives deciated to this work
Tweezers and hemostats
A hematite burnisher (hematite is a warm stone)
Various jeweler's polishes impressed into chamois
A heavy paper breathing tube
Latex or nitrile gloves and filter mask to prevent inhaling white lead
Several small (0000, 000, 00, 0) pointed sable brushes
Large sable brush for wasting excess gold
I also suggest using a roll if industrial shelf liner to keep materials stable.
WASTING
When shaping and cleaning the gesso, please use your gloves and mask. You are dealing with white lead. m
When cleaning excess gold from letters, make sure you are in a room where the air is still. You might want to have a large fan with an air filter mounted on it or use a vacuum with a very fine filter. DO NOT do your gilding in a room with electronics. Gold is the perfect electrical conductor and if it gets into your electronic equipment it may cause shorts, fires and other preventable damage. If you have gilded dust bunnies in your PCs or TVs, just go ahead and call 911. You have been told.
The amount of gold waste is miniscule. Some people try to save it. You can try to gather it up into a jar with sand. Then you can pan for it at a later date.
Types Of Leaf
Single thickness leaf is 1/300,000 of an inch thick.
Purest and Best - 24 karat Double English Gold
OK - Patent Gold - 22 or 23 karat (copper or silver) loose or on a sheet
Palladium - A malleable silvery white metal, softer than silver
Platinum
White gold - 12 karat gold - 12 karat silver, fairly brittle
Silver
Rolled inferior metals: Bronze, copper, aluminum, etc.
Application Of Gold Leaf
With tweezers attach a leaf of gold to your gold pad. Cut the gold into 1/2 inch squares.
Your letter or decoration should be formed, smoothed and polished before the gold is applied. Rarely do you need to apply pressure heavier than the weight of the burnisher you are using.
With a breathing tube, moisten the target area with your breath. The rock candy in the gesso will attract and hold the moisture momentarily. While the gesso is damp place the gold onto the gesso. Press the gold into the gesso. Smooth the gold into the gesso using your fingers first and then your agate burnishers. I generally start with the hound's tooth. Use your various tools until all the surface is covered with gold. Continue to smooth and cover. When the surface is completely covered, smooth until all surface flaws have disappeared. Small indentations can be added and small repairs can be fixed through this time. Allow ample time for repaired areas to dry. Make sure wasted gold does not get on gouache or ink in your document.
Final polishing can be performed with your hematite burnisher.
Many documents were literally "for show" by candlelight.
Do your work by the best light you can get, enjoy it by the soft light of a candle.
copyright © 2009 Tim Johnson USA and International
Both of my school-age granddaughters are complaining about recent school events. This is a great sign that they are alert and aware of what is going on.
There is the little rumble about their homework that must be done 4 days a week.
It must be done, so it is.
There are the standardized tests that are beginning to make their appearance. That's OK too, since there has to be baseline for understanding who knows what – no matter how irrelevant it is to objectively gauge a person's intelligence, genius or overall usefulness, not to mention that a test could never measure the depth of kindness or potential for courage for sacrifice they may be able to make.
There are also the disturbing reports they bring home about other things going on like the HVAC units and vents being sanitized to keep them from getting H1N1 but that same day their deskmate was in class 30 minutes after a visit to a physician had confirmed they had pneumonia and they had been given an antibiotic with assurances that the strain of pneumonia they were carrying was probably not contagious to most children. Of course that raises the questions as to what to do about the 3-12% that might be sensitive to the bacterial strain?!?
So, with lungs irritated by chlorine bleach and the stress of school in general, we stir in a child who is a walking petri dish.
This is one Papa pretty angry at a parent treating a teacher, class of children and a school like a sick-child clinic.
It is sad the child is sick but worse that the parents are so callous.
Just where is that test for stupid parental behavior?
Speaking of test and bringing up tests throughout the ages ... in the latter stages of Middle Ages, which is technically pre-second Renaissance, our modern university system was developing and scholars who wanted the recognition of their masters and their institutions went through rigorous examinations which lasted for long periods of time. So difficult were the tests that bodyguards were assigned to the examiners to protect them from assault.
We've come a long way haven't we?
Plague and security problems in school. Imagine.
Now, if the 14th Century University Of Paris had buses, what color would they have been painted? © tim tim@timjohnsonphoto.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book
A recent newspaper article cited the demise and near death of handwriting. This is not the first time that writing and, essentially, any handcraft has been "lost".
Sure, there is Tupperware and cheap stoneware - but the gifted and determined Seagrove potters that turn out beautiful art in clay and porcelain in NC will continue to do so. So nobody tell THEM that their art is dead.
I see people stitching and sewing and see announcements about shows of quilts. THEY don't know that you can buy a Snuggie and look like a fool watching TV and getting your guacamole and cheese dip all over yourself. Of course you can clean your Snuggie with a Sham-WOW and have at your chili-cheese dog and other slap-it-on-your-thighs and stick-it-in-your-heart snacks. I see the next BIG 800 number seller is going to be a BIBBIE for your SNUGGIE. Some of you might have a lap dog, not for sitting in you lap, but for lapping up all the stuff you've dropped.
Cloth can come from just about anywhere, but some pretty special stuff is still being made in England in a place called the Cotswolds. They might make a very special wool $3000 Camelot Snug-A-Lot.
There is a plethora of books and they are in print and online - but I am waiting for more good writing. Great writers abound. Good books are still being written and people are discovering why classics are called classics.
Well, back to handwriting.
Just Google IAMPETH and decide the real condition of handwriting. You can also look on YouTube and find thousands of examples of calligraphy. (Even my videos have a small following and have had a few thousand views.)
People still buy "calligraphy" kits and, sadly, because they make little progress on their own, they put the kits away and stop trying to write beautifully. Classes are offered - mine through Wake Tech and, of course, privately. Don King and Tim Havey also offer classes. So, the Triangle is not without opportunities to learn good handwriting and decorative lettering techniques.
In reality, there are tens of thousands of people who write legibly and well.
The reference at the top of this post is a link to information about The Domesday (Doomsday) Book. Richard the Conqueror wanted to know just what he had conquered in 1066. He had everything in Great Britain counted that could be counted down to the last pig and duck. That way he could tax them. By the time the books (there were actually 2 of them and the little book was bigger than the other) were done, England was truly Norman - Germanic and very little was left of the Angles or Celts. The book is still in existence and can be accessed online. It was handwritten and was one of the very first documents ever to be photographed - in the mid 1860s. More history, imagine that. The book is a testament to the power of having things written down.
Palmer and Zaner-Bloser students like myself abound. Plus, there are many people who passed through the Catholic school systems where good handwriting was expected.
My classes through Wake Tech crank up again in January. You bring your Snuggie, I'll have the exemplars, ink and share the enthusiasm for well-made letters. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
I recently looked through my collection of things in cans. Mostly this is now film. It is mostly professional roll film and some bulk film. I also have some cans of dry pigments and I keep some rare nibs and leads (real lead and some silver and gold) in small tins.
When I was a feral young one in the Appalachians, things in cans were everywhere. Canning was just part of every annual cycle. Every season had its harvest, preparation and storage. Every home had pantries and cupboards full of Ball and Mason jars.
My Mom, grandmothers, aunts and great aunts and neighbors - and all the grand neighborhood - county-wide - was involved. Vegetables, fruits and even meats were preserved. Some canning was done on a family basis and some was done by church, club or community.
During the less productive months or in times of crisis, people would draw on what they had preserved.
Everyone helped. However, I speak for myself here. I have not planted a damn green bean in 40 years and I have not snapped nor canned one either. Rarely do I eat one. The memory of a large lap full of green beans and the prospect of having to sort, clean and snap them makes the current green bean swell and sour in my mouth and hang in my throat.
But, back to the cellars and the marvel of canned things: preserves, jellies and myriad treats.
Rows of canned GREEN BEANS. Tons of tomatoes, corn, okrawful, beets, limas, spinach and a bit of everything that had been taken out of the gardens and from the tree throughout the year. My great aunts even canned cakes and they were the best treats of all.
There were also canned, pickled eggs, pickles (pickled cucumbers), and pickled things that didn’t need pickling. Pickling seemed natural for the folks. They had the ideal brandies for candies, rum for very flammable Christmas rum balls and some extra dangerous fruit cake that was not safe to have near a Yule Log.
It is not hard for me to imagine that some of that fruit cake is still around and is just dangerous as an unexploded civil war cannonball.
There were also canned meats that might have tasted good, but looked somewhat like things I had seen in the science lab at school - COOL.
There were also freezers - after freezers came along.
We had dried things hanging - beans and fruit and jerky- and my folks smoked and salt and sugar-cured meats.
We once sent a sugar and pepper cured ham to a friend in Pittsburgh. Today that ham would easily cost about $100. We got a note back thanking us for the thoughtful gift, but they threw the ham away because it had some mold on it. Dumb Yankee, stupid, know-nothing ... Ack!
Jars, salt, vinegar, sugar, pepper, spices, herbs and sweat.
I do treasure my cans of film and frozen boxes of printing papers ... but I think I have talked myself into a trip to the State Farmer’s Market. However, the green beans can rest in peace.
I do love okra now that I know how to cook it myself ... to my taste. © tim tim@timjohnsonphoto.com
Anyone who knows me knows that my weakest link is the chunk of metal between my ears. Most of the time I do quite well - with the list of caveats ... for a man of your age, considering what you've been through ... with your health issues, etc.
All that aside, I do pretty well and do manage do get Papa tasks done, work on images and writing tasks, the occasional tutoring session and photo or calligraphic projects.
The one thing that totally slams the door on any useful and productive work is the appearance of a migraine headache. Mine are the cluster variety.
I do have a TEAM of caring health-care professionals that help me manage these things. They have provided me with a TENS unit, a super-big cold pack, a moist-heat heating pad and some medication that helps dull the pain. I also get trigger point injections - but now they are two days away.
My eyes, pitiful as they are anyhow, go awry. My face, mouth and two fingers on each hand go numb.
There is no comfortable position to be had. Dark and quiet are my only allies. Presently, no one can reach in to help.
The problem is that nothing helps with the anger and frustration of being incapacitated.
I don't like this feeling and I certainly don't like to be away from my loved one.
However, it is not safe for me to drive, handle sharp objects or power tools. Precise writing and working in Photoshop is out of the question because the monitor is just too much and I don't want to do a slice-o-matic on my fingers.
Managing this kind of pain is difficult, but I will feel better on Thursday. I will get about 30-36 injections in my skull, neck and back and the pain will go away.
I will rest and on Friday I will be taking pictures of 250 or so United Way volunteers. Saturday I am going to see a niece married off.
Since I was not otherwise occupied, I pulled out my trusty tennis racquet a couple of weeks ago. I stretched and hit a few balls to see if I could get back into tournament shape to add a trophy or two to the ones I have already.
That experiment lasted only an hour. Trifocals and tennis balls are a poor mix. My brain had to sort out which ball to hit and which of the several lines were in and out of bounds. I also was playing 3-5 people at a time. That process took time and too much thought.
So, the next time I hit the court it will be with single vision glasses and fresh trigger-point injections.
No migraine.
The strokes are still there - muscle memory. Now to make a little racquet on the courts, or at least groan loudly to sympathetic ears.
© tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
Mark The Fall & Spring Holidays With A Good PC and Laptop Cleaning!
EVERYONE knows to change the batteries in their smoke and radon detectors On Memorial Day and Labor Day. Don't count on those alkaline batteries that have been near that ceiling for six months to save your life - just in case.
You could also choose to change out smoke detectors every five years and upgrade to a smoke and CO (Carbon MONOXIDE) detector combination. Dying in your sleep is just no fun at all and robs family and friends of the chance of lying about how "natural" you look.
Having done that very essential chore, move on to your PC and laptop.
I just recently did some upgrades for a couple of really good friends. These folk keep clean houses and their PCs were not resting on the floor. However, when I opened the case, i did not find dust bunnies - I was violently assaulted with dust BADGERS.
The power supplies, the ram and each of the fans was almost stalled with fibrous dust. The Dust Mite Programmers Chorale was singing background for Kanye West and it wasn't pretty this time either.
This kind of situation leads to poor air circulation inside the unit and the heat build-up can lead to unit failure and worse - FIRE!
I have written recent posts encouraging you to back up your precious files. I am not kidding or writing just to use up electrons. Your hard drives are going to fail you and so is your ram and motherboard. This advice will not let you down.
Back up your backups!
Develop the attitude and practice of protecting your data. Even if you are saving regularly to an external drive, regularly save to some DVDs. That way the badgers can't bite YOU.
Back to the cleaning.
You might want to wear a dust mask.
If you haven't cleaned in a while, disconnect all your cords and cables and place your PC in the middle of some paper in the middle of the floor. Open the non-motherboard side of the case and set the panel aside. If your muffin fans are really dirty, pop them out and clean them separately. Ack. Have a very long, soft bristle brush (preferably anti-static) nearby and tip your open PC toward the floor. Brush everything you can see OUT and DOWN and AWAY from your machine. Approach it from a different angle and repeat the action. Now, lay the machine down and carefully vacuum out all the motors, pieces and parts, being careful not to touch or dislodge any component. Brush again and make sure that even the tiniest, dust BB is gone. Vac from the inside and out and then vac the panels and the switches, drive openings (USB and Firewire ports too!) and then put everything back together.
The putting back together means making sure the cards and chips are seated properly and that all the screws are tight.
Then, reconnect your cables, reboot and look for the extra, "AH" & "Thank you", from your PC as it goes about its regular boot-up.
Your LAPTOP
Most laptops don't have fans that pull air into the machine - but there are vents and that means dust does enter. Pulling it out using the vac nozzle is OK.
The very most abused part of the laptop is the connector to the external power supply.
The second most used and abused part of the laptop is the keyboard.
It is open to the world, especially if your laptop is your communications, work and entertainment center.
Keyboards don't like liquids. AMP may make you alert - but it will fry your keys.
Keyboards don't like food. It may be nourishment for you, but food will junk up and french fry your precious 102s+.
MOST laptop screens don't like being touched. They certainly don't like sharp objects and pens, pencils and pointed fingernails are sharp objects with a lacquer coating. Just NO.
Many people have hardened laptops - that is fine. Most people don't. Laptoppers still need to back up data to an external drive and to DVDs.
Keep the laptops and netbooks out of the heat. Bad.
You wouldn't want to murder ALL of the little dust fairies living on the electrons, now would you?
By the way, replace your surge protectors every 3-5 years - they lose their power to protect your equipment over time.
Take care of your pennies and they will grow into piles of pennies.
Take care of your dust bunnies will keep them from turning into badgers. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
High Tech Heck
Bitten By The Blue-Tooth
Technology Escalation Aggravation
All these were contenders for the title of this post. The REASON for the post is unfortunate. On a perfect Saturday evening with a perfect bridal couple in a perfect setting the weak and failing link was the amplified sound system.
The DJ was absolutely expert and professional. The problem was not essentially of his making. He was a victim. So was I.
I was officiating the ceremony with a carefully crafted, unique ceremony. It had the structure and flavor of the traditional Book Of Common Prayer ceremony, but softened for the modern ear. It also had a couple of additions that personalized it for the couple.
I had rehearsed the words out loud and balanced the rhythm and even allowed for the fraction of a second of delay that you have from the microphone through the speakers.
Hey, I AM the old A/V guy from high school. I made the projectors, slide machines, amps and speakers work and can set up an auditorium and even a Moog and soundboard. If you are not afraid, ask me about the reasons to choose high and low impedance mikes and input devices. Go ahead, make my month.
Mixing is no big deal - but YESTERDAY. ACK!
The wedding guests and wedding party fell out of the pages of Vanity Fair and GQ. The entire procession was flawless and sweet.
The bride was presented and the bride and groom took their places in front of me and locked eyes, hands and hearts. All the audience was focused.
Then the speakers lost volume, I spoke louder ... then they boomed. I softened my voice. The speakers cut out. I looked toward the DJ. He was being professional and looked helplessly at his state-of-the-art blue-tooth equipment and offered prayers to the gods & demons of electronics for mercy.
They kind of answered the prayer with understanding if not immediate relief.
Popping up in the audience were OTHER blue-tooth devices, some taking pictures and others recording movie clips.
When these cellular devices and cameras were ON, the signal between my mike and the amp were slain.
What to do?
The task at hand was simple. Ignore the distraction and focus only on the bride and groom.
The ceremony continued, people heard what they could and the marriage was solemnized.
The lesson?
Maybe the latest high-tech is not the BEST tech. And, if it going to be used, it has to be protected by warning people with potentially conflicting devices to keep them OFF. If pleading does not work - THREATEN and maybe let the ushers explain what an egression is after a transgression is committed.
You see, when BIG JOHN is the DJ he is working in OLD TECH and he and I can just whup up on any and all distractions that may arise.
The couple was still married, people understood and we all learned something.
Next time we will KNOW and on the couple's 75th wedding anniversary, they can talk about the good old days when blue-tooth was low tech. © Tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
