I have a Dedicated cameraman at most of my events, he dosent play in game, he wears ww2 uniform and blends in to the game, but hes under strict instructions not to film/photos people who are hiding or are in any way acting tactically, he films the fighting from inside the squad he follows.
He coming to the FUHRER game, and i ask all players who Don't want to be filmed photographed to make them selves know to him at the game start or in game, then hes aware.(it worked well at the anarchy game)
If you have US or German kit come allong and take part, (you would probably need a Night vision or UV camera, I ask cameras NOT to use flash in the tunnels IN GAME, it spoils the game for players) all i ask is you put all pictures up on the forum for the players to see, Then the players can fight as opposed to trying to take photos.
pm me if you fancy it, 1 cameraman a side would allow better coverage
"Take that you rotton helping of strawberry flan!"
Joseph Porta to "strawberrys and cream", in the sven hassel book ,ogpu prison
I'm sure Chommers and Bedsnherts will be along shortly.
My feeling is that I'd rather players immersed themselves into the scenario rather than looking out for good shots to take/pose for. Whilst photos are lovely to see, the act of photography can sometimes distract people from why they are there.
We once had problems starting a game on time because people were posing for shots.
If it can be done discretely then that's great.
at the right moment?
as dark as dark gets before it becomes something else entirely that probably has a name in theoretical physics.
I was playing at "Combat Cameraman" at Gothic with the American forces, the shots I got in game were all either in between fire fights or from behind the front line, it will be interesting to see the results once developed, but with bbs flying about my shots were hurried with very little thought to composure or exposure (And I'm pretty sure the majority will be "off" despite the Olympus Trip being a point and press), and I can say that at no time did my swinging a camera get in the way of play...
Saying that, I also ended up way out front with a radio on Recce wit Easy Co Mark, Applied more bandages that weekend as I ever did as DogCo's Engineer, ended up having to take a stint at the .30 on the armoured jeep due to the high rate of casualties at that post, and generally was the spare bod to fill any post that needed filling.
I personally wouldn't want to take my DSLR into a (or any) battle as the cost of replacing the lenses would run into ΓΒ£thousands, but will now work in earnest to get a digital "Rangefinder" lookalike set up for next year as it was fun regardless of any photographic results
I will eventually get around to making a (LARP) foam generic "Rangefinder" around my little Rolleii point and shoot digital and put it in the Leica leather case that the Olympus was in for this weekend.... As for the Speed Graphic idea loads of room to do that but they are big and heavy and I am not getting any younger or fitter
I think the thing to avoid is standing up in plain view taking photographs or wandering around next to people in concealed positions, especially not if wearing a hi vis jacket. As happened at a recent event....
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
That is exacly how it should be done in my opinion, looking like you should be there not standing out like a sore thumb. Of course there are still variations on how you can play that role should you choose. Would you still play as part of a squadmember and perform other duties like Aitch did? Would you stick with one group or rove around? Would you carry a weapon of any kind? These are all factors that may affect an individual organisers willingness to include you or offer you a discount.
One other option is to dress as a civilian and roam the battlefield.
Combat photographer is certainly an option, BedsnHerts did that brilliantly with his film camera at Hauptmann Horn (but again, he took in both sides).
Cheers
Martin
"Mistakes in the initial deployment cannot be rectified" Helmuth von Moltke
Toys: AGM MP40, Cyma M1A1, TM M14/G43/SVT40, TM VSR/K98, SnS No. 4, ASG Sten, Ppsh.
Arnhem3,Gumrak,Campoleone
I took my 1911 as my main weapon, with my Thompson strapped to the wing of the GMC. I ended up carrying the Thompson too as my roles emphasis chaged to a far more combative one
i just put my cameraman in a plain brown ww2 greatcoat, and point him out to all players on the saftey brief, (not that it stopped his face getting shredded at anarchy) hes a card, and takes a good mullering in his stride, as a price to pay to get some pictures.
he dosn`t pay to play as hes not playing at all, he never shoots at all , though he did form part of the russain suicide charge on each occasion to film from within the charge.
"Take that you rotton helping of strawberry flan!"
Joseph Porta to "strawberrys and cream", in the sven hassel book ,ogpu prison