Banquet photography

[2] In part its decline is owed to the difficult technical aspects of producing quality banquet photos, the difficulty of printing such large negatives, and the expense and size of the equipment needed.

[2] Today, though hard to find, there are a handful of photographers still shooting banquet photos with flashbulbs and large format film cameras.

[6] Miles Weaver (1879–1932) ran one of the largest banquet and panoramic photography studios in Los Angeles.

His work included early Academy Award celebrations, religious revivals, movie publicity stills and bathing beauty pageants.

[7] George R. Lawrence (1869–1938) was renowned for developing a flash powder that permitted indoor banquet photography.

A single electric charge exploded all the powder, generating more light and less smoke than previous methods.

[10] Modern photographers that still use the original technology includes Terry Gruber, who uses a 100-year-old, 12×20-inch banquet camera for contemporary occasions.

With a wide-angle lens set to the widest aperture and the shutter open, the photographer frames the picture on the ground glass with the aid of a light shielding dark cloth over their head.

The photographer cues the participants that they will count down and say open and that they need to be absolutely motionless during the explosion of the flash for two seconds.