I started shooting  Bar Mitzvahs (Google it if you aren’t up on them) a few years back and they were an unknown quantity for me.  Why? because I’m not Jewish so I set about to learn from a fellow photographer and friend, Herb Goldberg in Marblehead who does dozens of them a year.

Herb taught me the basics so I wouldn’t make mistakes (at least too many).  This brings me up to current day where I photographed Jessica I had photographed her brother a couple of years before so the family was happy with my work.

To me a Mitzvah isn’t too much different in structure to a wedding and in some ways it’s easier. You shoot the family members all coming together on a joyous occasion (not hard) and then you photograph the boy or girl on the Bima and these shots are almost always the same. I’ve fond a few angles that I don’t usually see and Herb even gave me a compliment by saying I came up with a shot that he had never thought of so he now shoots that one also.

Here are some of the days shots…

Well that’s enough for now please feel free to check out my online gallery of work.

Jeff Folger
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I photographed a Bar Mitzvah a few weeks ago and while it ‘s not my first I’m always at odds to find ways to keep it fresh and different. I’m constantly trying new things to give my creative side a work out. One place that I go to for inspiration is the Strobist website. The main idea with this site which is really a blog, is there are thousands of photographers from around the world who submit work here. I have to admit seeing their work is humbling but if you want to take your off camera flash work to a new level it’s the place to go.

With that I’ll show you the results of my “strobist” off camera flash work. I find that when I shooting a Bar Mitzvah it’s hard to get really creative since the parents want their formals and the boy pretty much just wants it over. Like a wedding a Mitzvah has similar events that need to be captured. It usually starts with immediate formals of the boy or girl and then building up to the immediate or even extended family. This time I even did a generational shot with four generations.

Then since no photography is permitted during the ceremony you get the Rabbi or a Cantor to pose with the boy or girl and this time I had my voice activated light stand with me.

(Jurgen) held my second flash, 90 degrees off my position and had it 10′ in the air aimed down. I fired it with a pocket wizard and had it set for 1/16th power. The over all affect made it look like there were windows with sunlight streaming in. I was very happy with the effect and my mentor Herb Goldberg even said that I had captured a shot that he was going to try for next time.

Then after this it’s usually off to the reception site and the candle lighting and the Hora. The Hora is a dance that most people will recognize since it’s been see at a lot of weddings. Basically they have the person of Honor go sit in a chair and they then raise this person up before the crowd. Then each member of the family follows suit. There is usually much dancing and the kids usually have a DJ that has all sorts of games to keep all the kids occupied.

In the end it’s a matter of keeping an eye open for things going on around the boy or girl and making sure they are the center of my focus. Then it’s just a matter of telling their day with my photos. The parents called after seeing the photos and scheduled their daughter for next year so I assume they were happy.

I read this in a professional photography magazine, (no I don’t use words like this normally). And last night on Craigslist in the wedding forum several past brides admitted to having received their CD of images and it was now gathering dust in a drawer. Does this sound familiar to you or someone you know? Then they are disenfranchised!

I found out recently that this applies to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs also. I had a referral come to me and the mother admitted that over three years ago her older son had his Bar Mitzvah and all the pictures were still sitting in the closet gathering dust. Then she picks the package that includes a nice leather, digital flush mount album. Now she has to deal with the problem that she doesn’t have one for the older son and how that looks to him. All because we think we’ll have time down the road to be creative. What happened? Life happened, that’s what. Work, kids, husband and friends to name a few.

Today too many photographers take the easy route and miss out on opportunities to have closure with their clients. I too have clients from this year who probably feel they have all the time in the world to create their own personalized albums. I won’t say they don’t but I wonder how many have the time, after dealing with their home projects, finish a day at work and all the multitudes of things that subtract time from your day, how many pull out the cd and start ordering prints for that Michaels/AC Moore $25.00 album?

What I try to do is keep the cost of an album reasonable and not holding the client hostage with prices that are up with the national debt. I use both digital flush mount and coffee table/magazine style albums that appeal to many couples in today’s marketplace. Whether you come to me for a professional album or go to an online book maker and have them design one for you (there are some on the knot) These designers have many albums to pick from and it’s a fairly easy process to complete that day which is often termed the most important day of your life. Yet if it was so important why do you have no physical testament to that day?