A Tale of Two Wookiees: How Peter Mayhew Taught Me to be a Better Photographer

Actor Peter Mayhew at the Comic Con in June 2006 (photo by Mr. Holga)
Actor Peter Mayhew at the Comic Con in June 2006 (photo by Mr. Holga)

A long time ago in at a Comic Con not so far away … I had the grand opportunity to meet and photograph Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in all the Star Wars movies. Mr. Mayhew taught me a very valuable lesson that every photographer should know: always ask before you take someone’s photograph.

I first met Mayhew at the Sci-Fi Expo at the Plano Convention Center in Plano, Texas in October 2005. I had gotten into film photography about a year earlier. My primary camera was a medium format Rolleicord V. This was before I fell head-over-heels in love with Holga cameras. I was lucky to get any good shots at the time. My Rollie required lots of measuring, setting, focusing and a steady hand, so I relied a lot on a tripod for shots.

Before I actually talked to Mayhew at the signing table, I had set up my Rolleicord on its tripod and set the aperture and shutter speed. All that was left was a little focusing and a press of a button. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Wookiees: How Peter Mayhew Taught Me to be a Better Photographer”