A short history of the shortfilm company 

The Shortfim Company has its roots in the distant past - about 100 years ago, in fact. Mark’s great grandfather, Robert de Vaux-Balbirnie (born 1881), is known to have been a keen amateur photographer. In the early days, he used the albumen process which involved the use of egg whites and various chemicals to coat the glass photographic plates! The start of the process is described here in a contemporary work:
 

Take a pound of lump sugar, and dissolve it in half a pint of clean rain-water, then boil the solution for five minutes and pour it into a stock-bottle for use. Select always the largest eggs, and as fresh as they can be had. If it is intended to work upon stereoscopic plates, one or two eggs will be quite sufficient to use at a time, as, although the mixture will generally keep for a month or more, it sometimes becomes deteriorated much sooner; it is, therefore, advisable not to tax its keeping qualities too severely . . . . .

One of Robert’s photographs taken about 1920. This shows Robert and his wife Sarah. Apparently, Robert set up the camera and someone else pressed the shutter!

The third child of Robert and Sarah was Terry de Vaux-Balbirnie (born 1915). Interested in photography from an early age, he worked in local cinemas as a projectionist where he picked up lighting and photographic techniques. Film was made from celluloid in those days which, if it stuck in the projector for an instant would burst into flames!)  

Terry about 1950

 

Terry took many family photographs over several decades. He was dispatched to Alexandria in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He then worked as a shipping inspector for a number of years and was often involved with taking photographs of damaged cargo for insurance claims. He also undertook a number of private professional assignments - especially weddings and portraits. He eventually decided to set up his own photographic studio and this proved to be a great success.

Terry’s van - 1967

He is acknowledged to have become the best photographer in the area at the time. Terry retired at the age of 70 (1985) and sold the business.

 Terry - the posh wedding photographer!

Terry’s first-born was also called Terry and, like his father and grandfather before him, maintained a keen interest in photography from a very early age.

 A ten-year old Terry (jnr)

 

He attended many weddings as the stills photographer for his father and for himself, carried out commercial work (being hoisted up in the air on a fork lift truck!) and wrote the children’s book Fun with Photography to promote photography as a hobby. He also wrote a number of technical articles involving photography. Terry and his first wife started a business taking photographs of children in playgroups and schools and this proved very successful.

Terry took a lot of family material on Super 8 film. Later, in the 1970s using early Sony cameras and enormous videotape machines. He then used the newly-available analogue camcorders in the eighties.

Terry’s second son, Mark, had little real interest in still photography but became much more attracted to the emerging video market.  One early piece of work was a Banarama video featuring himself and his cousins and taken using video equipment borrowed by his father! There was also a bizarre murder video involving the use of strobe lighting!

On leaving school, Mark worked for some time for the BBC and on the stage production of the Rock Opera Tommy. He attended the production of Tommy in New York, picking up the techniques which would help him form a video business of his own.

So there it is! Robert died in 1930 but Terry (snr) is still well at the age of 92. He still maintains an interest in photography and uses a digital camera and laptop computer. Terry (jnr) is now involved with digital video editing and Mark, of course, is the powerhouse behind the Shortfilm Company! Three generations of professionals and four if we count Robert cracking his eggs!