Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/01/30
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Donal wrote: <<<< a summary of lecture I heard by Leica photographer Marc Riboud and one of his comments was: "Direct sunlight is the enemy of photography." He obviously doesn't have to shoot travel photos and get them accepted by a commercial stock agency!!>>>>>> Donal, It was one of Riboud's books I was looking at and I just went back and flipped through it to check the lighting conditions. I'm sure he must shoot on every overcast day. Sure there are some "sunny days" but even most of those appear to have heat haze or some softening of direct sunlight. It is the same with HCB in many of his photographs and their is a Canadian, Sam Tata who emmigrated from Shanghia many years ago, whose work is very similar in one of his books. Shade and over cast is in! No shadows to "flashfill" always effective lighting, but soft and gentle. But then the light shines differently (softer) in some areas of the world than what we have in North America, where we tend to have a much harsher high sun compared to the more northern climes of Europe and Asia. As far as Marc shooting for travel agencies, I agree he probably would have a "tough sell" with his appreciation of "mood overcast light" and not brilliant sunshine and sparkling blue waters.:) The more I think about this overcast light thing, the more interesting the prospect of only shooting on overcast moody light days.:) Hell it could start a whole new trend and I could only use aspherical lenses wide open only and adjusting the shutter speeds for a correct exposure .:) That would go along with how I try to shoot anyway, "Widest possible aperture and highest possible shutter speed." :) That would make the best use of the Asph. glass, drop backgrounds completely to mush and the main subject standing out brilliantly crisp! :) Hey watch for the new me at your local theatre:) just kidding guys and gals ted