[Leica] Bracketing and machine guns, OFF TOPIC

["Peter Su" <psu@jprc.com>]

>The 35mm AF
>motor-driven camera is like a machine gun.
>

OK. I'm getting a little tired of this worn out analogy. It should be clear
to any reasonably intelligent photographer that putting the camera in auto
and bracketing 36 exposures of one scene into a roll of film at 8 frames per
second isn't the most efficient way to take a picture. However, I think it
is unrealistic to think that this is how most competant people use a 35mm AF
"machine gun."

I am reminded of what Galen Rowell wrote about a picture in Mountain Light,
taken in the deserts of California. At the time he took the photo, he was
trying to save film, and took only 2 exposures (always make a dupe). He
said, if shot the same picture now, he'd take a whole roll. Why? To bracket?
Well, that's part of it. He would also take in camera duplicates, verticals
*and* horizontals, various pictures with different lenses, different
compositions to allow for editorial copy on top or below the picture, and,
by the way, to bracket some exposures because it hard to know at the time
what will print well.

The point is that the pros who shoot for editoral pictures or books work
under different conditions that you, me, or Ansel Adams. They are not
necessarily free to just take the "best" picture and leave it at that. They
have to cover themselves in various ways, and take many different
compositions and exposures of the same scene to maximize how salable an
image is. Thus, they use what seems to us to be a lot of film.

Also, IMHO, Ansel Adam's real skill was being able to make beautiful prints
out of any negative he happened to have, whether or not it was well
exposed...

Thanks for listening.

Pete

P.S. I don't want this message to sound like I'm trying to speak for pros.
I'm not one, and I have no real clue what it takes to do what they do... but
this is my interpretation of what I have read about some of their methods,
right or wrong.