[Leica] An introduction and some book recommendations

["Mark E Davison" <Mark_E_Davison@email.msn.com>]

With the thought of perhaps sparking some new and productive threads, I
thought I would introduce myself and make a few book recommendations.


Background

First, a little background. I am a semi-retired software engineer, having
worked in the industry for 10 years, first at Aldus (now purchased by
Adobe), working on desktop publishing, and then at Visio (makers of a
Windows program for drawing and diagraming.) This is my third career, after
defense consulting and being a mathematics professor. I'm doing free-lance
writing and reviewing now.

I'm taking some time away from full-time work to pursue two passions that I
have shelved for many years: music and photography.  I am practicing piano
seriously for the first time in 20 years, taking courses in music theory,
and studying photography on my own. I am combining the two interests by
doing a photo essay on a local community orchestra. In my photography I have
gone half digital: I shoot conventional 35mm film,  scan it (via a Nikon
LS2000) into PhotoShop for processing, and then print to an inkjet printer.
The results are way better than drugstore prints, but not quite up to the
quality of a good platinum print <grin>.

My photographic interests are still pretty broad at this point, including
intimate snap-shots of my family, nature photography, and coverage of
musicians at work. I love natural light, and living in the Pacific Northwest
gives me a chance to sample the whole gamut, from brooding dark gray, to
lovely soft diffuse, to stark sunshine (the last is a secret--it is actually
sunny here part of the year!)



Book Recommendations

These come from my current quest to improve past being a "shapshot"
photographer.
Beyond all the classic "how-to" books in photography, I have recently found
the following books a source of inspiration:

on being a photographer, David Hurn and Bill Jay, available through
www.lenswork.com. David Hurn is full of strong opinions (not all of which I
agree with), but he states them with beautiful clarity. I especially like
his discussion of shoes as the single most important photographic accessory.
He also has a good discussion of the importance of the camera to the
photographer. (Hurn was a Leica photographer for some years, but does more
medium format now.)

Photographing the world around you, Freeman Patterson. A great set of
exercises to get you to see the world better, and to open up your vision to
new photographic possibilities.

Andre Kertesz: His Life and Work, Pierre Borhan.  Kertesz was a Hungarian
who was active in the 30s in Paris (and later in New York), and produced a
body of work that combines geometric sensitivity and an acute humanism. He
used Leica rangefinders for some of the work. His sensibility is very
different than Henri Cartier-Bresson in a way I can't quite explain.
Definitely worth looking at if you are not familiar with him.

John Register: Persistent Observer, Barnaby Conrad III. Register was a
"realist" painter, but he had an uncanny ability to capture light and he
created outstanding, powerful compositions. His subjects are mostly still
lifes of furniture in lobbies and restaurants, subjected to California
light. (I find composition the
single most difficult thing to learn in photography, and have decided to
start looking at paintings as well.) Seattle area residents note: a John
Register retrospective is scheduled for the Frye Art Museum, July 2 to
August 29, 1999.

Basic Photographic materials and Processes, Stroebel, Compton, Current and
Zakia. A very techie book, but the only place I've found that really
explains light metering, sensitometry, exposure latitude,  and many other
topics.