Re: [Leica] the leicaness of leica WAS Erwin, photographic technique

[Johnny Deadman <john@pinkheadedbug.com>]

re Tripods & slow film

>> Rebuttals anyone??<<<<<<<<

Only half a rebuttal!

I have no problem with tripods and slow film (though haven't tried it yet
for street shooting... don't worry, I will, it sounds like a neat idea) but
I also kind of think then once you start down that path you are inexorably
drawn to other formats and other systems. I, for example, have decided to
shortcircuit the whole darn thing by buying a 4x5 camera to get it out of my
system. I went out and bought VIEW CAMERA magazine, thinking, this is gonna
have a lot of boring photographs in it, and opened it up to find a
staggeringly beautiful and inspiring spread on Brazilia that really got my
juices flowing.

The corollary of this is not 'never use a leica on a tripod' but 'exploit
the leica-ness of the leica'. For example, you will look in vain for a f/1.4
lens on a view camera or a medium format system for that matter, so just to
annoy Mark Rabiner I suggest very strongly that you shoot traditional
landscape matter handheld at f/1.4 using your leicas and see what the result
is.

Here, from the ill-fated PROJECT JERUSALEM, are a couple of examples of
photographs in that tradition that i don't think I could have taken with any
other camera, all handheld and mostly wide open with the 50/1.4.

(you may have to crank your monitor brightness).

    http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/projectjerusalem/n8/pages/002.html
    http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/projectjerusalem/lincoln/pages/001.html
    http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/projectjerusalem/lincoln/pages/009.html

- -- 
Johnny Deadman

http://www.pinkheadedbug.com