Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/01/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Rodgers, David jotted down the following: > Re Bonus 1. Amazing how a b/w image can make me see green, and smell fresh > cut grass, here in the dead of winter. Love the expression on Bonus 2. Very > "Leica" photo. Also really like your use of captions. Thanks. I'm delighted that I managed to convey "summer" in the golf shot. The one second test is a test of a good photo, but another one that is equally important to me, is if it managed to trigger other sensory experiences/memories too. I often hear music in my head when I see a really good photograph, so it means a great deal to me that you saw green and smelled grass. I'm discovering that my pictures work best with captions -- or rather, little stories. I take pictures for myself and their significance is often beyond just the merely visual. When I take merely visual pictures, I often get very austere, quite boring compositions with little life in them. I find that writing something about when the picture was taken and why adds something to the experience. So, I don't believe 100% in that a good photograph absolutely must stand alone. I think that it should have value in and of itself, but if the experience can be augmented by text, then it should be. The shot of Mary is very much why I bought a Leica two years ago: It's not very significant, just a moment one morning, but it's a photo I'll treasure forever. It's a Leica M cliché, but then I would never have taken the picture if my camera was an F5 with 80-200mm zoom. And Mary wouldn't have giggled like that. My father saw the shot and said "Mary looks just like Mary". I'm delighted that I managed to capture that. Like Ted says, with colour, your photograph people's clothes, with B&W you capture their soul. BTW -- a blanket comment to all: I'm learning a lot from comments I'm getting privately and publically on this PAW thing. It's turning out to be a tremendously useful tool, and just plain fun too. I love how the LUG has become more visual since Jan 1st. M. - -- Martin Howard | iCon iDole iRate Visiting Scholar, CSEL, OSU | iDeal iDull iMage email: howard.390@osu.edu | iSue iOn iGnorance www: http://mvhoward.i.am/ +---------------------------------------