Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/06/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dave, A good post! >[Snip] the more I crop the more it indicates to me that I slipped a bit in >my initial framing. >[snip] >I'd also wonder why I didn't get the image right in the >viewfinder. Cropping says to me that I could have done better. Not always. >Sometimes getting it right in the viewfinder is impossible. Sometimes not >getting it right is sloppiness, or failure to previsualize adquately. I'm >trying to eliminate the latter. That's fine - next time you'll keep that in mind and try to do better. That's how we learn. I'm always happy when I *realize* what I've done wrong, 'cause that means that I can try to avoid that problem next time around. Almost everytime I print something, I see that the shot could have been better if I had just [...] And next time I'm out shooting, I keep that in mind, saying to myself, "Ah, if I'm not careful, I'm going to get that [X] I don't want in the shot/I'll have a hard time printing that overcast sky/the shot will be spoiled by that kid biting his pet frog, etc. >Most of my images too much in them. Not just around the edges, but >throughout the negative. A good image should be simple. When I'm out >shooting I want to think about how to simplify things. It's a difficult >discipline to master. I once read something 3 important principles in >photography. 1) Keep things simple. 2) When you think you're close enough, >get closer. 3) I can't remember number 3. Another great realization! And more difficult than it sounds. As I mentioned the other day, I won't even attempt the shot if I can see that I'll be getting clutter I don't want in the image. I'll try to change position, point of view, lenses, etc., but sometimes it ain't possible! I don't even try in those cases. Also I was just reading R. Gibson's "Deux ex machina" this morning and he talks a lot about eliminating "data" from the image. For him this meant getting closer, shooting with a DR Summicron or a 90 and cropping the f*** out of the future image *while composing the shot*. And if that's not possible, do post-shoot it in the darkroom: W. Eugene Smith cropped out 2/3s of one shot (from the "Spanish Village" photoessay) to create the image he wanted. Who cares how he got it - it's a great shot. All of this just means: tightening the picture, eliminating the superfluous, honing in on the subject and letting it speak for itself through your presentation. If you have to dick with it (sorry for that decidedly un-PC metaphor) to get what you want, so be it - just get what you want. Guy P.S. I generally don't include a link to my site, so here it is for those who might have missed it first time around. For those who didn't, there's nothing new here yet, but will be by summer's end. http://home.lainet.com/~gbennett/photography/