Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/01/27
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks for the detailed comments, Martin. You are right about bending my knees, should definitely have done it with the street shot, and will try next time I am in Copenhagen--the manhole cover will still be there, there are always people walking by, and rain is a certainty in Denmark! With the pigeons, it was a bit harder--I was already so close to them that I am afraid any additional movement would have scared them off. The comments about the snow, man & dog picture are interesting. I definitely think that the trees are needed, but get your point about the intruding lamppost. There is no neighbour whom I could ask for use of the balcony, my father's apartment is the last one in that direction. Perhaps a 75mm lens would have been the answer, the 50 would certainly not have worked. It is a difficult scene but I keep coming back to it. Thanks again. Nathan Martin Howard wrote: > >> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt1.jpg >> (M6HM, 21mm Voigtlander, Delta 100) >> >> It was cold, really cold, and I noticed the pigeons huddling on >> manhole covers to get some warmth: >> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt2.jpg >> (same tech data as alt 1) > > > You need to bend your knees when shooting wide angle lenses and the main > object of > interest is on the ground. Crouching down would have produced better > photographs. I recognize this because it's a sin I commit too often > myself: being lazy and not engaging the brain, but just pointing the > camera and going "click". > > That said, I love the guy in the first picture "walking out of the > light", right smack in the middle of the frame. He's in light clothes, > walking in light, compared to the three others who are in dark clothes, > walking in dark areas (true of almost all the others in the > photograph). In some ways, this guy steals the picture: once you notice > him, you forget all about the manhole cover. > >> The last alternate is from Brøndby Strand, the suburb to the south of >> Copenhagen where my father lives. Looking down from his balcony there >> is a long, wide promenade. I have often photographed it but never >> successfully. This winter image, with the naked trees and a man >> walking his dog, comes closest: >> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt4.jpg >> (M6HM, 90mm Apo Summicron, Delta 100) > > > This one is close, so close, but it misses the target. It has great > potential, but the trees are just... wrong. They're cut off, there is > half a lamp-post at the bottom. I'm not quite sure what the remedy is: > a wider angle lens (75mm, 50mm) might have captured more of the trees > (so that they didn't look so chopped off), but then the focal interest > (man & dog) would probably be too small. Perhaps leaving the trees out > of it altogether -- but then, the question is, is the photograph strong > enough? > > The cross created by the footmarks in the snow, along with the man and > dog might be sufficient to make it a strong photograph -- try cropping > it in P-shop and playing with it... see what you come up with. > > Also, the perspective is a bit compressed, a bit odd. My best guess is > that shooting it at and angle, so that the man-dog line was at along a > diagonal, would work best. Trees would get more space and careful > framing would (hopefully) avoid chopping them up into firewood. I > understand that you shot this from a balcony and that you had limited > ability to move sideways. Perhaps you should talk to the neighbours and > shoot from a different balcony...? ;) > > M. > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html