Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/02/26
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Kit, I can identify with that. I began working in a photographic studio for a Dutch photographer who put me in the darkroom printing his negatives for portrait clients. Day after long day of making slight variations in cropping to his already beautifully composed portraits from perfectly exposed negatives. I cursed every day printing in that darkroom, when all I ever really wanted to do was get out into the studio, or anywhere else, and take pictures. It took me some years to realise that that was the greatest training I could have received. Staring day after day at the printing easel taught me to identify a good composition. I transferred this subconsciously to the viewfinder and found that I had learned to crop in the camera. To this day I rarely crop an image except to change the proportions to, perhaps, a panorama. Great lesson, learned hard. Rob Kit McChesney | acmefoto wrote: > Speaking of boxes with holes in them ... you're absolutely right! When I was > in college and majoring in photography, in what was a scandalously bad > program somewhere in the South, my professor, who was the tyrannical > director of the program, would not allow his students to use anything BUT a > pinhole camera, one that we had to build from scratch from balsa wood, with > a precisely measured hole drilled into a small piece of sheet brass. Not > only that, but we had to create our own gray cards, gray scales, test for > reciprocity failure, and a whole host of other arcane tasks that had already > been done by Kodak and god and goddess knows who else, and surely didn't > need to be done by a cast of poor, overworked undergrads who only wanted to > learn to take a good picture and learn to use a Good Camera. This horrid man > fancied himself as The Most Knowledgeable Authority on The Subject of The > Pinhole Camera, and was one of the most unpleasant individuals I have ever > met in my entire life. He did more to kill the creative spirit of droves of > enthusiastic young photographers than anyone could possibly have imagined. > (I'm still in recovery). > > However, I did learn that a camera is indeed a box with a hole, and that you > can take some very interesting pictures with such a box. > > Makes working with an M a lovely and well-deserved reward for doing penance > in that dismal darkroom 25 years ago. > > Kit > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Beddoe, > Neil > Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2003 10:03 AM > To: 'leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us' > Subject: [Leica] A camera is a box with a hole in the front. > > My M6 is in a pretty sorry state with external bits falling off and the > superglue stuck to the chrome from when I glued the leather back down and > used too much. Strangely it takes pictures just as well as it did when I > first bought it. My lenses are still mint in every way as I wrap them in > cotton wool and tuck them up in bed every night with a lullaby since they > are the means by which light enters my camera and strikes the film and as > such are sacred and wondrous objects. > > I hope all the black paint, titanium and other silly variants on the M > camera all fall under Mr Cassidy's bastard file and the people who buy them > realise that this WON'T AFFECT THE QUALITY OF THE PICTURES IN THE SLIGHTEST > AND THAT'S WHAT COUNTS. > > Neil > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > This message is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the > designated recipient(s) named above. If you are not the intended recipient > of this message you are hereby notified that any review, dissemination, > distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. This > communication is for information purposes only and should not be regarded as > an offer to sell or as a solicitation of an offer to buy any financial > product, an official confirmation of any transaction, or as an official > statement of Lehman Brothers. Email transmission cannot be guaranteed to be > secure or error-free. Therefore, we do not represent that this information > is complete or accurate and it should not be relied upon as such. All > information is subject to change without notice. > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- __________________________________ Rob Heyman M.Photog 32 Binyara Street CHAPEL HILL Qld 4069 Ph 07 3878 3884 fax 07 3378 6639 __________________________________ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html