[Leica] F 5.6 and don't be there!

[jbm at jbm.org (Jeff Moore)]

2008-04-22-22:34:03 Mark Rabiner:
> 5.6 is said to be the favorite f stop of cinematographers.
> They just love that f stop I read are very comfortable with it.

Whereas, for portraiture...  A few years back (2000 or so?), I was in
London and happened across a show of portraits by Jane Bown.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Bown

I'd never heard of her 'til then.  Presumably Brits would be more likely
to know her.  I was very taken with the work -- simple, un-gimmicky, but
she managed to bring out something individual from her subjects.  I
later found out that our saloonkeeper was an established fan of hers.

Anyway, somewhere in some supporting material, I read that for decades
she'd been doing these pictures with her Olympus 35mm and its 50mm lens
at f/2.8.  Her photos make a compelling argument for a 50mm lens at
f/2.8 on a 24x36mm, um, imaging sensor.  I've been paying more attention
to the strengths of f/2.8 ever since.

So, Ted, is this an example of the "shooting from the shadow side"
you've been trying to teach us all these years?

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bown%2C_Welles.gif

 -Jeff M