Re: How not to waste a day

[Edward Meyers <aghalide@panix.com>]

On Wed, 17 Sep 1997, Donal Philby wrote:

> Carl Socolow wrote:
> > Speaking of "war stories" I'll at least share a bit of my background
> > when I first started working for a daily newspaper in the early 80s.
> > Most of the guys there had been raised on Crown and Speed Graphics. We
> > younger guys came in with our winders and a bevy of lenses. I was soon
> > told that all you need is a 50mm lens and one sheet of film. If you want
> > a wider shot, step back and a tighter shot move closer. And that if you
> > took your time and waited till the right instant you would have the best
> > picture.
> 
> Of course, this assumes that you can identify instantly when the peak
> moment will be, and that none better will follow.  Which of course is
> impossible.  The beauty of 35mm for documentary/news work, and even for
> corporate work with people and set ups is that you can keep working a
> situation.  Like a writer always takes more notes that will be used in a
> story, so a photographer must explore.  If you only get one stab at a
> moving situation, I think most photographers would go for the safe,
> especially if on assignment.
> 
> > 
> > By the way, I recall reading somewhere that Contact Press photographer
> > Dave Burnett primarily uses a 50mm lens for most of his work. If you
> > take the time to learn it you will truly be amazed at what it can do.\
> 
> One of my favorite (Leica) photographers is Ken Heyman.  In looking
> through a book such as the World's Family, I am struck by the diversity
> of focal lengths he uses for what are mostly simple (seeming) snaps of
> human behavior.  The oposite approach to David Burnett.
> 
> Personally, I see in many different focal lengths.  It would be a lot
> more economical to see in fewer!!
> 
> Donal Philby
> San Diego
> 
As far as I know Ken Heyman used to be a Leica person. I bumped into
him in Koln, Germany many years ago. He was on a trip photographing
for a book and was using Only Olympus SLRs "because they were light
and small". Sometimes photographers are typed for a camera system
they once used. Good example is a Leica book published, I think,
and written by a woman who ran or runs the PR dept in New Jersey.
The book has Robert Capa mentioned as one of the Leica users. Every
picture I've ever seen of this Capa with a camera, was with a 
Carl Zeiss Contax. He may have also used a Rollei. Ed Meyers