Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/04

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Project '99 ? a picture a day!
From: Harrison McClary <harrison@jnlcom.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 15:38:45 -0600

>I know how you feel. You should try doing it for a living for real. You
>have to be creative and inspired and fresh and trying to make photos
>that no one else could make as well as trying not to repeat what you've
>already done on other jobs or assignments.

Ah yes, or the days when you have a bad headache or your daughter kept 
you up all night because she was sick and you still have to deliver the 
best photo possible that lives up to what the client is expecting from 
you, no excuses.  But all in all I would not trade it for any other line 
of work.
>
>That's what I have my Leicas for. When it starts to feel like work I
>take one of my Leicas (which I keep loaded with film only for myself)
>and go wandering. I keep it with me even when I'm running errands or
>just going to the bar. These are my photos. Not client photos. Then you
>rediscover what it is you love about photography.

Yes how true.  Just doing this is very refreshing and is one reason I 
have recently gotten back into B&W.  I once swore that I would never work 
in a darkroom printing unless I HAD to.  After years of working at 
newspapers having to get prints from marginal negs on tight deadlines I 
grew to hate B&W work.  But now it is fun.  I shoot what I want and have 
fun doing all that developing stuff.  And the dirty tricks I learned to 
meet deadlines do help to get good prints in much less time than it would 
take had I not had that experience.  

Poor kids coming up in news now they will never know the thrill of 
running into the paper with 1/2 hour to process the film and get a PRINT 
to the editor for final, even more fun when shooting color!......digital 
allows them so much more time.  

Gads I remember back in the 1991 World Series we were suing an old Leaf 
35 hooked directly up to the LeafDesk and we were able to fudge the 
deadlines by 30 minutes just because we could scan the negs, it must be 
even better with the digital cameras, no waiting on film to process and 
dry.



Harrison McClary
http://people.delphi.com/hmphoto
new book at http://www.volmania.com