Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/05
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Marc James Small wrote: > Well, these snap-shooters have simply been ill-educated in their craft. It > is a sad reality that many press photographers really aren't photographers > at all, just photographic technicians who know how to do only a few things > competently. To these guys, the ONLY way to take a mug shot is to get > closer, closer, closer. It would never occur to them to use a moderate > telephoto and to stand at a distance, because no one has ever suggested it > to them. > SNIP > Marc Marc et al, Having done news photography I present this not as an apology but as a rationale. I have been in situations where you only have one chance at a photo. And you have everyone, particularly TV photogs, crowding around blocking the shot. Sometimes you only have one alternative and that is to go wide. Believe me, I hate it. Tell it to my editor when I'd come back and get my butt reamed for not having the pic. It bespeaks more about the type of product desired rather an artistry or craft. Admittedly, I have also stood back and made pix of the mob frenzy around someone and that, too, is equally a part of the story. Ultimately, much news today is so canned, vis à vis politico/spin stuff that mostly all you'll get are the choreographed photo ops. I was recently hired to do photos at the Congressional retreat and it was nice because once the orchestrated photo ops were over I was able to make some nice pics of genuine interaction and candidness. - -- Carl Socolow http://members.tripod.com/SocPhoto/