Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/11/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]"O'Rourke, Joel, Ctr. OASD/C3I/Y2K" wrote: > > Now, the question is, where to start? I've got more than enough Nikon > equipment to cover any possible contingency (F100, N90 and FM2 plus a dozen > lenses...) But I want (no, my photographic muse tells me I *must*...) to > regain my Leica skills. How did I come to this conclusion? Simple, really: > the photographs. I was looking through boxes of photographs taken over the > last ten years, and the Leica pictures were the easiest to spot, especially > when people were the subjects. Oh yes, there's nothing like the parallax-free through-the-lens view of a fleeting smile as it becomes a grimace in the fraction of a second it takes to focus an SLR! I think one of the handiest lessons I ever taught myself was to shoot first, and check focus only if I have time. I have a bunch of Leica photos which are kind of soft (maybe they'll work as 5x7s), but I think I've caught the moment just the way I wanted it. Something about the rangefinder camera makes this act of discipline easier to carry out. Observation: No amount of black tape, however skillfully applied, makes a Nikon F4s resemble an innocent amateur's camera. Hypothesis: But a strategically placed "Barney" sticker just might. In more formal situations, you might also try putting the SLR on a tripod and simply squeezing off shots with the cable release--without bringing your eye back to the finder. If you can lock up the mirror and thus avoid the telltale flash as the mirror swings and the iris closes, so much the better. Just make sure to place your face about where you want your subjects to be looking. True, some subjects insist on staring right at the camera lens, no matter what! - -- Jeff Segawa Boulder, Colorado www.boulder.net/~4season