Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/05/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]kyle cassidy wrote: > > i'm damn glas my parents didn't have a camera handy when i was born ... > however, to try and steer this SOMEWHAT towards um, LEICAS folks, that's > what we're here for,<<<<<<<< Hi Kyle, It maybe that the Leica is the truly best camera for the hours of labour time when the mother-to-be is going through her birthing preparedness. I have said many times before there are no "family" pictures of the baby emerging, all you have to do is see a cow give birth in a field and you get the idea. It sounds like you may have the idea that a birthing is just that, pictures of the baby coming into the world. It's a non-event unless you're shooting for a medical purpose. Quite frankly that's the least of the reasons for shooting a birthing as it's truly the emotional power between two people during a very important moment in their lives. The pictures are the mothers facial expressions during labour, the tender caressing care & comfort by the father. And a million other moments by a group of human beings during the birthing process. The expressions of the medical staff as they go about doing their thing, the weighing in of the newborn, the mother's expressions as she sees her child for the first time that she has carried around for 9 months as it has developed. The one thing that some father-to-be photographers don't understand is, that they are just as much a parent of all of this and should be "in the photographs" and not attempting to take photographs. Yep I can see if they want to just take the first "happy snaps" after it's all over, but that is the easy part and only shows the finished product and not the wonderful emotional connection during a labour and birth. In the Photo Technique issue of July/August? there is an article that explains what shooting a birthing is all about which you might want to read along with a look at the pictures. As far as this topic not being of interest to Leica users I find that incorrect, as the Leica is the best camera for these moments where the photographer needs to be quiet, as unseen and uninvolved as possible. The M camera fills that bill perfectly as one works with available light and for heavens sake "NO FLASH!" during a wonderful moment of the human species. Been there, done it many many times and I have never lost my emotional amazement that, one moment there is this bump in her tummy and the next it's a beautiful (well some are pretty ugly) :-) little guy or gal. It's a photo opportunity not to be missed by any photographer. Certainly one with a Leica. ted