Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/06/11
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Mon, 11 June 2001, "Dan Honemann" wrote: > > I'm interested in hearing how fellow LUG nutz got interested in photography, > why they pursue it and what they like to shoot. I'm spending some time now > looking at my own interest in this medium and seeing if I can't refine my > vision (no pun intended) of what I want from this medium. I'd love to hear > statements from others about their visions and goals. > > Besides, it will be a most welcome break for me from mulling too much over > equipment purchasing decisions. > > Dan Dan, If I didn't live on the west coast as a kid I probably wouldn't have developed an interest in photography. As a child I was intersted in wildlife, particularly birds, and my well-meaning parents bought numerous books to satisfy my interest. Trouble is the books available in the US at the time were published on the east coast, marketed primarily to the east coast. These books had beautiful photos of eastern birds, not the western birds I saw every day. I decided I had to make my own photos of the western birds. Starting in high school with a used Nikon F and home-made telescope, I hid in a cardboard box to snap pictures of Acorn Woodpeckers and Scrub Jays. Over the course of 10 years the cardboard box gave way to a home-made blind made of canvas and PVC, the telescope was replaced with a succession of real lenses, and when the Nikon's meter resistor ring died (again) I realized it had an opportunity to re-think my camera system. The most useful lens I'd used on the Nikon was a Novoflex follow-focus (grizzly bear and sapsucker on my website) but the lens was bulky, very heavy and the color quality wasn't up to my expectations. I'd read glowing reviews of the 400mm f/6.8 Telyt a number of years ago and replaced my Nikon kit (2 bodies, 6 lenses) with one lens, one camera and one film: Leicaflex SL, 400mm Telyt, Kodachrome 64. Once I saw the difference the equipment made I wanted to throw out all my old photos and re-do everything with that marvelous Leica 400. Aesthetically I was in a fog until just a few years ago. I'd made a number of photos I liked and also lots and lots of photos which, while technically perfect, gave me no rush of adrenalin. I had no idea why some thrilled me and others left me cold. There was something called "composition" that totally baffled me until I read a book written by nature photographer Gary Braasch that explained it in terms I could understand. The photos I'd made in the past that "worked" were more a matter of random chance than anything else. Understanding more of what makes a composition "work" or not is helping and has helped me refine my photographic goals. For me it's not enough any more to made good descriptive photos of wildlife. I want good composiitons that include wildlife; not photos *of* the critters, but photos *about* the critters. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com ___________________________________________________ The ALL NEW CS2000 from CompuServe Better! Faster! More Powerful! 250 FREE hours! Sign-on Now! http://www.compuserve.com/trycsrv/cs2000/webmail/