Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/06

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: RE: [Leica] Alfie's Leica PAW #5
From: "B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 16:05:35 -0500

Please Alfie, please, THINK and VISUALIZE before you shoot. And once you've
shot, look at the result and ask yourself, 'If I saw this photo hanging on a
wall, what would I think of it?"

I really do think I have some idea of what you are doing, because back when
I first picked up a camera, I did some of the same things. In this case you
saw a tangle of brush, and you said to yourself, 'gee, that looks really
cool. Look at the way the branches intertwine. Look at the patterns. That's
wild. I'm going to take a photo of that.' So you pointed your R$, just as I
pointed my Kodak Bantam, you focused, and you pushed the shutter release.
And you ended up, as I did back then, with a photo of a pile of brush.
Unfortunately, however, that pile of brush doesn't say or convey anything
other than "pile of brush." It does not have any dominant pattern. It
doesn't hint at mysteries beyond. It doesn't say 'virgin forest.' It doesn't
say 'look how mankind has raped the wilderness.' It's just THERE. And THERE
does not a worthwhile photo make.

Not that you are asking for suggestions, but I'm going to give you one
anyway.

For the next couple of weeks, every other time you see something you want to
photograph, DON'T photograph it. Just push the shutter release to capture
half the images you think you want. And think MUCH MUCH harder about those
images and why you want to preserve them.

AND - try making a series of photos, of various subjects - even brush piles
;-) - where you take about three shots of each subject - one from the
closest your lens will focus, one from about 6-8 feet away, and one from at
least 15 feet back. Then compare each of the images. Teach yourself what
each of your lenses does. Get a feel for how close you have to be to a
subject, or how far away from it you need to be. Then go back and take one
additional shot of each subject, from what appears to be the best shooting
distance; frame carefully, check your exposure carefully - and think about
WHY you are taking the photo.

AND DON'T POST ANY OF THOSE IMAGES.

Instead, take what you learn from the exercise and go look for images to
shoot for your Paw.

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Albert Wang
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 3:42 PM
To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
Subject: [Leica] Alfie's Leica PAW #5


Alfie's PAW exists at http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=468450
which entails a picture of the brush of a forest. Picture taken with the
Leica R4.

Alfie

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html