Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/02/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Don Lawrence wrote & showed: <<> Interesting series of photos. That driver was luck to walk away. <<< I noticed this post and thought I should have a look as I recall as a daily news photographer we were always being sent off anytime of day or night to photograph crash scenes. This also included a few passenger and military planes during the years. Vehicle crashes ranked good, bad, lousy and really shocking! GOOD: The good were a nice pile up and nobody hurt but good pictorially. BAD: Got there late and mess sort of cleaned up but car parts still about. LOUSY: Good crash but ambulance with victims removed, missed best shots. SHOCKING! Well these were the really grim reaper type. The kind you don't see in the family paper but do in the rag crap tabloids. Bodies still inside wreck or lying about on the street and worse. When you arrived on the scene it was shoot everything as fast as you could, trust me there wasn't too much composition concern as it was generally a type of over all shot most times with the occasional shot inside the car with the human remains some what unrecognizable. Why did we shoot some of that? Well the police used them in their "improve your driving skills and anti drinking driving campaigns." But to be honest, it was a very tough call when it was kids involved, particularly when you had your own at home. One can't say it was a pretty picture at anytime, but it's the job of the news photographer and you did it. That doesn't mean to say you didn't have nightmares after some of them and for me it sure helped keep me sharp at the wheel anytime driving. Used a Leica later during the career for some of them but in the early days it was nearly all Speed Graphic. ted Ted Grant Photography Limited www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html