Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Call me shallow, uneducated and rude, but... Reading this: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/qanda/ "How much film is shot on an assignment? The number of rolls (usually 36 exposures each) ranges from 300 or 400 to more than 1000 for complex stories. While this seems high, you must remember that professional photographers ³sketch² with the camera, much like writers probe with questions to get at the essential information. They explore subjects visually by shooting many sides of a subject in many ways. It is usually the combination of enough time in the field and enough film exposed that provides the depth that has become the hallmark of our coverages." - --- A thousand monkeys, given an eternity and typewriters seem to get results, too. NG's realization rate is absurdly low. Let's take the low end of this estimate. 400 rolls x 36 exposures / 8 weeks (ave) / 7 days = 257 frames per day or 1 frame every 2.80 minutes over a 12-hour workday. Is the definition of "sketch" to run your F5 on motor drive continuously? I have been to a lot of places and I think it is highly questionable whether any society is moving so fast that you would find something even arguably photographically useful an average of every two minutes and 40 seconds. If, of course, they waited for something interesting to happen, it would mean that they would just roll the motor drive. I would love to know how much film DDD or Gene Smith used in a day. I would hazard to guess a lot less. - ---- "Any advice for a photographer wanting to enter the profession? Desire and drive count, but professional photography is a competitive business, and for every successful photographer there are dozens looking for work. Training can only help to fine-tune a natural ³eye,² and although a prospective photographer may have a true passion for the art and craft, if he lacks that eye no amount of training or desire can compensate. Many people must be content to be advanced amateurs rather than professionals." No, working at Geographic is about connections, connections, connections. It couldn't be about having photographic "eye"... Other than McCurry's Afghan girl, can anyone name a national Geographic picture? She is memorable only because she had bright blue eyes. Wait, I remember one with some monkeys in a hot spring in Japan... but frankly Life photographers were far, far better at making images which stick in your mind. Looking at an issue of Geographic today, calling its photography "craft" is being somewhat charitable. Utilitarian editorial eye candy is a little easier to swallow. Dante > Hello Luggers, > If you want to spend some time seeing what National Geographic > photogs use their M6's for, please check out the following URL: > http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=leica+M6+site%3Anationalgeographic.com > Enjoy > Howard > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - ------------ Dante Stella http://www.dantestella.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html