Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Dante, I can't remember a Nat Geo story (picture wise) that stuck in my mind over the last several years, and certainly not an individual image tim > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > [mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of > dante@umich.edu > Sent: April 16, 2002 10:34 PM > To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us > Subject: [Leica] National Geographic > > > > 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%3Anationalgeogr aphic.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 - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html