Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/04/16

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Subject: RE: [Leica] National Geographic
From: "Tim Atherton" <tim@KairosPhoto.com>
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2002 23:02:30 -0600

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
> --
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- ------------
Dante Stella
http://www.dantestella.com

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