Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/05/01

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Subject: [Leica] Great exposures & sharpness don't......
From: Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca>
Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 21:48:00 -0700
References: <ECC6F7B330A26C40B652962C47DEA258183E21@ASC02.asc.upenn.edu>

Hi Guys,
Sometimes you shoot a frame or two and you know you've captured the sharpest
properly exposed, lighting great picture & it's going to be a beauty!  Then.
:-(

Then you make an 11X14 print and you can count the eyelashes of this female
surgeon, the tonal range of the print is perfect, the Leica glass 100mm f
2.8 macro lens used in an available light operating room setting, lens has
cut an image into film you might cut your fingers if not careful.

You stand looking at all these photographic technical niceties and most of
all the great looking "only Leica Lens sharpness crispness, pure magic
technically speaking photograph." So what.

Then you look at it and for all that wonderful technical stuff that some
folks rave on about, the great mm per line and squigglies to make any Leica
carrying member wet their pants over the Leica sharpness look! And what do
you have?

You don't have to look very hard to realize you have a perfectly technical
everything picture that the techno freaks would drool all over while peeing
their pants! And?

You just shrug your shoulders, " Oh well so big deal!" Throw it down on the
out pile. Why?  There isn't any "LIFE IN THE PICTURE!  :-(

It's like one of those absolutely technical crisp everything metered to
death salon magic dead photographs that we are lead to believe, is the
ultimate Leica image on film and print!

All the initial excitement is lost because the damn thing is way too perfect
without any feeling of  heart or emotion. Technically great, but hell
there's an awful lot more to great pictures than being in zone 88, sharp and
perfect tonality.

Sorry folks I don't know where the hell I'm going with this as it's sort of
letting it all hang out frustration! On the one hand I have this wonderful
sharp / crisp Leica glass cut photograph and unfortunately it just sits
there and does nothing!

So you see sometimes it doesn't matter if you use a Leica on a tripod, the
slowest film on earth developed in the finest grain developer and the
techies are all excited at the look and what the expensive lens has cut in
film. But if there isn't any life to it what the hell have you got but a
very leica sharp picture.  Big deal! :-(

good night!
ted

Ted Grant Photography Limited
www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant


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Replies: Reply from Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> (Re: [Leica] Great exposures & sharpness don't......)
Reply from Andrew Schroter <schroter@optonline.net> (Re: [Leica] Great exposures & sharpness don't......)
In reply to: Message from Kyle Cassidy <KCassidy@asc.upenn.edu> ([Leica] good news about the lug scholarship ....)