Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/01/27

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Continued catch-up: Nathan's PAW 1 and 2 now up also
From: Nathan Wajsman <wajsman@webshuttle.ch>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 06:20:42 +0100
References: <A5431B82-3268-11D7-9188-000393802534@mac.com>

Thanks for the detailed comments, Martin. You are right about bending my 
knees, should definitely have done it with the street shot, and will try 
next time I am in Copenhagen--the manhole cover will still be there, 
there are always people walking by, and rain is a certainty in Denmark!

With the pigeons, it was a bit harder--I was already so close to them 
that I am afraid any additional movement would have scared them off.

The comments about the snow, man & dog picture are interesting. I 
definitely think that the trees are needed, but get your point about the 
  intruding lamppost. There is no neighbour whom I could ask for use of 
the balcony, my father's apartment is the last one in that direction. 
Perhaps a 75mm lens would have been the answer, the 50 would certainly 
not have worked. It is a difficult scene but I keep coming back to it.

Thanks again.

Nathan

Martin Howard wrote:
> 
>> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt1.jpg
>> (M6HM, 21mm Voigtlander, Delta 100)
>>
>> It was cold, really cold, and I noticed the pigeons huddling on 
>> manhole covers to get some warmth:
>> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt2.jpg
>> (same tech data as alt 1)
> 
> 
> You need to bend your knees when shooting wide angle lenses and the main 
> object of
> interest is on the ground.  Crouching down would have produced better 
> photographs.  I recognize this because it's a sin I commit too often 
> myself: being lazy and not engaging the brain, but just pointing the 
> camera and going "click".
> 
> That said, I love the guy in the first picture "walking out of the 
> light", right smack in the middle of the frame.  He's in light clothes, 
> walking in light, compared to the three others who are in dark clothes, 
> walking in dark areas (true of almost all the others in the 
> photograph).  In some ways, this guy steals the picture: once you notice 
> him, you forget all about the manhole cover.
> 
>> The last alternate is from Brøndby Strand, the suburb to the south of 
>> Copenhagen where my father lives. Looking down from his balcony there 
>> is a long, wide promenade. I have often photographed it but never 
>> successfully. This winter image, with the naked trees and a man 
>> walking his dog, comes closest:
>> http://www.wajsman.com/2003_1alt4.jpg
>> (M6HM, 90mm Apo Summicron, Delta 100)
> 
> 
> This one is close, so close, but it misses the target.  It has great 
> potential, but the trees are just... wrong.  They're cut off, there is 
> half a lamp-post at the bottom.  I'm not quite sure what the remedy is: 
> a wider angle lens (75mm, 50mm) might have captured more of the trees 
> (so that they didn't look so chopped off), but then the focal interest 
> (man & dog) would probably be too small.  Perhaps leaving the trees out 
> of it altogether -- but then, the question is, is the photograph strong 
> enough?
> 
> The cross created by the footmarks in the snow, along with the man and 
> dog might be sufficient to make it a strong photograph -- try cropping 
> it in P-shop and playing with it... see what you come up with.
> 
> Also, the perspective is a bit compressed, a bit odd.  My best guess is 
> that shooting it at and angle, so that the man-dog line was at along a 
> diagonal, would work best.  Trees would get more space and careful 
> framing would (hopefully) avoid chopping them up into firewood.  I 
> understand that you shot this from a balcony and that you had limited 
> ability to move sideways.  Perhaps you should talk to the neighbours and 
> shoot from a different balcony...? ;)
> 
> M.
> 
> -- 
> To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html
> 
> 


- -- 
Nathan Wajsman
Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland

e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch
mobile: +41 78 732 1430

Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm
General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm

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Replies: Reply from Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> (Re: [Leica] Continued catch-up: Nathan's PAW 1 and 2 now up also)
In reply to: Message from Martin Howard <mvhoward@mac.com> (Re: [Leica] Continued catch-up: Nathan's PAW 1 and 2 now up also)