Re: [Leica] Four new PAWs

[Martin Howard <mvhoward@mac.com>]

It would appear that I'm breaking some unwritten rule here, but let's 
pretend that you've been shooting PAWs for 2.5 years... ;)

I like the still-lives best, very nice contemplative mood.  My favorite 
is the window shot, you're right, the tonality of the film is great.  
This photograph 'works', although I can't quite put my finger on why.  
After looking at it for a long while, I noticed that there appears to 
be a slight clockwise tilt to it.

The other one (basket) has a slightly disturbing/busy background.  I 
find my eyes scooting over towards the pile of wood all the time, when 
they should be looking at that lovely range of tones in the basket.

The shot of the woman at the bottom of the page is the kind of shot 
that I would take too and that I've come to discover doesn't work.  
It's not a portrait and it's not an environmental portrait -- it's 
something else.  The relatively shallow depth of field, the 
half-figure, and the shooting position means that the person (in focus) 
is completely disconnected from their surroundings (out of focus).  As 
such, the background almost distracts more than it supports the 
picture.  (In this particular picture, I keep on finding my eyes 
seeking out the out-of-focus person behind the wall on the right.)  You 
could use that to tell a story -- but in this picture, that story isn't 
present.

I think the remedy is to either shoot with a smaller aperture, keeping 
the background in focus, or more probably to do the shot completely 
differently.  Swap the 50 for a 35 or a 28, move your subject closer to 
the house, and choose a slightly lower viewpoint.  Maybe even frame it 
as a vertical.  Place the subject in their surrounding, rather than 
trying to isolate them from it (but still showing it).  Or, swap the 50 
for a 90 and get closer, a head-and-shoulders deal.  Your shot of the 
antiques dealer is better in this respect (although I think a step to 
your left, and a slight rotation, would have eliminated the car 
headlight from the image, and separated your subject better from the 
houses in the background).

I love the environmental portrait -- but they're tricky as hell to pull 
off.  Your week 7 antiques dealer works, as does the week 3 
construction worker.  Not that it's an environmental portrait, but the 
week 6 doll collector is just freaky good (have you tried it in B&W?)

I disagree with you on the Meinecke guy shot: I prefer the left one, 
because his face is not in such a contorted angle, but the right shot 
is better framed.  A third shot combining the best qualities of these 
two would be the winner.

All these PAWs (yours and others) are teaching me a lot -- mostly they 
teach me that the difference between a good photograph and a great 
photograph is terribly small, that it's in the details, and that to get 
the great photographs, you've got to shoot A LOT of film.

I have yet to take a great photograph myself.  I think I'm beginning to 
recognize them when I see them in print and understand what makes them 
great (for me).  Now I 'just' need to recognize them in front of the 
camera.  That's the tricky part ;)

M.

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