[Leica] Re: Available light photography

[LRZeitlin at aol.com (LRZeitlin@aol.com)]

One of my nephews is taking an advanced photo course in college. He is a 
pretty fair photographer and is familiar with all the latest technology. Last week 
the instructor assigned a project of photographing a picture story of an 
early morning (i.e., 4 a.m.) wholesale produce market using available light 
techniques, no flash or tripods allowed. He came over to borrow my Leica with its 
f1.2 50 mm lens and plans on using the fastest film he can buy. Other than that 
he seems woefully unaware of all the techniques we used in the "dark ages" to 
grab available light shots of black cats in coal cellars. He knew nothing of 
latensification, pre-exposure flashing, hypersensitization, etc. He was unaware 
of the tension string or beanbag approach to steady a camera. 

Question:

Are these techniques used anymore? Is film fast enough to do what we want 
without help?
Have we lowered our expectations about conditions in which pictures can be 
taken? 

Larry Z