Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/08

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Jeffery PAW - Week 10 - À la manière de Robert Capa
From: jsmith342 at cox.net (Jeffery Smith)
Date: Wed Mar 8 16:11:45 2006

What I'm trying for is a lot of grays like I get from grayscaling color
print film in PS. My reference to Capa and HCB was not so much their
subjects or style of shooting as the qualities of their negatives and prints
(the technical side). I learned 30 years ago that the Zone System is hard to
use down here when it is sunny outside. You either get zones I - VIII or
zones III-X. Try to bracket, and you can get zones II-VIII. Very
frustrating. So I need to */Watch the light/* from a very basic perspective,
i.e., don't try to shoot in broad daylight without clouds. I suspect that
many of the folks on this forum like to shoot in indoor available light
because they CAN get zones I-X in one image with rich grays, no blown
highlights, and no blocked-up shadows. For me, a badly shot negative cannot
really be "fixed" per se in PhotoShop. At best, it can be salvaged.

In scanning about 20 rolls in the past few weeks using a variety of films
and developers, I have come to the conclusion that the guy who develops film
in the local pro lab down the street is meticulous enough and enough of a
perfectionist that I may need to rely on him to develop my film until I find
a look that I like. Then I'll stick with that film.

The days of XP2 and T400CN sure were easier...they were always exactly the
same roll after roll.

Jeffery Smith
New Orleans, LA
http://www.400tx.com

  
>

Jeffery:

If all it took to emulate Capa, HCB or Frank was a trip to the local 
photo store we'd all be rich and famous. Unfortunately, (well, you fill 
in the rest)

One point though, density is a function of exposure not film speed and 
in fact  slower films are much thinner emulsions than say Tri-X or HP5. 
I'd  bet Capa and Bresson  were shooting something akin to the fast 
films of their day.

When Photographers Formulary starts producing their Rodinal copy in 
liquid form and you're still looking for "that look" try it and Tri-X. 
That darn stuff was the oldest formula developer on the market and would 
give substance to your images like nothing else.

If you want to experiment, try 1 camera, 1 lens (28 or 35) and a pocket 
full of film. Go back to the 9th ward (where you've done so well 
already) and pick one scene. Do this one scene until it can't be done 
any better. Most importantly, look at the scene. */Watch the light/*, 
and when it's time to shoot, do it. Don't forget the most important 
thing, /*Watch the light. */When you think you can't do it any better, 
stop and /*Watch the light.  */That's why they call it photography.

Walt




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Replies: Reply from dlridings at gmail.com (Daniel Ridings) (Re: [Leica] Jeffery PAW - Week 10 - À la manière de Robert Capa)
In reply to: Message from walt at waltjohnson.com (Walt Johnson) ([Leica] Jeffery PAW - Week 10 - À la manière de Robert Capa)