[Leica] Re: December 2007 LUG Photo Contest results

[rpalmier at depaul.edu (bob palmieri)]

Y'all -

Most interesting that this snap should provide a focus for discussion  
of so many issues (most of them admittedly my own.)  I'll "front  
load" this post so if you don't feel like schlogging through it all  
you can get the general idea quickly.

Thanks to Geoff, George, Luis, B.D., Philippe, Michiel, Ric, and Bill  
for providing positive perspective on this shot:

http://contest.leica-users.org/main.php/v/0712/McfR-1_5.jpg.html? 
g2_imageViewsIndex=1

Basically, I feel that one of the only things that's sillier than  
judging a bunch of photos and picking a few winners is judging the  
results of the judging.  I doubt if anyone on the list (even an  
individual judge) agrees with the results of the overall Cabal of  
Judges in all of the contests so far.  I've certainly had that "how  
can this thing have been picked as First Place when this other one  
didn't even get mentioned" feeling at least once in previous months...

I really don't believe in photography contests.  I've picked up a  
couple of really funny examples of prints in junk (oh yeah... excuse  
me, "antique") shops that were submitted for photo club contests in  
the 50's & 60's; the kindof things people do when they're sucking up  
to judges really makes me laugh.  (One of my fantasies is that I'll  
snag a grant one of these days that will allow me to tool around the  
US (in the 2-seat retro sports car of my choice) and collect a bunch  
of these things for a nice exhibition someday.)  How I let myself  
slip in to entering some snaps into a few LUG contests is something I  
need to examine (the deadline corresponded with monthly editing, the  
theme-based constraint helped clarify classification and keywording,  
etc.)  Another reason for this aversion to contests is that a lot of  
folks who don't "win" start to feel that their stuff needs to look  
more like the winning stuff and begin to second-guess their own  
judgement in a way that is actually more destructive than  
constructive in the long run.

What really works well, though, is when a lot of people start talking  
about one picture.  So, for the record, here's my 20 cents on this  
Rex & Marianna shot.

Before Brian and Steve posted their first comments I was gonna use  
this shot to illustrate my first experiences with New Tmax400  in  
Xtol.  Very good sharpness (as advertised,) really long scale,  
endless highlight latitude (with a creamy, almost medium-format feel  
to them).  Don't exactly know how the grain structure will look in a  
really big enlargement but there's a lot to like about this combo.   
However, I'm not sure yet about the spectral sensitivity.  Whereas my  
fallback combo of Neopan 400 in Xtol usually looks like I actually  
knew enough to filter the shot properly (when I used no filter at  
all), the jury ain't in on this New Tmax stuff.

So, the muddling of greys, especially between Rex's skin and the  
wall, might have been unavoidable or might have been better with some  
other materials;  I dunno.  I think it could use more separation, but  
it's sorta OK enough the way it is.  Sharpness-wise, do click on the  
900 pixel option to eliminate the resizing softness of the small  
version; the overall acuity is actually quite good.

And this brings up another point, which is the little screen displays  
we're looking at on our monitors.  Some might think this serves as a  
"great leveler" - actually it helps some shots (like an over-cropped  
birdsnap) but hurts others (like when there's a sign in the photo  
that's critical to its impact that can't be read in a small rendering.)

Regarding the clutter, that's certainly central to the content (as  
some folks already pointed out).  (Actually, I have a small  
collection of snaps of pure clutter that I really like.)  Both the  
"distortion" (most visible in the trapezoidal photo frame on the  
wall) and the inclusion of everything-possibly-including-the-kitchen- 
sink are a result of experiments with leaving a wideangle on the M  
that I try to wear most of the time.  As far as bending the knees to  
get a more straight-on perspective goes, there really wasn't time for  
that; I needed to shoot what I saw at the moment, and going into a  
crouch would've been distracting to the subjects (or at least one of  
them) as well as overemphasizing Rex's feet (My wife Ruthie was quick  
to point out, when we were looking at some shots of HCB in action,  
that his legs were always working hard to get the height right.)   
Bottom line, though; I'm goin' back to a 50.

Now for some individual addresses:



Steve -

Your decision to post the caption you and your wife were imagining  
for this shot - "hey Rex ...are you dead yet?" is staggeringly  
insensitive.  It's also, however, staggeringly close to the reason  
for this photo.

One of the things we see in this is a certain "caregiver fatigue" -  
in fact a somewhat darker take on "caring" than one might normally  
shoot for in photos for this theme.

And in fact, when Brian announced this theme I thought to myself  
"Well... why should any of us bother entering when it's clear that  
Steve's gonna have this one locked up.  In fact, we oughtta just give  
him an honorary win based on his previously posted body of  
work."  (Although then we'd hafta give one to Tina, too...) So I can  
see why you might be bugged to not have your name among the named.



Brian -

I seem to recall that you asked for an "expansive" interpretation of  
the theme.  So, in the spirit of bluff-calling I decided to really  
try to find some alternate takes on this "caring" business.  Here's  
one which took last place in the contest (a spot which I'm proud to  
share with some of my favorite photographers and people on the LUG) -  
it's about a guy who really cares about his book, and apparently  
thinks that we should, too:

http://contest.leica-users.org/main.php/v/0712/Saving+for 
+Something.jpg.html

And another (4th from last) about a couple of guys who care so much  
about who's got the "right of way" that they think it's worth a  
streetfight (again, having the 50 would've been nice):

http://contest.leica-users.org/main.php/v/0712/Streetfight+crop 
+curve.jpg.html?g2_imageViewsIndex=1

(Really sincere apologies for referring to my own damn pix but if I  
get started on all the cool stuff in the contest (like the opposing  
hands in George's picture) we'll never get outta here...)


But in the end Walt's straightforward, resonant and beautiful  
renderings of human compassion triumphed, and that's really good news  
for all of us.

Bob Palmieri