[Leica] STORY SERIES AS A TEST FOR THE NEXT BOOK? :-)

[jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)]

Good instructive story!
Cheers
Jayanand

On Tue, Sep 25, 2012 at 11:10 AM, <tedgrant at shaw.ca> wrote:

> OK ! Glad so many liked the first couple. :-)
>
> The Rocket Car
>
>  When  film motor drives' for the 35mm camera appeared on the market, it
> was
>
> the answer to the action photographer's prayer. So many thought!
>
>
>
> The motor could advance film at 5 or more frames per second, allowing the
>
> photographer to capture peak action every time; well it was thought to.
>
>
>
> Many photographers found to their sorrow, by relying only on the motor and
>
> not their reflex instinct to release the shutter,  were missing the precise
>
> moment of the action.
>
>
>
> A story from a small town in Ontario, Canada of an old time photographer
> shooting
>
> with a 4 X 5 Speed Graphic and how he bailed out a so called super
> "hotshot" big city news
>
> photographer explains it all. :-)
>
>
>
> An inventor in the town had built a rocket engine car that caught the
>
> attention of a big Toronto newspaper.  The paper's regional editor phoned
> and
>
> arranged a test of the car to allow a writer and photographer to do a
> story.
>
>
>
> On test day the news photographer mounted three motor-driven cameras along
>
> the track to ensure he would capture the moment of engine ignition.
>
> He tested them with several bursts to ensure they were synchronized ready
>
> for the fiery blue flame spurting from the exhaust upon ignition.
>
>
>
> While the hotshot was going through all the testing, the old timer made
>
> ready.  He removed the dark slide from his Speed Graphic film magazine,
>
> cocked the shutter set for action with his "one sheet of 4 X 5 film."
>
>
>
> Finally everyone was ready, car and driver, motor driven cameras, Speed
>
> Graphic and one sheet of film.  The engine ignited, there was a brilliant
>
> flash of blue flame, the  hotshot fired his three rolls of film, the old
>
> timer's shutter went, "Click!"
>
>
>
> The hotshot asks for a restart of the car one more time, "Just in case we
>
> missed it."  Same sequence takes place, three cameras burning up film at 5
>
> frames per second: The old timer and Speed Graphic goes, "Click" !
>
>
>
> The next day the old timer received a phone call from the photo editor of
>
> the Toronto paper. "Were you shooting the rocket car startup?"  "Yep" the
>
> old timer replied.
>
>
>
> Photo editor, "Our guy missed the flame, did you get it?"
>
>
>
> Old timer, "Yep, which one would you like?"
>
>
>
> Moral of the story:
>
> Equipment isn't everything.  Photographers must still have an acute sense
>
> of timing to make it work.
>
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