Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/04/10

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Subject: Re: [Leica] RE: Eric's site
From: "Bill Larsen" <ohlen@lightspeed.net>
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1998 18:02:16 -0700

Tina writes:

|Bill,
|I'd love to know what you think!  My skin is not as tough as Eric's so =
be
|gentle.  I welcome contructive criticism.... =20
|
Sure, I'll be happy to critique the photos on your web page.  However, =
please keep in mind that I am not a professional art/photography critic. =
 First, I am looking at photos in order to teach what little I know =
within my small community of family.  You have to have a photograph to =
begin with to do that.  I find that the LUG members are all reasonably =
competent photographers and appreciate their pages on the web.

First, I should comment that I like the way your web pages are put =
together.  They are thematic just as your photographs are.  So your =
first two web pages are great examples of how to put a cohesive thematic =
series of photos together.  (We are also learning hypertext, java, and =
java script).

Second, your framing tends to be very tight.  There is little wasted =
area.  From the size of your reproduction offerings (for sale), I assume =
that this is done at the time the picture is taken rather than excessive =
cropping in the darkroom.  When the framing looks too tight at first, =
(ears cut off) we have the opportunity to discuss why this was done and =
would the pix be better or worse with a full head pix.  When you spread =
out and show more area (for example the pix of people saying grace) we =
can throw up a couple of L's and see how it would look cropped and =
discuss why it should or should not be cropped.  The whole point is that =
regradless of what the subject is, the techniques used can be applied to =
any other subject (people, cats, dogs, architecture).  Fill the frame =
with what you want to communicate.  I did a lot of photography with a =
18x24 mm camera ("single frame or half frame" depending on how you want =
to use the terminology).  If you didn't fill the frame initially, your =
chances of getting any decent enlargement were nil.

Third, I like your use of black and white and contrast.  This is the =
most difficult subject to communicate to people that grew up with color =
television.  I liked (I think it was Ted's) the comment that black and =
white displays character while color displays clothing.  It presents an =
interesting and discussable topic when clothing is a symbol of status =
and culture.

Fourth I like the way you push your lenses to their limits.  I still =
choke on this.  I was trained to alway stop down one or two stops from =
the maximum aperture of the lens.  I am consciously trying to use my =
lenses wide open if it is at all appropriate (i.e. can get by without =
the additional depth of field).  I have to keep in my mind that it is =
inherently permissible to shoot wide open.

In summary, I find your three net pages a great teaching tool.  The nice =
thing about evaluating other people photos from within a family group is =
that there is no necessity to publicly state an opinion about your (or =
Erics, or anyone else's) pictures.  The point is to try to make our own =
better and to learn a lot of things in so doing.

Regards, Bill Larsen
ohlen@lightspeed.net
|______________________________________________________________________
If you have not yet looked at Tina's work, here is her footer:

|Tina Manley, ASMP
|<http://www.photogs.com/manley/index.html>
|<http://www.aperture-photo.com/site/reportage/manley/manleyframeset.html=
>
|<http://www.onlineartistleague.com/manleyt/portfoli.htm>
|