Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/03/01

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Subject: [Leica] re: Mark Rabiner
From: allan jay silver <silver@proaxis.com>
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 16:45:40 -0800

As far a technique goes I know for a fact the results of shooting
filtered tri x with a 'Blad and a tripod that Adams gets and the results
of shooting filtered medium to slow films with a Leica M and a tripod
are not that if at all different. It's only one format away and its
still roll film and technology marches onward and upward.
As far as aesthetics go you could criticize Adams for being "cold,
barren, clinical" as Bruce Feldman does or you could criticize him for
being the opposite: overly dramatic, overly lush emotionally overblown
as others undoubably do as that's what much of his stuff could be seen
as verging on. It averages out in this case in my overblown opinion to
the vision of a great artist and craftsman whose subject matter is rural
instead of urban.
Mark Rabiner

                     **************************

	Something that no one has mentioned re: Ansel Adams, was the fact that he
carried several Hasselblad Film cassettes and each one was labeled based on
his Zonal system of exposure vs development.  
	Some were for slight over-exposure and under-development; others were for
slight underexposure and over-development.   Unfortunately it isnt easy to
do this with a leica unless you carry several Leicas similarly labeled.
This enabled him to bring out shadow detail in some exposures while in
others he was able to reduce contrast to a managable level in the darkroom.
 Unfortunately this apparently doesn't work well for color.
allan