[Leica] David Allen Harvey/Cuba/Lenses/Flash

[CAMRALUGGR@aol.com]

If this post appeared earlier this week, please accept my apologies as there 
were a couple of digests in which it should have shown up which were screwed 
up in my downloads:

In my first post to the LUG this past January, when Monica was in town to 
give her testimony on what brand of cigars Bill prefers ;-)  I recounted 
running into Harvey at the National Geographic Explorers Hall and discussing 
his then in-progress work in Cuba.  He said that most of his photographs were 
made with the use of a 35mm (f/stop not asked) and supplemented with a 28mm 
"used as a wide 35" (his words).

With the publication of his photos in the September issue of the magazine, 
Nat'l Geographic put on display approx. 30 large prints in Explorers Hall.  
In addition, there is a 12 minute film documentary of Harvey working in Cuba, 
with his comments as voice-over. At the beginning of the film, there is a 
close-up of him taking a photograph with a VERY beat up 50mm Summilux --the 
huge dent on the filter ring is painful to see!  The video of him working in 
the streets and homes of Havana, using early morning and late afternoon 
light, quickly framing the scene, shooting, changing his angle, recomposing 
and shooting again is a primer on how to use an M.  On those occasions 
(several) when flash was needed, he used a Vivitar 2600  and a Sto-Fen 
diffuser with the flash head set at a 45 degree angle.  

Harvey is a fairly big guy, so even when he is carrying two Ms and a small 
knapsack of film and stuff he doesn't look at all encumbered.  I noticed that 
he usually wears a  tailored, multi-pocketed vest, not the bulky Domke or 
Banana Republic variety.  Also, he doesn't use filters or hoods on his 
lenses!  Go figure!!  More important to the success of his photograhs, 
however, is his way of easily establishing a rapport with his subjects that 
makes his best work possible.

Maybe the film will appear on MSNBC's Nat'l Geographics Explorer soon.  If 
so, don't miss it.

Best regards -- Mike