[Leica] Multiple Bodies

[feli2 at earthlink.net (Feli)]

On Mar 6, 2005, at 1:32 PM, B. D. Colen wrote:
>  What draws me to the M is the fact that I am seeing
> my scene through a picture window WITH FRAME LINES DRAWN ON IT. I see
> what's happening outside those frame lines, as well as inside; I think
> in terms of the frame; I adjust the shot for the frame; I shoot for the
> frame.

One of my favorite aspects of shooting with the M is that you can see 
the action outside of the
framelines. Quite often I have had a person walk into the view of the 
finder and have waited
till they entered frame. Really love that feature.

> Surely, you don't think that HCB shot "contemplatively" - or cropped. 
> He
> worked his material quickly and rapid fire once he decided what he was
> shooting. There is film/video somewhere that shows him dancing around a
> subject like a kid who needs ritilan. ;-)

Yeah, but he was so good and so fast that he could compose a shot 
perfectly in a fraction of a
second. But I do think he sometimes staked out an angle to shoot from, 
and then waited for
all of the elements to fall into place. But he did shoot a ton of film, 
regardless of the myth of him
being a shot miser.


> BTW, Ted isn't carrying those bodies to avoid cropping -he's carrying
> them to avoid missing shots while changing lenses, just as any other 
> pro


> Why do you think so many documentary photographers filed their negative
> carriers to produce that ragged-ass black line around the image? To 
> show
> that they did NOT crop.

With documentary shooters and PJ's it may be for reason of legitimacy. 
The full frame shows that they didn't crop
something off to manipulate the meaning of the shot. Of course one 
could frame a shot to twist the facts, but for the
moment lets assume we are talking about a shooter with integrity.

With the artist types I think it is similar to movie making, Orson 
Welles used to say that the ability to
stage and shoot a scene in one take was what separated the men from the 
boys. He's right. It's a very
difficult to do and you really have to be a master of your craft to 
pull it off successfully, but boy when you
do it's a home run. I have a similar feeling about nailing a shot 
without cropping. I really get a thrill when I
pull one of those off.


> Again, I'm not saying that one should never crop. All I'm saying is 
> that
> cropping in the darkroom is a substitute for cropping in the viewfinder
> - which is where, ideally, one should crop. :-)
>
> B. D.


Feli
- wishing he wasn't stuck at work again...



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feli2@earthlink.net                     2 + 2 = 4                      
www.elanphotos.com