Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/05

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Subject: [Leica] Re:The Harmless Pursuit of Photography
From: scott at adrenaline.com (Scott McLoughlin)
Date: Sun Mar 5 12:45:22 2006
References: <239.7f03c7d.313c8ce3@aol.com>

Nice message. It's very apropos, in an oblique way, of what I'm
going through right now.

I have Chronic Fatigue pretty badly, and I need to somehow
"shift gears" in photographic pursuits.

First, I took my 6 month backlog of B&W film and had it
souped for me at B&W Labs in Arlington, VA. They use Xtol,
are very, very nice folks. So far, the contact sheets look good.
It was a big load off my mind, instead of staring at a big pile of
film I just don't have the energy to soup myself.

Now I'm using XP2 and some slide film, so to unburden me from
the souping task for the time being.

Well, I just took a walk to the store, and brought along only my
FM3a, 105/2.5 AIS and some XP2. I've sort of been trying to
"groove" on the focal length and this particlar lens. I really like
it between f4 and f8 or so. Brutally sharp, nice bokeh, and the
FL forces me to think and see differently.

Well, to make a long story short, my hands were shaking all
over the place. (!!!) I don't know if it's the overall fatigue, some of
the medications I'm now prescribed or what. Hell, I'm only
40 years old (next week!), but the tremors are undeniable.

Except for experimenting a bit with portraits and lighting, I haven't
really been a slow and careful shooter, but I think that's where
I need to turn for the time being.  At the very least, a tripod will
get me past the shaky hands.

It's new and challenging and hard to get going. I've got some
"slow and carefule" project ideas, but frankly, the new found reliance
on carefully "making" pictures, trying to realize a previsualized photo
in my mind, taking control of all the variables myself, is a little
intimidating.

But in the end, I'm just so grateful that there are such a wide variety
of "modalities" of taking and making pictures, different ways to be
"serious" about my chosen hobby.

I guess I'm a photog in transition. If I can get kick started on a new
slower shootiing approach, maybe I'll finally have a chance to get to
know my Leica current 90/2.8 more intimately :-)

Any other folks who are ill or older who had to leave quick candid
or street shooting behind them?  If so, I'd love to know where they
took their photographic efforts from there.

Scott


Afterswift@aol.com wrote:

>In a message dated 3/5/06 10:32:51 AM, lug-request@leica-users.org writes:
>
>
>  
>
>>I gave up flying some years ago.  So now I'm
>>back to the harmless pursuit of photography, which was my first serious
>>hobby.
>>----------------------------------------------------
>>    
>>
>Jim,
>
>Photography isn't a harmless pursuit. We lost many photojournalists in wars 
>during the last 65 years.
>And even civilian photographers have risked and lost their lives getting 
>that 
>vital shot, going back to the pre- and post-Civil War eras. 
>
>But that doesn't mean we can't titer our activities to compensate for some 
>physical limitation at any age. Which is why the zoom lens is so popular. 
>And 
>many folks find that sitting in a well-upholstered office chair with plenty 
>of 
>tilts and rolls before a PC is easier on the spine than standing in front 
>of an 
>enlarger and trays for hours.
>
>Photography can be a rigorous as the individual photographer chooses to 
>make 
>it. On the other hand, if you're flying and the engine stalls, you can't 
>pull 
>over to the shoulder and cell phone for a tow truck. 
>
>Bob R 
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Leica Users Group.
>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>  
>

-- 
Pics @ http://www.adrenaline.com/snaps
Leica M6TTL, Bessa R, Nikon FM3a, Nikon D70, Rollei AFM35
(Jihad Sigint NSA FBI Patriot Act)



Replies: Reply from bruce at ralgo.nl (bruce) ([Leica] Re:The Harmless Pursuit of Photography)
Reply from don.dory at gmail.com (Don Dory) ([Leica] Re:The Harmless Pursuit of Photography)
Reply from images at InfoAve.Net (Tina Manley) ([Leica] Re:The Harmless Pursuit of Photography)
In reply to: Message from Afterswift at aol.com (Afterswift@aol.com) ([Leica] Re:The Harmless Pursuit of Photography)