Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/06/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Jun 6, 2006, at 9:01 AM, Walt Johnson wrote: > Jeffery: > > Marc's comments are all BS. How the hell can you know what you're > shooting by hiding in the background with a long lens. There is > nothing wrong with getting up close and personal. The most > important thing is to make sure your subjects feel your respect for > them. They are not elements of the composition but rather human > souls. Some are better than others but when treated well they > generally respond well. Marc... I'm really interested in your point of view... what is the best way to see your photos? Are they posted somewhere on line? thanks, Steve > > Ralph Gibson has been discussed quite a bit and perhaps it might > be time to return to his work and really see it. Even though he is > right on top of his subjects (sometimes even closer :-[ ) I don't > feel his presence but rather see what he sees. You can smell the > sweat (or sweet fragrances) of you subjects and not be intrusive. > You will know this when it happens. All else is practice for the > real thing. (IMO) > > Walt > > P.S. press conferences and presidential photo humps have nothing > to do with honesty. > > Marc James Small wrote: > >> At 08:57 PM 6/5/06 -0500, you wrote: >> >>> Capa never said "If your pictures aren't good enough, you need a >>> 90." >>> >>> Jeffery Smith >>> New Orleans, LA >>> http://www.400tx.com >>> >> >> Jeffery >> >> We have never met in person but, trust me, I love you like a >> brother and I >> look forward to the time when we meet in person. >> >> A 90mm lens is a wide-standard. A 40cm lens is a normal lens. >> Stay away >> from the folks and let them live their lives. >> >> The next time some jerk photojournalist shoulders his way into my >> face to >> take his pictures, he really will get an elbow in his jaws. You >> wide-angle >> folks do not understand how threatening you seem to those of us >> who are >> your targets. >> >> Capa's comment was cool for the time but was also full of BS -- >> President >> Truman, for instance, directed that no one at a Presidential Press >> Conference use a lens less that 50mm. >> Me? Now that I am retired, I do not expect to EVER appear again at a >> public function. But I have done so on frequent occasion over the >> past >> quarter of a century, and I have always told the Photo-Toads that >> I wanted >> a 12 foot (3m) circle of safety and that I'd clobber them if they >> came >> closer than that. They knew that I meant what I said, and I >> generally had >> some hefty friends along to emphasize the point. >> >> You wide-angle guys are simply sick. Get back to a decent >> distance, let >> the subject be okay, and shoot the picture with a 40cm Telyt. >> >> What YOU guys wish to do is to jam the camera into the jaws of the >> victim >> and get a horrified response. Jam a camera in my face, and you >> will get a >> horrified response, which will include the destruction of your >> camera. >> >> Wide Angle Dudes. Stay away. Learn long lenses. Understand that >> Duncan >> and Capa were speaking for what scientists call "special >> circumstances". >> I detest wide-angle lenses as they defy the very reason for >> photograhy -- >> documentig reality. Still, that 4.5/21 CZ Biogon did a hell of a >> hit at >> the Bridge at Mull in Ireland back in 2001. >> >> Marc >> >> msmall@aya.yale.edu Cha robh b?s fir gun ghr?s fir! >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information