Summer is Almost Here
Hi Gang,
How is everyone doing? What are you up to?
This month's project theme (proposed by Pat) will, in my opinion, be a very challenging and interesting one. As you know, the theme is: Joy vs. Sorrow. I enjoyed shooting last month's theme (people at work) even while I was on vacation in the U.S. Southwest.
Last weekend, I had occasion to do a family portrait at Stanford University for a friend of mine. I shot both digital (D100 w/24-135mm) and film (Tri-X w/Nikon F4 and 50mm). I had no problems transitioning between the two cameras, but whenever I switched to the F4, I REALLY noticed the bright and clear 100% viewfinder of the F4. It was a great pleasure to shoot with it. I recently saw an excellent condition F4s sell on Ebay for under $300 (!!!). That's a ridiculously low price for such an incredible camera. I already have two F4s bodies, and I know this sounds crazy, but I sometimes like to just put the two of them on my desk and just admire the design of them. When I have a chance, I'll post a few from this session after they're all processed.
Dennis Fong is getting back into the swing of things with his recent acquisition of a D100. He badly needs a lens wider than 24mm, so I got him out with four superwide lenses one evening to do a comparison session. I borrowed Benson's Tokina 12-24mm and Nikon 18-70, and I brought my own Sigma 15-30mm and Tokina 17mm (prime), and we did some shooting at Lincoln Park in San Francisco. At first, I was going to use my tripod to try some direct comparison shots, but we decided to just go handheld and unscientific. For myself, I can report that I basically forgot which lens was mounted on my D100, and after a while, I just concentrated on making pictures. I will post a few from this session soon too. After all this, I lent Dennis my Tokina 17mm for his trip to Yosemite. I hope he posts some shots from his Yosemite trip, and his own conclusions from the test shoot.
I also asked Steve Fong to post a comparison of his new D2X with his old camera, the D70. He agreed to do this when he has some time.
The other day, I watched a biography of photographer, Robert Capa, on PBS. Did any of you see this? It was a fascinating program. As you probably know, Capa is arguably the most famous war photographer in the history of photography. He was the only photographer present at the D-Day landing at Normandy, and the story of what happened that day was amazing. He shot over a hundred images using a pair of Contax II rangefinder cameras (w/50mm lens). They rushed the film to London where the lab technician, in a rush to get the film ready, forgot to open the vents in the film drying closet and MELTED almost all the film!!! Only 11 images survived, but these images were published, and were incredible documentation of the drama that day.
The documentary also included an interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson that I enjoyed very much. At one point, they compared the styles of Capa, Bresson, and David Seymour (nickname: Chim), by showing images from the 3 legendary photographers, and sure enough, the stylistic differences were immediately obvious. Bresson: impeccable composition, Chim: intimacy with the subject, Capa: dynamic movement and drama.
I laughed when I saw a picture of Capa when he shot the British handover of Palestine at Haifa. He had cameras draped all over his body. I saw 2 TLR's (probably Rolleiflexes), 1 Hasselblad, 1 Contax or Leica, and what looked like a medium format folder, and he was holding a tripod in one hand.
Martin, I would love to hear your thoughts on these legends of photojournalism. You lived the PJ life, so I'm sure you have a unique perspective on this subject.
Administrative reminder: Please respond to comments on the forum instead of replying to the email. Some of us do not get the email notifications, so will never see the reply.
That's all for now, happy shooting!
--Warren
How is everyone doing? What are you up to?
This month's project theme (proposed by Pat) will, in my opinion, be a very challenging and interesting one. As you know, the theme is: Joy vs. Sorrow. I enjoyed shooting last month's theme (people at work) even while I was on vacation in the U.S. Southwest.
Last weekend, I had occasion to do a family portrait at Stanford University for a friend of mine. I shot both digital (D100 w/24-135mm) and film (Tri-X w/Nikon F4 and 50mm). I had no problems transitioning between the two cameras, but whenever I switched to the F4, I REALLY noticed the bright and clear 100% viewfinder of the F4. It was a great pleasure to shoot with it. I recently saw an excellent condition F4s sell on Ebay for under $300 (!!!). That's a ridiculously low price for such an incredible camera. I already have two F4s bodies, and I know this sounds crazy, but I sometimes like to just put the two of them on my desk and just admire the design of them. When I have a chance, I'll post a few from this session after they're all processed.
Dennis Fong is getting back into the swing of things with his recent acquisition of a D100. He badly needs a lens wider than 24mm, so I got him out with four superwide lenses one evening to do a comparison session. I borrowed Benson's Tokina 12-24mm and Nikon 18-70, and I brought my own Sigma 15-30mm and Tokina 17mm (prime), and we did some shooting at Lincoln Park in San Francisco. At first, I was going to use my tripod to try some direct comparison shots, but we decided to just go handheld and unscientific. For myself, I can report that I basically forgot which lens was mounted on my D100, and after a while, I just concentrated on making pictures. I will post a few from this session soon too. After all this, I lent Dennis my Tokina 17mm for his trip to Yosemite. I hope he posts some shots from his Yosemite trip, and his own conclusions from the test shoot.
I also asked Steve Fong to post a comparison of his new D2X with his old camera, the D70. He agreed to do this when he has some time.
The other day, I watched a biography of photographer, Robert Capa, on PBS. Did any of you see this? It was a fascinating program. As you probably know, Capa is arguably the most famous war photographer in the history of photography. He was the only photographer present at the D-Day landing at Normandy, and the story of what happened that day was amazing. He shot over a hundred images using a pair of Contax II rangefinder cameras (w/50mm lens). They rushed the film to London where the lab technician, in a rush to get the film ready, forgot to open the vents in the film drying closet and MELTED almost all the film!!! Only 11 images survived, but these images were published, and were incredible documentation of the drama that day.
The documentary also included an interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson that I enjoyed very much. At one point, they compared the styles of Capa, Bresson, and David Seymour (nickname: Chim), by showing images from the 3 legendary photographers, and sure enough, the stylistic differences were immediately obvious. Bresson: impeccable composition, Chim: intimacy with the subject, Capa: dynamic movement and drama.
I laughed when I saw a picture of Capa when he shot the British handover of Palestine at Haifa. He had cameras draped all over his body. I saw 2 TLR's (probably Rolleiflexes), 1 Hasselblad, 1 Contax or Leica, and what looked like a medium format folder, and he was holding a tripod in one hand.
Martin, I would love to hear your thoughts on these legends of photojournalism. You lived the PJ life, so I'm sure you have a unique perspective on this subject.
Administrative reminder: Please respond to comments on the forum instead of replying to the email. Some of us do not get the email notifications, so will never see the reply.
That's all for now, happy shooting!
--Warren
posted by Warren T. at 11:31 AM
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