Hi All,
with the ongoing discussion about equipment choice, this seems
like a good time to draw attention to piece that was published
in the UK magazine "Buying Cameras" at the end of last year.
The "In the Bag" feature asks professional photographers
about their choice of equipment and working methods. The
one that I happened to see features a documentary photographer
who uses Olympus exclusively.
He touches on several subjects which have been discussed on the
list recently, such as lens choice, equipment reliability,
documentary ethics and even, dare I say it, SUVs!
Rather than attempt a summary, or refer listmembers to a
magazine they most likely can't obtain, I've just keyed in
the whole text, which follows. Comments in square brackets,
and any typos, are mine.
Apologies for the length of the posting, but the OM-content
is pretty high.
-Brian
------------------ Article follows this line ----------------
Jon Nicolson has published several books looking behind the
world of sport, including one on the career of Damon Hill, a
friend of Jon's from his school days. He has also worked
with the England rugby team, gone behind he scenes at
Chelsea FC, and spent a year photographing former sprint
champion, Linford Christie.
He is currently shooting a project on the working life of
cowboys, which has taken him all over the United States, and
has also started documenting life on and around the A1.
Checklist:
- Four OM4Ti bodies [all with MD]
- 50mm F/1.8
- 35mm f/2.8
- 85mm f/2
- 180mm f/2.8
- Minolta lightmeter [incident-light type]
- Digital recorder for interviews
- Camedia C-1400L 1.4 million pixels
- A book
"When I go out on a job I might only take a couple of
cameras and a few lenses with me. I've just been over to
America and I took three OM4s and the 35mm, 50mm and 180mm
lenses. But I didn't use the 180mm.
"I don't want to be obtrusive with my camera gear. I work
better if I just get out of the car with one camera, and
think, 'I feel like using a 35mm today' or, 'I feel like a
50mm', and just work it that way.
"What I try to do is not to have people looking at the
camera, so it's best not to have too much equipment with me.
"I often see people who are on holiday walking around with
Leicas or Nikons - they like photography and they want to
get a little more out of it. So maybe they go to the sea
front, and perhaps they get something quirky, using the
shapes and lights. But imagine standing outside a bar in
Ibiza at three in the morning - you'd get some pretty
amazing pictures there.
"To get good documentary shots I always find that you're
better to just go and stand there. If you see a picture, you
can either walk up and go 'click', at which point people
will turn around, or you can just walk into a
situation. They'll see you come in, they'll look up at you,
and then look back at what they're doing - then you can
start thinking about taking pictures.
"That's the thing with lenses. If you stand across the road
with a 300mm you could take pictures of people and they
would never know. Or you could walk in there with a 35mm
lens and people would know what you're doing - but they'll
let you do it. And when they notice you taking pictures, why
not talk to them about why you're taking them?
"I use OM cameras because they're small, they're light and
they're tough. With the job I'm doing on cowboys, I wrap the
cameras round the saddle. I don't wear them when I ride so
they're bouncing around, or I put a rubber band over the
lens to secure it to the saddle.
"With the A1 job, we have this Landcruiser that we're going
to travel about in and shoot from. I'm going to mount
cameras all over it - right by the wheels and underneath the
engine - so these cameras are going to have to stand up to
that.
"Once when I was shooting Damon Hill at the Belgium Grand
Prix, I got completely soaked in the rain and the cameras
got completely full of water, but my theory was, 'Why open
the back and get more water in?'. I was the only
photographer left out there. I just came in, left the
cameras on the table, and they were fine.
"I mostly use the 35mm and 50mm lenses. They let you get
close - you can become what you're photographing. I used to
be a fan of the 24mm, but I rarely use it now, because the
35mm is fine. Sometimes I look at a picture taken on the
35mm and think 'That's a bit exaggerated, I should have used
the 50mm'.
"I would never stop and change over lenses. I would either
step back if I wanted something wider, or step closer to
it. Don't try to lens yourself close - get closer.
"I use a digital camera every so often to e-mail pictures
home to my children, almost like a postcard. The cameras are
easy and accessible, but I don't want to be bogged down by
too much technology - I just want to set the aperture and
shutter speed, focus it and go.
"I'm a purist, so I'll stick to the traditional methods for
as long as I can. I'm being allowed into a privileged
situation - people's lives - so why would I want to put that
into a computer and change it? I want to show how these
people are, how these situations are."
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