Ya think any of these guys use Olympus equipment? Two T-20's connected with
the Bounce grip 2, and T20 connectors, plus a formed aluminum bracket along
with a single coated 100mm f3.5 Zuiko for the right roughness of bokeh, and
resolution, would work great for celebrities' shadows. It would suck though,
if the NG photos of the local cultures were taken with plain Vivitar filters
on pure Oly lenses.
*- DORIS FANG -* wrote:
>
> I remember finding Jane Bown's book and her magnificent portraits
> among other things. Many were breathtaking. In that book her equipment was
> described as being really simple. It was an era in which most
> photographers doing her job were carrying 2-3 Nikon F2s and 3-4 lenses.
> The stuff weighed a ton.
> National Geographic guys were taking stacks of Halliburtons on
> assignment. I remember William Allard saying he took a dozen cases full of
> Leica M and R equipment. Practically every lens in both line-ups. People
> also took cases full of lighting equipment. The apotheosis of this was
> Greg Heisler, whose celeb shots were elaborate productions, similar, if
> not identical to big-budget advertising.
> I'm sure the industry reps were smiling. The days of Cartier-Bresson
> and his 50mm available light portraits were over. They had converted
> an entire generation of photographers into average consumers.
> Look at the market today. It is similar to the computer market.
> The new F6, 7, 8 / EOS-1, v.1.1, 1.2, etc will be out every 24-36 months,
> and the techies will argue endlessly about the features and the
> "better" lenses on the internet, reciting Photodo MTF gospels. Many will
> flock to buy every update, others will just stare at their 'old' F5s and
> feel dissatisfied, as if something is lacking, which is exactly where
> the advertisers want you to be.
> What is lacking is that they will never own the stuff long enough to
> have a chance to become intimately familiar with their equipment, to know
> it so well that operation becomes transparent, autonomous and
> graceful because it's no longer a machine between you and your subject
> and/or your mind, but a passport to the realm of light.
> One of the core truths about photography is that to succeed on almost
> any plane, it has to be about something else. When one obsesses on the
> hardware or the process too much you become a dog chasing its own tail.
> This is nothing new. I remember reading Ansel (again, sorry) saying
> that most amateurs of their day owned more and better equipment than
> either Stieglitz or Weston.
> Simon makes the point about comparing oneself to other photographers.
> What does it matter if you're "better" or "worse" than the other guy ?
> You are not competing with anyone, only walking your own path. Learn
> from others, share in their triumphs and failures, learn from them,
> pass on what you have learned. Trade seeds. Remember, it's always
> been just you vs. your own limits.
> Times have changed. Jane Bown looks like a prophet these days. You
> have William Allard going on NG assignment not with a dozen cases, but
> a bag carrying two bodies and a few lenses. David Alan Harvey has done
> huge assignments with one body and 28/35/50 lenses. He did the Viet Nam,
> NASCAR and the Cuba book on mostly one lens. Anton Corbijn is
> shooting celeb portraits on the street with one body and lens. There's a
> renaissance going on, a return to centering on seeing, relegating
> the hardware to its proper role as tools in the service of vision.
> Same with technique. Too many beginners hopelessly complicate their
> lives and hobble their image-making by becoming obsessed with the
> technical. Facilitate your vision. Of course, if you're shooting a wide
> variety of things, more than a NG photog, you may actually need more
> stuff to do the job. Few of us will ever be in that position.
> Jane Bown has found through experience what works for her, and
> she is producing first-rate imagery. The lesson here is to be sensitive
> to what you do, how you're doing it, and what produces results. Galen
> Rowell may carry a lot of Nikon gear afield, but he has remarked that
> over 3/4 of his best were done with a 24/2.8 and a fast 85. Let the your
> images tell you what works.
>
> *= Doris Fang =*
>
> Who owns way too much stuff, but uses just a few things.
>
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