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My favorite genre is street photography the way Cartier-Bresson (who we were studying this week at school; our teacher kinda knew him and now he wants us to find the decisive moments around us) did it and the way Trent Parke does it. I find it very difficult.


Smoke


Carting

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 06:02:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Great ones ... :-)

The "Decisive moment" is quite hard to get! As even Cartier-Bresson never said for what it was decisive (action, story, emotion, composition, or the whole lot together) !

Did I already asked you if you read french ? (Aloïs moment - sigh)

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman

by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 06:11:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Je parle français.. un petit peu. Je l'ai étudié à l' école mais j'ai tout oublié :-p

What's amazing with Cartier-Bresson is that he not only caught the moments, but also the perfect form and the perfect composition. It's amazing. And probably impossible to take apart for analyzing...

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--

by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 06:19:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sent a mail with a work on HCB :-)

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 06:55:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Thanks! Really appreciate it.

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--
by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 07:59:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
He also often made people pose for him, in his "spontaneous" photographs...

(Not that it makes him any less talented)

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 07:00:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I recently read an article by someone who once accompanied Cartier-Bresson on one of his street rambles. He wore the Leica on a strap around his neck but was constantly jerking it to eye position as he approached a situation what he thought would become a "decisive moment." The companion described it as an almost nervous habit that often resulted in no shutter release.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Fri Feb 15th, 2008 at 10:00:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
 Yes, it illustrates the differences in viewfinders, between the "waist" finder of most 6x6 cameras, the rangefinder's one with eyes both open, ad the "reflex" sort, centered in the middle of the camera...

I found out that with a waist finder, I look and compose the scene in my mind, then, only, frame it... While with a reflex, I move a frame on a subject till I find a composition I like !
With a rangefinder it's a little of both worlds, but you still have to raise the camera to eye level !

Some high level reflex allowed for the changing of the viewfinder, and the use of a "semi-waist" level sort ! But now they've sealed the damn thing!

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman

by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 06:20:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Good points. I find I do like a waist level finder more than I thought I would.  Much more convenient when the camera position has to be low to capture a certain perspective.

I can swear there ain't no heaven but I pray there ain't no hell. _ Blood Sweat & Tears
by Gringo (stargazing camel at aoldotcom) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 11:53:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Excuse my ignorance, but what's a waist level viefinder?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 12:55:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The "classical viewfinder used in  the camera below....

You hold the camera at "waist" height (usually a bit higher) and look down to frame, focus, etc. Not to confuse with "sport finders" which were just a wire crisscrossed frame still used in underwater shoots !

Some P&S like the "twisting" coolpix series (900, 4500, SQ), allows for shooting at the "waist" while looking down to he LCD (and give the photographer shooting in between parked cars, the look of someone who's doing something else :-) )!

From the Nikon F to the F4 (dunno for the F5, but the F6 is definitely sealed) those reflex with prism cameras could have the prism taken off and replaced by a "waist loupe" that would allow a different way of shooting!

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman

by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 03:55:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Colman got my dad's old Rolleiflex (looks like the Seagull above) out this morning and loaded some film into it...might take some photos with it tomorrow...

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. Oscar Wilde
by Sam on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 04:51:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I hope it'll go  well :-)
The rolleiflex was/is a great camera and I can even recall myself that most photographers used it for press, mariages, etc.! You could get gorgeous negatives :-)

So much for the incessant change of lenses or zooming that we do today, as those were with a fixed lens (on one model though, you could change the dual lens for another set)!
It's the Vietnam war that brought in many people's mind the multi-purposedness of the SLR or "single" lens reflex with changeable lenses...

So we'll get to see them next Friday ? :-)

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman

by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Sun Feb 17th, 2008 at 05:03:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
These are great!  I'd have been nervous hanging around the scene in the second one with my camera.  Did you get spotted?

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 03:23:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Some day I post a series of "dirty look" photos. I have a lot of them. We could probably do a diary with that subject.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 05:18:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It was Carnival night, so it was completely chaotic and no-one minded..

You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes. --More--
by tzt (tztmail at gmail dot com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 05:33:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
This is perhaps my favorite eavesdropping photo taken at the cafe, Chez Pradel, last spring. I should probably change it to black and white. All cafe photos look good in black and white.



Hey, Grandma Moses started late!

by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 05:38:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Aaah... The "Café's" pictures... Almost a topic by itself ! :-)

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 05:45:11 AM EST
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Yes. Good idea. In Wales, are you watching?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 05:48:49 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Watching what?!

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 06:09:28 AM EST
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Sorry.  I meant are you here and capturing all of these great ideas for future diaries by margouillat and myself.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 06:14:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The "café's gnomes" tribe... :-)

"What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
by margouillat (hemidactylus(dot)frenatus(at)wanadoo(dot)fr) on Sat Feb 16th, 2008 at 06:22:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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