F8 and Be There

I came across a wide range of recently, "F / 8 and from there". It is not a new offer and is attributed to the photographer Weegee. Apparently, when he was asked how the photo is so interesting, Weegee was fond of saying: "F / 8 and from there". Strangely, this quote has brought with him a couple of assumptions: "Why is F / 8" Ask some people. "There is a mystical relationship between this panel and not others?" "Why not said Weegee" and there of/l6 f/5.6 and be there? "" Why do not you slidesay? "And so on.

The photographers are great for controlling the camera, technology, film, chemistry, memory cards or whatever, a couple of tidbits of information that can read, we think a little 'better. Often we miss the main point. If we step back from the estimate Weegee we can see that the point of doing much more with the second half is like the first: all the formalities, you must do to be out thereit.

Technical Photography

Weegee worked mostly at night - with flash. Speed ​​is often the key to photojournalism and working with flashlights and, despite its name, is a 4x5 Speed ​​Graphic, a workflow for quick and seamless shooting significantly. Simplicity is the answer to a lot of potential problems. If so you pretty much stick Weegee at f / 8, in my opinion, because it shows that f / 8 was a good basis for work and allowed him to object-to-flash distance, he foundpreferred. In other words, has found what works best for their needs and perfected. This is a critical point in the photograph - any photograph.

F8 and Be There

Other photographers were similar practices are known. The other great photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson, was obviously happy with a shutter speed of 1 / 125 of a second and a 50 mm lens. HCB loves to capture special moments in time, he called the decisive moment. "A shutter speed of 1 / 125 of a second would be thatBut it also has a good selection of openings with his subject's usual work in the light of day (no flash). The 50 mm lens offers a perspective 'normal', just like the human eye. Perhaps HCB did exactly what he did to capture.

Technical Photography

Ansel Adams, a founding member of the group that wanted to f/64, as the group's name means so much attention as possible. Adams and others to work in style "right", with the smallest f / stop of their objectivesattain the maximum depth of field. Edward Weston, another founding member of Group f/64, even once made a smaller aperture for one of his lenses that didn't stop down far enough (if my recollection of his 'Daybooks' is correct). Using cumbersome 8x10 view cameras and heavy tripods to support them, photographers like Adams and Weston found sharpness and a full tonal scale as the best way of realising their vision.

Interestingly, Edward Weston's son Brett, was never one to talk too much about art and technique, he was too busy out there doing it, or perhaps I should say, too busy 'being there'. This brings me back to my point; the greatest technical aptitude isn't worth a damn if you're not out there actually doing it.

Weegee simply found a method that worked for him; the important part was he was there. Adams and Edward and Brett Weston found what worked best for them individually and developed that. Weston's other son, Cole, who never did anything that remarkable with black and white - other than printing - for which he was a master, found his form, and how, when he started using the colour film Kodak sent his old man. Cole Weston became a wonderful and well-renowned color photographer, again, finding what worked best for him.

The photographic historian Nancy Newhall once said of Henri Cartier-Bresson, "He puts on his Leica as another man would put on his coat." It sounds like HCB spent a great deal of time 'being there'. So the moral of this little ditty is simply to get out and take some pictures, find what works for you, develop your style and keep at it. Perhaps we could adapt the quote to "whatever works best for you, and be there".

F8 and Be There