I could be wrong, but I always took Capa's comments to mean "fill the
frame," rather than "get in someone's face." I've had good luck with
both long and short lenses on the street. It depends on whether one
wants to catch their subjects unaware or record the reaction to the
camera and intrusion. I think both can be good.
Paul
On Oct 9, 2005, at 5:37 PM, Shel Belinkoff wrote:
go out with a prime lens - 24mm through 50mm. A zoom allows you to
cheat.
one lens, work close. When you get good with it, then move to other
focal
lengths or zooms.. I can't speak for Godfrey, but Juan and I have gone
out
shooting a few times, and both he and I always shot with primes -
nothing
longer than 85mm iirc. I'm just guessing, but I don't think J used
zooms
until he started working with the digi.
When my interest in photography was rekindled several years ago, I used
longer lenses and a - gasp - zoom. My pics sucked big time. Then i
read a
comment by Robert Capa - "If your photos aren't good enough, you're not
close enough." The very next time i went out I grabbed a 35mm lens and
~forced~ myself to work close.
Marco likes using long lenses, but he's developed a style for which
that
works. I've never seen him use a zoom, however, and I'd like to be as
good
as he is with long glass.
The bottom line is to develop a style that you're comfortable with.
If you
go out with a 24~135 lens, you're gonna be trying to decide at each
shot
what focal length is appropriate, more often then not staying at the
longer
end of the focal range, working closer to your present comfort zone.
You'll be adding an extra level of decision making to what's already a
difficult process for you.
Shel
"Am I paranoid or perceptive?"
[Original Message]
From: skye
thanks for summarising the tips, Marnie. I appreciate it very much. I
don't tend to like shooting close to people -- in fact, I slap on the
70-300 lens so I can shoot from across the room. I guess I'll go back
to the 24-135 lens the next time I go out and see what sorts of photos
I get then.
