margaret

I was smitten the first time I picked one up and held it in my hands,

roughly one year ago. I already loved the look of it, but holding it,

my God, that was something else. I felt like an electric charge went

through me. It was at an equipment trade fair open to the public, and

I had the financing worked out by that evening.

 

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So you are feeling the mechanical watch bug, too? I also have two of

those, and prefer to use a fountain pen. What does this say?

I can't find it as a word, nor can I find it as a category in the indexes of the photo books I have. I can guess from the categories and photos associated with it what in this forum what it MIGHT be, and am also assuming it is a "sigle", a word that is the sum of its parts. So... can someone or several someones, please spell it out? What is bokeh, what does it mean, and can it be cured? ;-)

Ivan, your first photo of the group of children is very charming, but

the second one, with the swings, pleases me more. I like your framing

of them, between the trees, with the sea and the moody sky in the

background. Wonderful movement there.

I don't have a license, so have never driven and only my husband has

a car. I bought my M6 a year ago, having decided to upgrade from a

Minolta HiMatic 11, a range finder that was made in 1969, and with

which I was perfectly happy until I started to do black and white.

One camera, one lens, with luck and a year of hard work and saving a

second before Christmas, a 28mm. Black and white film, access to a

dark room, developing and printing myself, and using this treasure

the M6, it has to be a passion, and it is. Don't ski, sail, golf,

ride horses, drive cars, fast or otherwise, or many of the other

things that are "holes you pour money into". All right, good wine,

but that is a local product here. ;-) How do I afford it? With great

care and a lot of love.

If the child in the foreground in the first photo is the subject of

interest, and the group of three children in the second one is, I

find it unfortunate that in both cases their legs are cut off, as,

incidentally, are the legs of the man beside the children in the

second one. I call attention to it because it happens in both photos.

 

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Margaret

Terence Malick's 1978 movie "Day's of Heaven", one of the most

visually beautiful movies I have ever seen. Scenes set up like

paintings, spectacular use of light, beautiful. Incredible

photography.

Margaret

Don't you already? ;-)

Si tu fait fais des images, ne parles pas, n'ecris pas, ne t'analyse

pas, ne reponds a aucune question. Robert Doisneau

 

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(If you make images, don't talk, don't write, don't indulge in self

analysis, answer no questions.)

Stefan, I don't think anyone has given the response as to how to

actually hold the camera, and my experience it is the only and best

way to do it.

 

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Fold the middle, ring and small fingers of your left hand toward your

palm, and support the weight of the camera on them. This will leave

your thumb and index finger free to work the focus ring and aperture

ring, while your right hand index finger is ready to change the speed

and declench the shutter. At least with the 50mm lens the weight is

quite perfectly balanced and you will not notice it at all soon. This

is the whole point of it, becoming at ease with this wonderful

camera. As others have said, use it, use it, use it. That is all it

takes. Depth of field checking, that will come from cause and effect

experience, same for the understanding of light levels. Above all,

enjoy it, don't be afraid of it, and get out there and shoot some,

many many many, rolls of film. Margaret