Finding the right lens that works for the images I see.
A dear friend just read what follows and suggested I empty a shoe box, make a pin hole, and that is how I view the world. Then, 10 minutes ago, which is why I am changing this piece, I flicked open a great book by Brenda Ueland ‘ If You Want To Write’. The chapter I read is called ‘Microscopic Truthfullness’.
And she questions how many Americans do this.
I guess that applying that concept to the question I ask and the pinhole comment of my friend I can see the relevance. How do I view the world, my world, the world around me. How closely do I pay attention to the details of life and events that shape my journey. How honest am I in my daily snapping and daily activities. I have to say that most of the time I am pretty focussed on the details of life which is why I snap what I snap. As a film editor I have to pay attention to detail, detail rules my life in the edit suite. If I blink I miss the gems, the nuanced performances that make the difference between an emotional story and a flat limpid one. And so to a lens. I again ask the question, how do I see my world? I tend to see moments, moments that cartier bresson described as “in the blink of an eye”. I love light, I love watching people. I love the way light moves across a landscape and I love the darkness of shadows. In New Zealand there is a great deal of darkness. The Piano, a great film, portrayed that darkness well. It is brooding, it lies in the landscape, a canopy of rich, thick, water dripping foliage. Clouds roll in from the west, rolling off the vast stretch of water between OZ and NZ, cloaking the mountains that rise behind my home and rolling, like a great breaking surf, down across the plains toward the coast line to the east. There is a heaviness, a water ladeness, a soggyness. Winter lies cold and sharp and with the few crisp clear days comes a light that glows with clarity. 4pm and the camera needs to be ready as 20 minutes is all there is of that glow. It is almost the mood between moods, the darkness gives way to golden light but then retreats into itself much like the farmers at end of day. Gone. Just a glimpse. This needs a fast eye, fast feet, a great camera and even greater lenses. To capture the detail takes Patience. Skill. Timing. And it is in this moment, the world comes alive. “Life is once forever”, Cartier Bresson again. So there is my dilemma, a format camera or something small and fast aka Leica. And that is what I have chosen. And what lenses, to come back to my original question. The rest of this piece is what I originally wrote, now, through a friend and a good piece of writing I get to make a decision, this becomes, again I quote Cartier Bresson, “The Decisive Moment” What a great expression. But now I know, the fastest 28mm lens I can buy, not what I can afford, but what I can buy. Now it simply becomes a matter of what do I sell, certainly not my soul for this is all about feeding and luxuriating in, my soul. Amen.
Now, if you need, read on . . .
It is a dilemma, what is my vision, how do I see the world around me?
As always I am left with more questions than answers. Thank god I have friends who are not shy in guiding me. Thank god I have been fortunate to work alongside some of the worlds great photographers. From these differing personalities and experiences I get to see myself and my world, in a clearer light. I have never been tempted to plagiarise but I totally open to being inspired. In fact it is the impressionists who inspire me most and of those, Cezanne is the most current influence. His study of a fixed landmark seen through a variety of prisms. Same subject, different angle, light, perspective, emotion. I have a couple of images that I have been studying. Fixed and yet ever changing. Lone Pine, which is simply that, a lone pine that dominates the skyline behind my cottage in featherston. Around 4pm I look out my kitchen window and sure enough there is always an attitude, a color, a shift in clouds that has me, with my camera, down to my garden fence and snapping away.
But which lens works for me?
I have tried 5 to date.
First there is my trusty Leica Digilux 2 with it’s 28 to 90mm Summicron lens.
With this I have to leave it and accept it at the 28mm setting. This camera has served me well for 5 years now.
Then there are my luxurious M series lenses.
Tri-Elmar f4 16/18/21
Summilux f1.4 50mm
Summilux f2 90mm
Of course on a Digital camera they all take on a different aspect but I usually, but not always, take this into account when framing. I love shooting from the hip and basically that is what I do. Sure I shoot a lot of snaps but I just fire away, some would accuse me of spraying, but so be it. That is why, generally speaking that the wide angle lenses best suit my style and that is where I need to focus so to speak.
And after all is ingested to my lightroom library I find I am going back to the one lens. The 28mm which in digital terms is a true 35mm.
That is what is missing from my M series arsenal and I am trying hard not to spend the money at the moment and lash out on the glorious Summicron f2 28mm. It is so tempting and I know I will not be totally satisfied until I have that in my bag. So, in these days of recessionary thinking, what do I sell to pay for the new lens. I need some revolutionary thinking! I will not bore you with the price as the cost of anything Leica is ‘obscene’. I use that term with a dash of irony as I could sell so many other things to pay for it. But the old adage of you get what you pay for is certainly true in this case. Follow this link to the Holy Grail.
>http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/m_system/lenses/photojournalism/index.html<
So, today, I have my 50mm to play with, the Tri Elmar is my wide angle and that I love. I have not used the 90mm for a while and I wonder why I keep something I do not use. A film body, M6 would be a far more useful tool.
The next question becomes, now that I have the 28mm/35mm as my prime fixed lens of choice, what do I snap, what turns me on or captures my eye. Sure I shoot a great deal of junk but in saying that I am reminded of henri cartier bresson’s “life is once forever”.
Enough said, cheers, Richard.
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