Shel Belinkoff wrote:
A couple of years ago I was watching a fellow shoot a portrait for cover
for a local magazine. He was using a 'blad, and shot three rolls of what
was essentially the same pose, changed the setup, and shot another three
rolls of that scene. I talked with him a bit and asked why he shot so many
frames of the same scene. Apart from saying that he looks for subtle
variations in each picture, he also mentioned that with the mirror blackout
he never really knows what he's got, so he shoots a lot of frames for
insurance. I'm sure he'd have shot a lot of frames anyway, but perhaps the
need to deal with unknown results due to mirror blackout caused an increase
in the number shot.
The rangefinder doesn't change the outcome but it does allow the
photographer to be aware of what he's caught on film, and that knowledge
can make the difference between a keeper or a tosser ;-))
I think he could've chosen either a better tool (rangefinder, as you
say) or a better technique -- looking directly at the subject once he'd
already checked his setup in the viewfinder.
At least, that's how I was taught, so perhaps my teacher is better at
this stuff than that guy is!
