Didn't you use to write for Harper's Weekly? No, wait, that was Thorne Smith.
Ciao, graywolf [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: Mike Johnston <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2002 1:47 AM Subject: Duchess? Where'd she come from? > > Harumm. My tripod follies test of a couple of years ago clearly > > demonstrated the benefits of MLU in the 1/4 to 1/30 second range > > with a medium telephoto (400mm). The Nikon may have a smooth > > reflex mirror, the Super Program dances like a jitterbug. > > > 400mm? > > As in "four hundred"? > > Hmm. To me, a 105mm is a medium telephoto. An ultra-long telephoto is a > 180mm. > > I had a 180mm once, but I couldn't get far enough away from anything to take > a picture with it. Even the moon is too close... > > My usual telephoto is an 85mm. I'm less fanatical than my friend Oren, > though. His telephoto lens is a 50mm. > > I'm afraid I get a little strident when I talk about tripods and mirror > lock-up and the like. I get a little hard to take. I confess it. I'm working > on moderating my bigotry, I really am--I do realize that there are people > who do very good and interesting work with 35mm cameras on tripods, using > MLU, etc. It's work I could not do myself. I'm afraid though I'm of the old > "life on the fly" / handheld / natural light / wide angle / quick and dirty > / screw it and shoot / black-and-white school. > > You know how sometimes we have a tendency to dismiss what we personally do > not care about (or perhaps, that we do not understand very well)? It's the > basis of all bigotry, of course. > > Well, despite years of trying to be catholic (small "c") in my tastes in > photography...that is, to respect ALL sorts of different approaches and > interests...this very thing is antithetical, I believe, to whatever > motivates us to love art. We love and value what speaks to us, what has > meaning for us. And the corollary...we do tend to dismiss contrary aims and > efforts, however laudable and harmless they might be. It's something to be > on guard against.... > > So, try though I might to moderate my bigoted tendencies, I do tend to have > a knee-jerk reaction to, well, say, oh, I don't know, let's just pick an > example out of a hat, CAT pictures. Puuuurdy flowers. Calendar / postcard / > Hallmark Card type shots. Generic pretty colors. Fastidious namby-pamby > pinko twee tripod crap with every last little line per millimeter showing, > fine-grain films with no meat or muscle, handbuilt Jerry cameras that cost > their weight in gold, this or that twinkie magic-potion developer and French > froo-froo photo paper and just the right pinch of pyro in the archival > toner...oooooh, lock up the mirror, you might get a bit of mirror vibration, > Nigel, dear, and then what would the freakin' DUCHESS think? The Duchess > don't like blurry pichers! An' don't fer heaven's sake get a scratch on the > commemorative, you'll knock a thousand off its collector value in the > freakin' ORIENT, and THAT wouldn't DO, now would it, ya girdle-wearing, > wine-sippin' sissified tripod-babied mirror-lockin'-up GIT.... > > Errrrr.... > > > > >*cough*< > >*cough*< > > *Ahem*. > > Excuse me. > > Got a bit carried away. > > I'll just make an effort to compose myself here, if you wouldn't mind > looking the other way just for a second > [running fingers through hair] > [straightening tie] > [wiping foam off mouth] > > So, anyway, as I was saying, I am making a concerted effort to moderate my > natural tastes and predilictions, and conceive a deep and abiding respect > for those who do not use photography as I do, and who have need of other > techniques than mine, and hence, other features, say, on their cameras.... > > > (Okay, okay. I'll keep working on it.) > > <g> > > --Mike > - > This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, > go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to > visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org . - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
