sashbar
Been spending a lot of time on here!
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2012
- Messages
- 3,044
- Reaction score
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- Behind the Irony Curtain
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
I don't think Capa (and Gary A) were saying you were too far away in terms of a focal point and you needed to zoom in...you can use a zoom lens for that. Rather, Capa is saying "if your picture is 'blah' than it's b/c you aren't taking enough risks (and no, that doesn't necessarily mean standing in front of cars) and aren't close enough to the story to be able to say 'here's the picture!'"
So in this instance, how Capa is relevant is....besides asking yourself what the story is that you could tell (or want to tell) with this setting, ask yourself what you could have done to have gotten more knowledgable or closer to the possible picture. Do something to draw their attention (and move them from boredom)? Accompany a visitor to the clinic (so you're photographing the signs and protesters from the POV of the visitor/patient? This is about privacy and limits. Capa is saying that if the picture isn't good enough, then you need to know more about the situation, take more risks, get more involved.
I guess Capa meant just that - not close enough. Literally. Because zoom does not help here. You can not fool people by using a tele. I mean people who will look at the photo.