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| La Tour Eiffel |
Wind the film, dial in the exposure, focus, then click
That’s how you ‘slow dance with a film camera,’ …. and smell roses. It’s the point where I left off in my previous blog post.
“So what do you do in Paris at night?”
For some world travelers the question might conjure up all the raucous offerings of night time in Gay Paris - a front row seat at les Folies-Bergere, or catching a few kicks from the Can-Can madamoiselles at le Moulin Rouge, or some other hotspot for peut-être (perhaps) a je ne sais quois salacious pursuit.
This query, however, was directed to Alfred Eisenstaedt, the beloved German-American photographer whose memorable images while on assignment graced the cover of Life almost one hundred times during the magazine’s heyday. Incredible! Eisie, as he was affectionately known, was a proponent of the recently introduced compact, versatile
35 mm Leica camera. He mastered use of available light, even at night, shunning flash units attached to the bulky press cameras relied on by many of his contemporary photojournalist colleagues.
Eisenstaedt’s answer to the query, So what do you do in Paris at night?, although a natural for him, wouldn’t satisfy anyone who was interested where in Gay Paris he hung his hat, or clothes, when the lights went down.
Eisie responded with, f-2 at a thirtieth.
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| St. Louis Children's Museum |
If you take photos with a phone or select auto on your digital camera and are not conversant with manual camera settings, f-2 refers to the lens aperture, or opening diameter. This component, functioning like the iris of your eye, regulates light entering the camera. Eisenstaedt’s thirtieth refers to the camera’s blink, i.e., speed of the shutter’s opening and closing. The aperture/shutter speed combination determines exposure, the quantity of light hitting the camera’s digital sensor or film. Since there is no auto setting on the Leicas Eisenstaedt used nor my 1950 model Leica, I was taught to evaluate the day’s light, i.e., is it an f-4 at a one-hundredth or an f-11 at a five-hundredth type of day? Aperture and shutter speed dials were then rotated to the determined selections, i.e., the camera was programed if you speak digital-ese, prior to composing, focusing and finally clicking.
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| Old Route 10, Grantham NH |
Unlike image capture using today’s digital marvels, you had either 24 or 36 shots on the camera’s roll of film, not the virtually limitless number of shots available to the digital photographer. Clearly, instant gratification was not part of the equation. There were also developing and printing steps to complete before the image was seen. Even with the advent of the Polaroid and instant photography there was a minute or so delay before a small square print was slowly extruded from the camera’s innards. Imagine, instant then meant having to wait a whole minute! Clearly the film camera experience with its limits on the number of clicks, real processing costs, and delayed gratification in viewing, requires patience leading to a more deliberative process than the seemingly limitless, immediate, no cost point & shoot options commonplace today.
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| Central Park, NY |
As I continue the adventure of meandering on a film-camera déjàs vue all over again path, I find I am more selective with subject matter and spend more time composing before clicking. But when all goes according to plan, I am particularly buoyed with the results.
Not everyone can dust off a favorite or nostalgic old film camera like I did and try shooting a roll, but everyone who points & shoots with a camera of any kind, can try to do the slow dance. Just imagine your device has only so many clicks before you’re out of ‘film’. Try it, you may savor the experience, and even note a pleasant floral essence in the air.
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| Strasbourg, France |
all images are Leica images © David Greenfield
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