So, the picture above was shot a little differently from most recent efforts. Picture was made with a Leica M8 and 21mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M sitting atop a very lightweight tripod (a QuantaRay QSX 7001 DX).

The nice thing about using the tripod was that I could set a decent aperture, even in the relatively dim light, and let the M8’s aperture-priority auto-exposure set a long shutter speed. Usually this results in some blur when hand-holding (the M8 ‘dinosaur’ doesn’t have shake reduction).

The tripod shots are nice and clean, though, as one would expect. Since we’ve been dealing with the side effects of cancer treatments, which has left us weak, especially on one side and walking with a cane, we’ve been debating about better ways to take photos.

When I first was dealing with this, I used a Leica Digilux 2 to document my daily commute to radiation therapy in San Francisco on CalTrain and the N Judah. Since I was usually working while seated (though sometimes strap-hanging) it was pretty straightforward to manage camera, cane and my body’s need for stability.

But, in lots of other situations, it’s been difficult to juggle all the pieces. And I’m not the ‘peak of action’ photog I once was, by any means. Two of my favorite photographers, Max Yavno and Ansel Adams, worked pretty much all their lives on a tripod (often supporting an 8×10 camera). I know from previous experience that working on a tripod is a whole different world from the documentary, photojournalistic style that has characterized my work.

The key to tripod work – since it’s a lot of effort to set up – is to pre-visualize the photo (and Adams was probably among the greatest masters of that skill) before choosing where – and when – to set up. Max’s work was perhaps a bit more serendipitous than Adam’s, since he photographed urban scenes that included people who did unpredictable things.

Modern cameras and tripods are much lighter and easier to manage, and you get more resolution from lighter, smaller packages than was the case in the film era, but the photog still has to think it through to be successful. So I think we’ll be working on this for a bit, and seeing if it’s a good fit for my current abilities. Stay tuned to gulker.com for the images and my thoughts on same….

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