On 3/25/06, graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well the best portrait photographers do not look through the viewfinder, > but set up things so they can interact with the sitter and pop away > without the sitter often even being aware that the shot was taken. > Catching the moment is what is important not looking through a damn > viewfinder.
Well, that's exactly the way Karsh (for one) did it. He'd walk about the studio, airbulb in hand, chatting amiably, snap without warning, continue chatting as his assistant changed plates, seemingly oblivious to the camera, and snap again once the assistant had done his thing. I saw a tape of him shooting a portrait sitting, and it was the most amazing thing! Several of his subjects were interviewed, and they all said that he was so charming, and seemed so genuinely interested in talking to them, that they were put completely at ease - hence the wonderful portraits. Except of course, for Winston Churchill, who wouldn't co-operate, so Karsh went up to him, snatched the cigar from his hand, and snapped just as Winnie scowled - perfect!! -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
