Bangkok violence pics - How did camera get so close?

[artspraken]

serious shiit happening in bkk

I am amazed how the camera got so close to the actual violence. is it super zoom hah?

like Robert Capa liddat hor

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/crackdown_in_bangkok.html

 

[daredevil123]

serious shiit happening in bkk

I am amazed how the camera got so close to the actual violence. is it super zoom hah?

like Robert Capa liddat hor

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/crackdown_in_bangkok.html

If you look closely, you will notice that journalists and photographers are moving together with the troops. All of them are required to bring and wear bulletproof/flak jackets with proper kevlar helmets.

A photographer died while covering the incident, if you haven't read in one of the photos.

 

[artspraken]

even if use zoom, that is really really close leh.

Robert Capa would be proud lor

 

[kensaw]

salute to those photographers... :thumbsup:

 

[VanGogh53]

That's the job of photo-journalists of getting close to the actions. In such cases, what type of lenses do you need? Fast lenses; and if possible UWA to mid-zoom. The 1st picture seems to be by a UWA, and he would have been very close to the soldier. I suppose it is the adrenaline to cover such unique but unfortunate events. How many of such people have since died? That's why they are not covered by normal insurance. I also noted that there was one guy with a lot of such pictures from Bkk; and I wonder how and why he was doing it. His pictures were really something - close to the scene and bringing out the emotion of the event.

 

[Srono]

serious shiit happening in bkk

I am amazed how the camera got so close to the actual violence. is it super zoom hah?

like Robert Capa liddat hor

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/crackdown_in_bangkok.html

Can see how close they are:

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/thai_05_19/t22_23466709.jpg

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/thai_05_19/t21_23466167.jpg

http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/thai_05_19/t07_23462989.jpg

 

[night86mare]

even if use zoom, that is really really close leh.

Robert Capa would be proud lor

i really don't think robert capa meant that you had to be close physically when he said what he said. :bsmilie::bsmilie::bsmilie: that really doesn't make any sense, when one stops to think about it seriously.

 

[raytoei]

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."
Robert Capa

Notice most of the photogr were staying close to the soldiers and not the protestors....

 

[night86mare]

"If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."
Robert Capa

closeness comes in more ways than physicality.

if you feel nothing for the subject, if you aren't "close" to your subject, then you won't take good enough pictures - period. just look at the gwc taking pictures of xmm in P&P. they can go as close as they want, but it doesn't make a difference. there is a lack of connection between photographer and subject, and it sticks out like a sore, sore thumb.

 

[sfoto100]

closeness comes in more ways than physicality.

if you feel nothing for the subject, if you aren't "close" to your subject, then you won't take good enough pictures - period. just look at the gwc taking pictures of xmm in P&P. they can go as close as they want, but it doesn't make a difference. there is a lack of connection between photographer and subject, and it sticks out like a sore, sore thumb.

but for reportage it usually mean u got to be near physically ...

 

[engrmariano]

awesome shots by those PJs...:thumbsup:

too bad, others died there as well...:cry:

btw, why is it posted here in rangefinder thread?:think:

 

[rijac]

if you recall the new term that came about from the photo/video journalism that took place during the war in baghdad - embedded. they are in the thick of the action and in the line of fire.

 

[artspraken]

closeness comes in more ways than physicality.

if you feel nothing for the subject, if you aren't "close" to your subject, then you won't take good enough pictures - period. just look at the gwc taking pictures of xmm in P&P. they can go as close as they want, but it doesn't make a difference. there is a lack of connection between photographer and subject, and it sticks out like a sore, sore thumb.

Very interesting interpretation, but my understanding of Capa's famous quote is he meant it literally - "close" means physical proximity. nothing to do with psychological.

would be interesting if any dada can shed light if Capa biography got explain what he really meant

 

[K3N]

Hey Cool pic #1 and #2 by Wong Maye-E. She's Singaporean right?
Cool

Some of the pictures are really intense.

 

[artspraken]

btw, why is it posted here in rangefinder thread?:think:

I post here coz I know RF people sure to understand Robert Capa and appreciate the closeness of "war" photography when the blood and violence is full frontal.

Some other type of photographer only think of xmm or still-life subject may not understand the "closeness" principle mah. Sorry har I am not discriminating against these photographers, and I am just intending this post for Capa fans nia.

 

[sinned79]

just look at the gwc taking pictures of xmm in P&P. they can go as close as they want, but it doesn't make a difference. there is a lack of connection between photographer and subject, and it sticks out like a sore, sore thumb.

fully agrees! thats why i never pay for such shoots. I rather look for TFCD shoots where the model is keen in my theme... we will sit down, discuss about the shoot and plan for it then shoot on another day when both are ready.

Not just pay, then shoot/pose and pose/shoot and shoot/pose.

 

[artspraken]

war photography and xmm photography are different lor.

anyway, here are some good quotes from Robert Capa
http://www.photoquotes.com/ShowQuotes.aspx?id=31&name=Capa,Robert

The war correspondent has his stake - his life - in his own hands, and he can put it on this horse or that horse, or he can put it back in his pocket at the very last minute.
Robert Capa

This war is like an actress who is getting old. It is less and less photogenic and more and more dangerous.
Robert Capa

For a war correspondent to miss an invasion is like refusing a date with Lana Turner.
Robert Capa

I am a gambler. I decided to go in with Company E in the first wave.
Robert Capa

I hope to stay unemployed as a war photographer till the end of my life.
Robert Capa

I would say that the war correspondent gets more drinks, more girls, better pay, and greater freedom than the soldier, but at this stage of the game, having the freedom to choose his spot and being allowed to be a coward and not be executed for it is his torture.
Robert Capa

If your pictures aren't good enough, you aren't close enough.
Robert Capa

In a war, you must hate somebody or love somebody; you must have a position or you cannot stand what goes on.
Robert Capa

It's not always easy to stand aside and be unable to do anything except record the sufferings around one.
Robert Capa

It's not enough to have talent, you also have to be Hungarian.
Robert Capa

The pictures are there, and you just take them.
Robert Capa

The truth is the best picture, the best propaganda.
Robert Capa

 

[azzurri]

Hey Cool pic #1 and #2 by Wong Maye-E. She's Singaporean right?

Yea she is. Think she is based in Thailand.

 

[artspraken]

this is the Robert Capa picture I was thinking of when I saw the BKK pics

(in the unlikely event that you do not already know, most RF enthusiasts know this pic well)

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1912110,00.html

 

[night86mare]

but for reportage it usually mean u got to be near physically ...

Very interesting interpretation, but my understanding of Capa's famous quote is he meant it literally - "close" means physical proximity. nothing to do with psychological.

would be interesting if any dada can shed light if Capa biography got explain what he really meant

well, then won't using a fisheye be best? :bsmilie::bsmilie:

i think capa did use telephoto lenses.

one other interpretation i have seen referred to the quote as in the context of the common photojournalistic focal lengths used - i.e. 35mm, 50mm at that time. of course if you aren't close enough physically in such a context, then you would not be able to take a photograph with much impact in the photojournalistic sense.

if you read the short bios of capa available on the internet like this one, he lived with the people he photographed:

http://www.photo-seminars.com/Fame/capa.htm

Leaving Africa, Capa jumped into Sicily with the paratroops and went on to the attack on "the soft under belly of the Axis" in the cold grim winter campaign of 1943-44.

he did what the soldiers did:

Stumbling ashore under heavy fire, he exposed four rolls of the most famous films in history.

me, i prefer to interpret it that way. as far as i'm concerned, a good picture whether photojournalistic or not has little to do with actual "rules" or following what someone who's dead said, no matter how great they were. if it works, it works. if you squatted in a corner and shot a great moment with a 500mm lens with 2x teleconverter, is anyone going to say "oh no, he wasn't close enough?" don't think so.