proPhotogs

I know two things about Dutch photographer Hugh Van Es:
1. He died last week.
2. He took this picture:

This is probably the most recognizable image from the American conflict in Viet Nam. (If you can think of another one, please say so, but I can’t.) It became a classic image of U.S. withdrawal in 1975.
Fun fact: This isn’t the American Embassy, as captions usually say. I think it’s just a hotel.
Anyway, I am going somewhere with this. Have you ever taken a picture like this? A single image that completely sums up a place, a period of time, or a state of mind?
What a great goal to keep in mind when you’re taking pictures of your own family – capturing an image that says it all. Chances are that standing everybody shoulder to shoulder flashing plastic grins isn’t going to do it.
Of course, I don’t have any idea how you CAN do it…but isn’t a great ambition anyway?
[photo courtesy of http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/05/17/arts/15vanesobit.jpg]

Anybody catch the June Esquire featuring a cover shot of Megan Fox? I don’t read Esquire and I don’t know who Megan Fox is, but I did see that the cover was shot using a 4K RedOne video camera (whatever that is), with the final still pulled from the video.
It’s actually a concept that I’ve always wondered about, much to the annoyance of my photographer friends. Why couldn’t you just video tape the entire shoot and pull out the best frames instead of trying to get the shot with a standard camera.
I was always told that the quality was nowhere close to the same, which I guess is no longer true. Esquire’s camera probably costs more than a few bucks, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time until this sort of thing is commonplace.
But…what about the romantic side of the whole thing? Can you really just sit there with a video camera without having to worry about timing? Could you go through a shoot without ever hearing the shutter click?
Couldn’t imagine it. Would never happen.
But that’s probably how people used to feel about kissing the dark room goodbye, too…
Your thoughts?