bill Posted August 4, 2012 Share #1 Posted August 4, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) I was struck this morning when listening to Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4 by an item in which archer Tony George was interviewed. It starts about 14 minutes and 40 seconds in. The way he describes the experience of loosing an arrow at the target - the extent to which he is in tune with the physical, mechanical process - is reminiscent (to me at least) of photographing with a meterless mechanical camera. You see the image and raise your camera; you estimate the light by eye and brain, you wind on from the previous exposure, feeling the mechanism draw the film across the gate. You adjust focus, first by feel then by eye and you depress the shutter to the release point. The sound of the shutter confirms to you the shutter speed that you have just used; as you lower the camera again you ready for the next shot. Have a listen - see if you can see what I mean... Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted August 4, 2012 Posted August 4, 2012 Hi bill, Take a look here Archery and photography. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
erl Posted August 5, 2012 Share #2 Posted August 5, 2012 Got the meaning without needing to click the link. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 5, 2012 Share #3 Posted August 5, 2012 Hello Bill, Whether it is a bow & arrow, a rifle, an atlatl & spear or a camera, what the person does is pretty much the same. The results are different. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadside Posted August 5, 2012 Share #4 Posted August 5, 2012 When I was at college "Zen & The Art Of Archery" was required reading. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith (M) Posted August 5, 2012 Share #5 Posted August 5, 2012 When I was at college "Zen & The Art Of Archery" was required reading. Preferred 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' myself. Had plenty of practice of the 'maintenance' bit on my (German) motorbike-equivalent to Leica! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter H Posted August 5, 2012 Share #6 Posted August 5, 2012 I don't listen to The Archers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_d Posted August 5, 2012 Share #7 Posted August 5, 2012 Advertisement (gone after registration) "Zen and the Art of Archery" is a great book and one of my recommended readings. Zen in the Art of Archery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 6, 2012 Share #8 Posted August 6, 2012 As someone who shoots with a camera for a living and with a longbow for fun, I really don't see any comparison between my completely unrelated activities. I use the camera and my skills as a photographer as part of a (my) creative process. The camera I am using at the time is a vehicle, nothing more. When indulging in field archery, the bow I use and the arrows I make are part of a mechanical process I use with my questionable skill as an archer to 'kill' something and build my score. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted August 6, 2012 Please listen to the item, then you may see what I mean. Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 6, 2012 Share #10 Posted August 6, 2012 Admittedly I couldn't be arsed to follow the link, but I will when time allows. However, if he is a target archer, I may never understand.............. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted August 6, 2012 Author Share #11 Posted August 6, 2012 He is. It is the language he uses that resonated for me. Regards, Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 6, 2012 Share #12 Posted August 6, 2012 Hello honcho, What makes you think they are so different? When you focus on the eye of a person with an M to do their portrait or draw a bow & calculate the path of an arrow to the center of a target you are doing pretty much the same thing. The major difference is the M has a flatter trajectory. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 7, 2012 Share #13 Posted August 7, 2012 What makes you think they are so different? When you focus on the eye of a person with an M to do their portrait or draw a bow & calculate the path of an arrow to the center of a target you are doing pretty much the same thing. Read my previous post, imo your comparison above is inaccurate. One is a creative process, the other mechanical. To take your own example apart, I'm not in the habit of putting a sitter's eye in the centre of the frame or the kill zone on a third of my field of vision. Try it and you'll see why. To return to the OP: having listened to the piece, I can see your connection and I like what he has to say, but I'm not convinced that you or anyone else is striving for perfection every time you raise your camera to your eye. Draw a bow and you will find the opposite is true. As an archer I can relate to his emotional addiction to 'getting it right'. There are no grey areas in archery, the end result is either good or bad. The same can apply to creating images, but subjectivity can be applied and, for me, any similarity between photography and archery is very limited. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 7, 2012 Share #14 Posted August 7, 2012 Hello honcho, For some people 1 is creative, the other mechanical. For others the reverse is true. For some both are the same. 5 people can sit in the same chair & look @ the same pomegranite & see very different things. But: Unless someone is zone focussing: When either look @ a subject: They pick their point of interest & lock onto it: 1 w/ a range/viewfinder patch, the other w/ a mindset of how to place an arrow. Then both frame & act. Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DES Posted August 7, 2012 Share #15 Posted August 7, 2012 Bill you wil be hugging trees next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 7, 2012 Share #16 Posted August 7, 2012 ..... 5 people can sit in the same chair & look @ the same pomegranite & see very different things. If a pomegranate were a field archery target, (entirely possible) I'd look at it with the intention of 'killing' it. Killing it artistically would not be a primary consideration. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Geschlecht Posted August 7, 2012 Share #17 Posted August 7, 2012 Hello honcho, An issue of apples & bathtubs. Relevance? Best Regards, Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted August 7, 2012 Share #18 Posted August 7, 2012 Read my first post. I'll leave you to your pomegranate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share #19 Posted August 7, 2012 Bill you wil be hugging trees next. No tongues, though... Sent from another Galaxy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pico Posted August 7, 2012 Share #20 Posted August 7, 2012 Preferred 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' myself. Had plenty of practice of the 'maintenance' bit on my (German) motorbike-equivalent to Leica! The author, Robert Pirsig, was a neighbor in Chicago. It was a heady time. BTW, just for the heck of it I did a concordance of ZAMM. Very few mentions of motorcycle brands. Of course the BMW was mentioned (his riding partner, John's), and no mention that his bike was a Honda Super Hawk. When my BMW bike was over 100,000 miles someone asked about maintenance and I pretended to be irritated and said, "Yea, this POS has only 100,004 miles on it and already it needs a new front fork seal. I'll never buy a BMW again." Like the Leica M. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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