The Jury Is Still Out

Point of Focus. I am still not sure I did the right thing. This image was taken at the Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. In the foreground, one of the few original copies of the Magna Carta, the document at the foundation of nearly every form of democratic government. It is one of the four originals that date back to 1217. In spite of its age, it has held up extremely well. To see the original article, click here.


Reflections. After I selected a lens (11-17 2.8 Tokina), established a white balance setting (Incandescent preset) and an exposure (1/18, F 2.8, ISO 6400), I positioned myself so that the document was clearly visible with a minimum of reflections. This was about as good as it could be. While I had a polarizer in my bag, I didn't even bother due to the inevitable light loss the filter would create.


Go For The Shot! As luck would have it, a fellow (unnamed) journalist leaned over to gaze at the document. Light from above bounced off the Magna Carta itself and provided enough fill to clearly delineate the features of her face.  The background helped to establish that the photo was made in a museum.


Dr. James Ganz, the curator of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, was giving us the details of how the Legion came to acquire the Magna Carta for the display. I locked my focus on him, presuming that he would be the center of interest.


In retrospect, I think I goofed on this one. The Magna Carta is the star of the show, and the unknown journalist on the left could have easily been acknowledged in the caption. I don't plan on getting depressed over this shot, but will remember to give more thought to the real subject of the photo.


Your opinions?