What does "F8 and be there!" REALLY mean?

[Heroique]

“F8 and be there!” says a lot in a few words.

And like a rich proverb with unaccountable power, it probably means more than it says.

One person might hear, “Know your equipment before heading into the field.”

Or another – “Don’t worry about technique, just get out there!”

And what about “Be there”? Does that urge physical presence at a scene, or emotional and intellectual presence of mind? Perhaps both? :p

What’s your take? (And BTW, is there an original source – or context – for this omnipresent quote?)

[Gem Singer]

Very common expression among press photographers in the 1940's and 50's.

Most of them used Speed Graphics.

It was more important to be there at the newsworthy event with a camera than it was to create a photographic masterpiece. If a newspaper was first to publish a picture of a newsworthy event, it sold more newspapers. A very competitive business then. Still is.

[Mark Sawyer]

There's some debate as to who really said it, but it generally goes to Weegee (Arthur Fellig). It would make sense, as with the old 4x5 press camera, film and flashbulbs, the right exposure for his usual distance range at night (when he almost always worked) was probably around f/8.

So given the event-dependant nature of his work, the two most important things, besides his own eye, were simply "f/8 and be there".

Today it would be "Autofocus, program mode, and be there."

[Mike1234]

I prefer "F/8 and don't be late!!".

[BrianShaw]

Most of them used Speed Graphics.


... and flash bulbs. They knew their distance range and as longa s they were in that ballpark and resonably focused they'd have a publishable image. Remember - newspaper quality is quite forgiving!

[Bob McCarthy]

I've taken the expression to mean.

F8 provides plenty of DOF and a shutter speed that will normally stop action in daylight with most films.

So f/8 is an "automatic" f/stop - esposure that doesn't require forthought

And "be there" means the when the opportunity to get the shot appears, you are ready to take a shot without the necessity to adjust the camera.

I didn't realize the comment came from a LF shooter, I assumed it was related to 35mm where it works perfectly.

I never shoot at f/8 with sheet film.

works for me,

bob

[rdenney]

“F8 and be there!” says a lot in a few words.

And like a rich proverb with unaccountable power, it probably means more than it says.

One person might hear, “Know your equipment before heading into the field.”

Or another – “Don’t worry about technique, just get out there!”

And what about “Be there”? Does that urge physical presence at a scene, or emotional and intellectual presence of mind? Perhaps both? :p

What’s your take? (And BTW, is there an original source – or context – for this omnipresent quote?)

It means to me that it is far more important to be at the scene worthy of being photographed than any of the myriad of technical decisions which we might allow to distract us.

I've always held that the decisions we make should reflect the following priorities:

1. Where we point the camera (this includes issues of perspective, lens choice, composition, etc.).

2. Focusing on the subject.

3. When we push the button.

18. What film we choose.

27. What aperture we choose.

46. What shutter speed we choose.

I'm not sure what the 45th most important thing is (or all the others), but I'm reasonably sure that it's more important than the choice of shutter speed, etc.

"Be there" encompasses the top priorities. The arbitrariness of "f/8" suggests its relative unimportance.

Rick "often so wrapped up in technique that he forgets to make music" Denney

[Tim Meisburger]

I have always heard this in relation to WeeGee, who was asked about the technique he used to make his outstanding images. That may be apocryphal, but he was, after all, nicknamed WeeGee (Ouiji) for his seemingly psychic ability to be in the right place at the tright time. Also, as Mark mentioned, f8 with focus preset at eight or ten feet is perfect for nighttime flashbulb exposures with the Speed Graphic he normaly used.

By the way, he was the most influential photographer of the 20th century IOM.

[Peter Collins]

Fred Picker, in one of his books, had an image of a football receiver leaping to catch a pass--the ball was almost in his hands, nearly everything about him in sharp focus--he was in the end zone or near it, there's a bunch of players ("bit players" in this case) in the mid-ground and background, and the fans in the far background. A great photo, made more easily now with what's currently available than when he did it.

In the caption, supplied by himself, under the photo, he said it was a case of "f8 and be there!" And in this instance, a bit of timing, and the luck of in the right position to capture the moment.

[Drew Bedo]

I always thought it was like asking Mallory why he wanted to climb Everest: "Because it is THERE!" Meaning If you have to ask me that, I cannot possibly explaine it so that you will understand!

I have alwayse understood "f8 asnf be there" to mean that you have to pre-scout the location, then get up before dawn and stand in the weather till he sun comes up to get that great sunrise shot. Or be willing to risk your equipment and health to get the storm waves breaking around the lighthouse etc, etc.

Another way to say it is rude and blunt: You have to know how to make a good exposure and you have to put in the effort to get the shot.

[percepts]

Its a typo that no one realised about and everyone followed like sheep.

It was originally "FB and be there". :D

[Paul Fitzgerald]

"The arbitrariness of "f/8" suggests its relative unimportance."

f/8 is where tessars start to get brutally sharp, just enough DOF to separate the subject from foreground/background, perfect for grab-shots.

f/8 - 1/500 = f/11 - 1/250 = f/16 - 1/125 would work well for Plus-X or Tri-X

I don't think f/8 was unimportant to WeeGee, probably what he actually used.

[Allen in Montreal]

Whether it was intended at the time or not, the "be there" part has morphed into reference about being on top of the story, being constantly aware and anticipating the next few moves.

Given that Fotogs do not have the same luxury as writers, who all too often show up late, or just miss it all together, interview all the people standing by and write the piece never letting on they blew the assignment and were picking up pieces.

Be there!

There is no excuse and no way to hide it if you weren't.

As others have referenced, F 8 was a perfect balance. Many years later, when bulbs (not that I ever shot them but my dad did) were gone and Vivitars were the source, it was Yellow or Red. And Red was F 8, when you needed that extra depth incase you blew the focus a little but could not walk away empty handed (and often only had one shot with longer recycle times than we know now).

As much as Digi is fun at times and clean, I really miss film, I miss the darkroom when all the guys poured in at the end of the day to process and print, the jokes, the stories, the big groups flips to see who was buying coffee, the darkroom was a very cool place to be!

[William McEwen]

Fred Picker, in one of his books, had an image of a football receiver leaping to catch a pass--the ball was almost in his hands, nearly everything about him in sharp focus--he was in the end zone or near it, there's a bunch of players ("bit players" in this case) in the mid-ground and background, and the fans in the far background. A great photo, made more easily now with what's currently available than when he did it.

In the caption, supplied by himself, under the photo, he said it was a case of "f8 and be there!" And in this instance, a bit of timing, and the luck of in the right position to capture the moment.

The photo, "Yankee Stadium, New York, 1967," is on page 112-113 of Picker's book "The Fine Print." It's a book that I studied almost daily for many months when I started in large format photography.

Peter, we'll have to disagree about this photo. I've always thought it was one of the weakest photos in the book, and that Picker included it because he wanted to show a breadth of skill, or perhaps because the publisher (him) said you have to include an action/35mm shot, so he dug deep, DEEP into his files and found this.

In his long explanation about this picture, Picker doesn't mention "f/8 and be there," so perhaps you're talking about a different book?

[rdenney]

I don't think f/8 was unimportant to WeeGee, probably what he actually used.

I didn't say it was unimportant, I said it was arbitrary. For any given photo, we might want selective focus, which would usually dictate a larger aperture, or more depth of field, which would usually dictate a smaller aperture. F/8 is where some things happen, but it is still in the broad middle between those two competing approaches to the look of a photo and therefore a compromise. I always figured it to mean: just set the camera on some basically workable value and don't let it distract you, because being in front of the subject at the decisive moment is what is really important.

Rick "noting that few good aphorisms have only one interpretation" Denney

[BradS]

I didn't say it was unimportant, I said it was arbitrary. For any given photo, we might want selective focus, which would usually dictate a larger aperture, or more depth of field, which would usually dictate a smaller aperture. F/8 is where some things happen, but it is still in the broad middle between those two competing approaches to the look of a photo and therefore a compromise. I always figured it to mean: just set the camera on some basically workable value and don't let it distract you, because being in front of the subject at the decisive moment is what is really important.

Rick "noting that few good aphorisms have only one interpretation" Denney

Having done a fair bit of work with a handheld, rangefinder focused Crown Graphic and the stock 135mm Optar lens, I do not believe that the f/8 part is all that arbitrary. When shooting FP4+ rated at EI-100, f/8 at 1/100 or 1/50 is a pretty common shooting mode. It turns out that f/8 is about as wide as you dare allow yourself when focusing with the rangefinder....any wider and you loose that little bit of margin you need to make up for the inevitable focus error...and of course, you never have enough light!

[civich]

"f8 and be there." ..... umm, .... go to shutdown, grab the camera and get out?

[Kuzano]

Always have a camera on hand.

It's the first thing I think when I see a potential image and I am not carrying a camera on me or in the car.

You can't do f8 without the camera, so it seems clear that you're not going to get the picture if you can't do f8, ie have no camera present.

[bobwysiwyg]

I was not familiar with Weegee. In case anyone else is in the same boat..

http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/

Would have been interesting to follow him around for a night or two.;)

[Steve M Hostetter]

If I need to be there with f8.0 I may be in trouble since most my lenses aren't that fast..

regards

[William McEwen]

I was not familiar with Weegee. In case anyone else is in the same boat..

http://museum.icp.org/museum/collections/special/weegee/

Would have been interesting to follow him around for a night or two.;)

I reviewed Weegee's autobiography for my "History of the American Press" class in college.

A few things I learned, if anyone is interested:

1. He pronounced his name WEE-CHEE.
2. Countless women wanted to sleep with him, because, he said, he's a genious.
3. He was pretty creepy.

[Robert Hughes]

"F8" of course refers to the boot menu button on Windows XP machines - if you aren't at your desk at boot, the machine will go on its merry way and start distributing porn viruses to everyone on your network.

Gee, I thought everyone knew that...:p