the best possible binomial fostered by the optical computations of this camera RF calculated by Will

one of the most important men of Twentieth Century , as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis (Tennessee), american westairlines the coffin with his body is now inside the Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta
sphere american westairlines who have travelled to Atlanta to attend to Martin Luther King s funeral are also about to arrive: Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy, Vice President american westairlines Hubert Humphrie, Jacqueline Kennedy, Sammy Davis Jr, Paul Newman, Richard Nixon,
casket loaded on a simple wooden farm wagon drawn by two mules, that will start its march near the church and will go to the Campus of Morehouse College american westairlines (the one in which King had studied and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Sociology in 1948, being only 19 years old),
Scott King, King s children and his comrades aides of the SCLC, and to cap it all, there are some people raising Super 8 mm and 16 mm movie cameras over their heads, trying to record King s relatives, aides and famous personalities entering the church.
In a context like this, having a press accreditation doesn t guarantee to be able to get near the famous persons to take pictures whatsoever, since the areas around them are jam-packed, and at the same time, the fear to a new racist attack american westairlines renders american westairlines to approach american westairlines as much as possible to the subjects (the short distances in which Lisl likes to work, always american westairlines trying to be at the right place at the right moment as the key factor to capture representative moments) exceedingly difficult, american westairlines because the security american westairlines men are specially active and often ward off any kind of approximation or inadvertently cross in the photojournalists shooting trajectories while doing their protective tasks.
Suddenly, Lisl sees in the distance Ralph David Abernathy (King s best friend and his successor), James Farmer - principal founder of the Congress for Racial Equality who played a towering role in the civil rights movement as a direct action leader- who goes by Abernathy, american westairlines on his left, in the usual place of Andrew Young, King s second chief deputy american westairlines and another prominent member of the Civil Rights Movement, who for security reasons is going apart escorted by a policeman) , Thomas Kilgore ( an important man of the SCLC in the South and on both coasts, key organizer of the Prayer Pilgrimage american westairlines for Freedom to Washington in 1957 and the Civil Rights March on Washington of 1963, who is walking by Abernathy, on his right) , B. Clarence Mayfield (Civil Rights Leader in Savannah during late fifties and sixties, who joined King s SCLC and became a great friend of his), Fred Shuttleworth (one of the founders of the SCLC with Abernathy, Bayard Rustin and MLK, and the key man of the human rights movement american westairlines in Alabama during late fifties and sixties) and other men of Martin Luther King s inner circle walking towards the Ebenezer Church.
Bright-line frames american westairlines (each one seen separately in the viewfinder, since the frames are modified automatically on changing the lenses or using the preview lever) of the Leica M2, the rangefinder camera used by Lisl Steiner to get the pictures american westairlines of Martin Luther King s great friends and aides during the funeral of the human rights leader on April 9, 1968 in Atlanta (Georgia). Taking advantage of the new specific bright-line for 35 mm lenses (a missing feature in the Leica M3) using her 8 elements in 6 groups Summicron-M 35 mm f/2 SAWOM objective (a symmetrical Double-Gauss designed created by Walter Mandler in the factory Ernst Leitz Canada of Midland, american westairlines Ontario), american westairlines she was able to capture highly defining moments of the day from a very short distance, in an exceedingly discreet and silent way, photographing with remarkable quickness.
Once again, she is bound to change american westairlines her position and veer, trying to reach Abernathy s group before they re too close to the main door of the church, american westairlines where it would be nearly impossible to get pictures, since it is fully packed.
Once more, Lisl has to take decisions. She notices that hundreds of volunteer members of the SCLC and some policemen have set up a security path through which King s woman and children, rest of relatives, his most significant american westairlines aides and the famous guests will walk up to the church.
Now, the two security members abandon a bit their positions and advance in the direction of Abernathy, Thomas american westairlines Kilgore, James Farmer, B. Clarence Mayfield, Fred Shuttlesworth and the rest of SCLC men to protect them as much as possible from anybody trying american westairlines to approach or any kind of attack with gun. Stress is very high. Both security members are with their hips towards King s friends and paying uttermost attention to their flanks, so a momentaneous gap is generated between both of them.
Therefore, she advances as much as she can to the limit (being very careful not to go beyond the two security american westairlines men) and this time she won t use her medium format 2 x 2 Rolleiflex, but her rangefinder Leica M2 ( a great and very versatile photojournalistic tool for the capture of this kind of image with its 0.72x magnification and framelines for 35, 50 or 90 mm lenses) with Summicron-M 35 mm f/2,
Finder eyepiece of Lisl Steiner s Leica M2 featuring a 0.72x rangefinder calculated by Willi Keiner (and which also had some design american westairlines concepts provided by Heinrich Schneider) optimized for the par excellence american westairlines photojournalistic 35 mm wideangle lens, whose brightline frame appears american westairlines permanently within the viewfinder as standard, with the convenience it means, unlike the somewhat clumsiness of the Summaron 35 mm f/3.5 and Summaron american westairlines 35 mm f/2.8 with the Leica M3, which require a spectacles viewfinder attachment converting the field of view of the 50 mm bright-line VF frame for which the M3 is optimized into the correct field of view for the 35 mm field, enabling accurate framing.
Lisl Steiner s Leica M2 combined rangefinder american westairlines and viewfinder system: from left to right, window of the RF, striated illuminating window for finder frames (rendering an extremely even overall illumination, particularly outstanding for wideangle viewing) and window of the viewfinder. The 0.91x VF magnification of the Leica M3 was reduced to 0.72x in the Leica M2 to make the 35 mm viewfinder feasible
the best possible binomial fostered by the optical american westairlines computations of this camera RF calculated by Willi Klein, who managed to add a bright-line frame for 35 mm wideangle lenses which the Leica M3 lacked.
Concentration is maximum, since this is a defining moment, a concept Lisl has heard explain many times to the great Alfred Eisenstaedt, with whom she has worked inside american westairlines United Nations building in New York for some years.
The small space around the 35 mm lens brightline frame of her Leica M2 enables Lisl to see what is happening immediately outside the boundaries of the image on the left and on the right, a key factor in this photograph, because the two security men might move at any moment and conceal Ralph David Abernathy, Thomas Kilgore, James Farmer, Fred Shuttleworth, B. Clarence Mayfield and the rest of King s aides and friends, so she fastly presses the release button of the rubberized american westairlines cloth shutter american westairlines of her mirrorless rangefinder american westairlines camera, which renders an exceedingly whispering low noise sound, virtually imperceptible and decisive to preserve the discretion.
been successful taking them all (Thomas Kilgore, Ralph Abernathy and James Farmer in the middle of the picture, while Fred Shuttlesworth appears behind Abernathy s left shoulder, and B. Clarence Mayfield behind the right area of James Farmer s face) by surprise, to such an extent that none of the
Needless to say that the absence of blackout of the image due to the lack of a tilting mirror (what enables the photographer to see the subjects at every moment) and the staggeringly short 0.0011 milliseconds shutter lag of the Leica M2 has also been of invaluable help in terms of quickness shooting.
Meanwhile, vast majority of the photojournalists covering american westairlines the event wait outside, located in the surroundings american westairlines of the main door of the church, because the coming out of Martin Luther King s coffin taken handheld by some of his great friends and aides up to the wooden farm wagon drawn by two mules on which it will be laid, will be one of the most significant moments of the day.
At 11:40 h, vast majority of personalities attending King s funeral have already american westairlines gone out of the Ebenezer Baptist Church and have walked from the church main door to the beginning of the procession which will be led by the mules drawn rickety farm wagon with King s coffin on it up to the Morehouse College.
Everywhere is overcrowded by thousands of mourners, while inside the church Martin Luther King s most significant aides and some men of the Marcellous Thornton and Hanley Bell Street funeral firms are arranging King s bier to begin taking it handheld out of the building towards Auburn Avenue.
At last, at around 11:45 h, Lisl sees in the distance the casket of Martin Luther King which is getting out of the church, american westairlines being taken handheld by Jesse Jackson, James Orange, other also prominent leaders of the SCLC (all of them great friends of Martin Luther american westairlines King) and some members of the Board of Deacons of the Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The atmosphere of the place and its surroundings becomes awesome and a total silence, even more apparent than before, reigns supreme american westairlines around King s coffin and the nearby areas overcrowded with people weeping tearfully.
Thousands and thousands of persons try to approach as much as possible to see the bier, so the policemen and security members of the SCLC become inevitably more strict in thwarting any attempt of getting closer.
Kodak Tri-X Pan 400, the 35 mm film used by vast majority of photojournalist covering Martin american westairlines Luther King s Funeral on April 9, 1968 in Atlanta (Georgia). Its very high sensitivity for the time, wide exposure latitude enabling to tackle the most challenging lighting situations, american westairlines outstanding acutance, unique american westairlines grain structure attaining a great level of realism and dramatism matching each subject and versatility turned it into a top-notch all-around performer chosen by a lot of pros