rscheffler Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Very nice Gary!
SKumar - Like the 21 SEM, particularly the first one.
Joakim - thanks for the details!
jfreak wrote:
Ron, very nice NYC back in August series. I just can't help ask you about the look on couple of people in the shot. It seems the expression is of concern on probably you taking a picture of them. Is that what it is? I am asking because I would like to take this kinda shots but I just cant dare to take it coz I feel someone will come up to me and ask "hey what are you doing?" and in present times it seems everyone is kinda suspicious. I am just curious how you get the confidence to take such shots up close (relatively speaking). I would love to hear your approach.
BTW, hope to join in here more frequently, just placed order for m240. Next will be 35 fle.
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edwardkaraa wrote:
The secret is not to care what the other people think. You need to have thick skin if you want to shoot street. However, as Henri used to say (Henri Cartier Bresson) you take one or two shots and you move on. You should not linger in the same place. Even when they see you taking the shot, the next moment you're gone, so they forget about it. If you stay there, they will inevitably come at you and you'll have some explaining to do
Btw when they make a worried or upset or annoyed expression, take another shot quickly. These are the best ones
PS. It is a good idea not to hide what you're doing. Do not shoot from the hip or hide. This is what makes people most suspicious.
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Pretty much what Edward and Rocky said. The only person on the ferry that I noticed being aware of my photography was the guy in the blue shirt in the last image, in part because he was standing right beside me. At the time I did sense a bit of a vibe from him, perhaps of being a bit in his personal space and snapping away during the relatively short crossing. It was a Sunday afternoon and almost everyone on the ferry was some sort of tourist, perhaps with the exception of the guy I was beside. Funny thing is, the girls sitting on the bench in a few of the images were on the same ferry I took back in the evening - quite the coincidence!
If I'm in a place like NYC, I don't feel that uneasy because there are a million tourists around and everyone is taking photos. IMO, it's all fair game. If I was to wander the streets of Maize, I'd feel a lot more conspicuous. The worst is trying to take photos in a park with kids running around and paranoid parents thinking you're some perv. Unfortunately many parents don't seem to know that anyone out in public in the US/Canada is not protected by some special privacy laws. Shortly after getting my Leica a few years ago I was at a local historical site and a kid ~6-7 years old ran up to me with a gun - a toy gun, of course. He 'shot' me, so I 'shot' him back with the Leica. We ended up having a bit of a shootout, and it was all in good fun. Of course the mom then asks me what I'm doing... meanwhile her kid is running around with a gun shooting people.
Anyway, I don't do a lot of 'people on the streets photos' so haven't run into too many negative encounters and nothing serous so far. I shoot a lot without looking through the camera, though not at the hip either. Bringing the camera up to the eye seems to trigger a reaction in people's peripheral vision and can change the nature of the composition.
There's also the theory that if you're going to shoot in an area, then spend time there and blend in as part of the scene, rather than just showing up and shooting your way through it.
As for your feelings about the Leica vs. the a7... I think with owning a Leica system you have to suspend financial logic to a certain extent, unless you're well off enough not to have to worry about dropping $5K on lenses. The other 'belief' to suspend is the notion that spending a lot of money will buy you perfection (and reliability - I sense an analogy comparing performance vehicles here somewhere). Each of us has subjective reasons. No doubt the a7 series is extremely popular, an example of which is the speed of progression and level of participation in the a7 image thread here... That said, I've used all three versions and IMO, it's a compromise system. The UI is a disaster for my likes. The camera is too small, the buttons and dials are crammed in and annoying in use. Too many button presses for some functions, or menu diving. Changing settings, like shutter/aperture is too laggy. Most M-system lenses don't perform as well on the a7 series as they do on a digital M. This isn't necessarily obvious in nearer distance scenes, but becomes noticeable with technically demanding scenes and wider angle lenses. To fully appreciate this, though, you need to 'see it for yourself' by shooting the same lenses on a digital M.
The only a7 flavor I half-liked was the a7S primarily because of the fully electronic shutter.
Bottom line is that none of us here probably really *need* to use Leica to produce our images. My thinking is that similar to a road trip, the process/journey is a very relevant influence on the overall photographic experience. I love producing satisfying images, but I love it even more when using equipment I enjoy.
You're right that the M240, or M9, or M8 all have electronic quirks that can affect reliability. So far no Leica I've used has outright died on me (knock wood), but they've all had random problems that briefly affected shooting. And I've missed images. So far none that were absolutely critical. With the a7 cameras I also missed opportunities, but because I was fumbling with the UI. Maybe with time I'd become more proficient with the a7s, but it still won't match the Leica simplicity. Meanwhile, extensive use of the M has made me better at knowing the factors that trigger its quirks, and how best to avoid them.
The High Line... aka - where to photograph fellow tourists.
M240 & 28 Cron, ZM50/2, 2x21SEM, 90 Summarit
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