This snow goose was about to land to the right but it turned on a dime and ended up landing on its left side. Fortunately, my gear could keep up with its flight path...
The 24 GM met all expectations on a recent family trip to Disney World, basically all I carried for the week. Besides basic stuff I had fun with f/1.4 shots when I thought about it.
gocolts wrote:
The 24 GM met all expectations on a recent family trip to Disney World, basically all I carried for the week. Besides basic stuff I had fun with f/1.4 shots when I thought about it.
I love the colors in the first picture. Is there any special processing used?
jtra wrote:
I love the colors in the first picture. Is there any special processing used?
Thanks! Nope- nothing special at all, little contrast and saturation was it. The overcast conditions were great for pictures, unfortunately most the time was spent on rides as opposed to pictures....
Would you describe your technique for street shooting? You did somewhere once before, but I can't find it. You get a unique and revealing view of people in their private selves or thoughts while in crowded public spaces.
Thank you, it's certainly one of my goals to depict people sympathetically in unguarded moments, in a way that hopefully suggests the mystery of their private selves or thoughts.
As for my working method, I use an A7R3 (previously an A7R2) held at waist level, framing off the LCD tilt screen. Either I am stationary (waiting for subjects to approach me), or I am approaching a stationary subject, or we are approaching each other. In other words, someone is always moving. For a long time I used the Sonnar FE 55/1.8 but, as I explained recently in this post, I bought a Planar FE 50/.14 to take advantage of its superior rendering--only to find that my keeper rate dropped noticeably. FM member JohnJ had explained earlier in that thread that the 55/1.8's autofocus speed and accuracy is superior to that of the 50/1.4, particularly for subjects moving towards one, precisely my own experience. So I went back to using the 55/1.8. Everything is a trade-off. Still, despite its size and weight, I wish I could continue with the FE 50/1.4 because I used it to make the picture you commented on and, to my eye, it has a look that the 55/1.8 cannot match. The woman in the picture was walking slowly so the 50/1.4's AF was up to the task.
Most of my subjects are unaware that they are being photographed because I'm holding the camera at waist level (and the average person doesn't believe it's possible to take a picture like that). On a very few occasions, I've asked permission then directed the subject to look away from the camera. In those cases I offer to send them copies of the best pictures, an offer that is usually accepted. On the rare occasions that I'm asked by someone if I've just taken their picture, I say "Yes", explain that I'm planning to publish the photos in a book, and show them an A5 presentation folder containing 40 representative images. This has been sufficient to dispel any reservations they might have had.
genji wrote:
Thank you, it's certainly one of my goals to depict people sympathetically in unguarded moments, in a way that hopefully suggests the mystery of their private selves or thoughts.
As for my working method, I use an A7R3 (previously an A7R2) held at waist level, framing off the LCD tilt screen. Either I am stationary (waiting for subjects to approach me), or I am approaching a stationary subject, or we are approaching each other. In other words, someone is always moving. For a long time I used the Sonnar FE 55/1.8 but, as I explained recently in this post, I bought a Planar FE 50/.14 to take advantage of its superior rendering--only to find that my keeper rate dropped noticeably. FM member JohnJ had explained earlier in that thread that the 55/1.8's autofocus speed and accuracy is superior to that of the 50/1.4, particularly for subjects moving towards one, precisely my own experience. So I went back to using the 55/1.8. Everything is a trade-off. Still, despite its size and weight, I wish I could continue with the FE 50/1.4 because I used it to make the picture you commented on and, to my eye, it has a look that the 55/1.8 cannot match. The woman in the picture was walking slowly so the 50/1.4's AF was up to the task.
Most of my subjects are unaware that they are being photographed because I'm holding the camera at waist level (and the average person doesn't believe it's possible to take a picture like that). On a very few occasions, I've asked permission then directed the subject to look away from the camera. In those cases I offer to send them copies of the best pictures, an offer that is usually accepted. On the rare occasions that I'm asked by someone if I've just taken their picture, I say "Yes", explain that I'm planning to publish the photos in a book, and show them an A5 presentation folder containing 40 representative images. This has been sufficient to dispel any reservations they might have had....Show more →
Very interesting and subtle explanation. Thank you.
