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surreptitious shooting

Lili

New member
I always do . . . it's called an iphone :grin:
Jonoslack, very good idea. I have a smart phone (Samsung, not on AT&T) I can load some pics using the SD card.
Of course using digital cameras one can also just show then what you've just shot to ;)
 

Lili

New member
In regards long lenses, my frinds uses them sometimes but not always.
I sledom do and never in Street work.
I much prefer the initmacy of wide angle.
Although lately the 40mm GT-1 has really opened my eyes a bit.
For example, in that Melon Sellers shot here

I might've done well wih the 40mm EFL POV.
I am carryng the GRD and GT-1 today.
:)

Edit; yet another vote for GRD40!!!!!
Waaaaahhhh!!!!
^_^
 

jonoslack

Active member
Jonoslack, very good idea. I have a smart phone (Samsung, not on AT&T) I can load some pics using the SD card.
Of course using digital cameras one can also just show then what you've just shot to ;)
Hi Lili
I think that you've put your finger on why the iphone is so good - if you use a mac, then you simply pick the relevant iphoto or aperture galleries in the iphone sync and you don't need to think anymore.

e.g. - if you have a smart album called 'killer landscapes' for which the keyword is 'landscape' and the rating criteria is *****, then each time you mark a photo with that keyword and rating, it'll be automatically in the smart album, and next time you sync it'll be automatically on the iphone.

Of course you can load pictures on an SD card and put it in your Samsung, but it's a palaver and one tends not to get around to it.

I set my iphone up to work with albums and galleries just before christmas, and I haven't changed the sync settings - but the photos change as I change them in Aperture - easy, and it's always interesting to see what's got there.

In addition, the movement sensor means that you can turn the phone between portrait and landscape mode and the pictures expand to fit accordingly.

Like most Apple things, it isn't really very technologically advanced, but it works with very little hassle.

As for the camera - it's wonderfully wonky - Tim Ashley's iphone gallery at zenfolio
 

Maggie O

Active member
FWIW, 40mm EFOV is wide angle. Anything under 50mm EFOV is considered wide angle, or at least it was back in the dark ages when I was in art school. 40mm might fall under a "wide-normal" but it's definitely not telephoto.
 

Lili

New member
FWIW, 40mm EFOV is wide angle. Anything under 50mm EFOV is considered wide angle, or at least it was back in the dark ages when I was in art school. 40mm might fall under a "wide-normal" but it's definitely not telephoto.
True Maggie, but for hardcore GRD user like me, it feels like a tele ;)
 

nostatic

New member
I just got back from my morning walk to Peets (coffee) and had my 50-135 zoom on the Pentax. There was this older orange Buick Riviera with big chrome bumpers that I needed to shoot. At 50mm (effective 75) I could get the front the of car. I was wishing for the DLux3 (or GRD2 if I order one today). I was able to shoot the whole tail end of the car but I was standing in the middle of a busy parking lot.

Effective 28 would have been perfect. Arrgghh.... ;)
 

Maggie O

Active member
Ahhhhhhh, clautrophobia!!!! No sweeping vistas!!
;)

edit; isn't there a crop factor with the M8?
Yep. 1.33.

It's an interesting FOV to work with, especially since for years I shot with nothing but a 28mm on my F3.
 

Lili

New member
Yep. 1.33.

It's an interesting FOV to work with, especially since for years I shot with nothing but a 28mm on my F3.
Ah not too different from using my 50/1.4 on my K100D!

One thing I do like about that rough FOV is the ability to Isolate ones subject.
Wonderful for casual/candid portraiture :)
 

cam

Active member
True Maggie, but for hardcore GRD user like me, it feels like a tele ;)
i kind of felt that way, too, but this shot shows it still has a wide angle thang going for it.. (taken with the same combo as you, but 3:2 aspect):
 

ChrisDauer

Workshop Member
FWIW, 40mm EFOV is wide angle. Anything under 50mm EFOV is considered wide angle, or at least it was back in the dark ages when I was in art school. 40mm might fall under a "wide-normal" but it's definitely not telephoto.
Doesn't that depend highly on the film size (or in today's digitial world, sensor size). I mean a 50mm on Medium format is wide, and I suspect very wide on large format. Normal for 35mm, but telefoto if you attached a webcam interface to it. As this is a small sensor forum I'd assume 40/50 to potentially be somewhat telephoto.

Or do I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about? :D (in which case please enlighten ;)
 

nostatic

New member
As this is a small sensor forum I'd assume 40/50 to potentially be somewhat telephoto.
small sensor cameras are usually reported with "effective 35" numbers rather than the actual focal length, so something called a "50mm" would be normal (ie the same as a 50mm on an slr film camera).

The reality is that with my DLux3, "28mm" is actually 6.3mm on the camera. "112mm" is actually 25.2mm. About a 4x "crop" rather than 1.5ish with a typical dslr.
 

ChrisDauer

Workshop Member
Lisa, I feel strongly, at least for myself, that this approach does not produce good street photography. For this type of photography you really have to be in the action, very close to the subject, which is impossible to achieve with a telephoto because either you don't see what is happening fast enough or cannot understand the visual significance. I cannot think of one street photographer that I admire — Cartier-Bresson, Winogrand, Friedlander, Moriyama — that uses telephoto lenses. To me it's a non-starter for this type of photography.
Hahaha. Well, I -was- going to post that I use long lenses, as Lisa has mentioned. I like to avoid changing the scene. Think Schrödinger's cat, if you will. Hence the long lenses.

In the past I've raised my camera to capture a quick moment, but too often I'm way to slow to do it and by the time I've got it set, the moment has pasted. Usually with people having a :wtf: are you doing, look.


Otherwise I just try and shoot from the hip. My guessing the distances of objects & people never works well. I'm really not good at that. ;( Way to often I end up with complete trash. I suppose you could look at them as little investments into my Karma photography bank account; which cashed out with my (infamous) once in a lifetime Noctilux shot in the Image Criteria Forum of the hostess (kindly note that the blob center frame is Woody). Needless to say, that was from just guessing his distance.

Still, I've learned lots from this thread, so thanks to all who've contributed! :)
 

cam

Active member
thank you, Christi and Lili! it was an irresistible shot, but i'm still paying for taking it. my arm's not ready for prime time yet....


This is a good read ...
" Street Photography For the Purist "
written by Chris Weeks ...
I put a copy of it in my public folder on my iDisk
10.3mb

http://tinyurl.com/ypvdoy
thank you for that! despite my minor indiscretion shooting yesterday, i'm back to being a spectator until i see the doc on monday. i always love to read about street photography because that's pretty much all i do.


**********************************************************

(a little babbling from me as i've kept quiet since i'm still stoned on drugs and pain. street photography has become somewhat my raison d'être....)

speaking of which, another vote here for using a wide angle and being in the moment. i think because i tend to see things in 28mm, if i'm trying to shoot people i need to be there, up close and personal. i have never considered myself a voyeur, more an observer... i take mostly candid shots of people i don't know. as for rules, i follow my gut on propriety and it's been pretty solid.

for instance, i never have the camera on when i walk into the hospital where i go to therapy despite it's rich array of people and reflective glass and mirrors and windows. in my mind's eye, i have gotten many amazing shots -- but the camera is always off so as not to tempt me to cross the line of right and wrong....

i truly think we can all trust our own ethics on the matter. as for a comfort zone, you have it in street photography or you don't and it shows in the images. i love the people here and they're the reason i picked up a camera in october. i'd been an observer for far too long -- i wanted to start sharing what i saw. (i can't take a pretty landscape shot to save my life).

the thread started with a question about the GRD2 for street photography and i do have to add that the camera is absolutely perfect and brilliant for that purpose. mine is on loan to a good friend this weekend (i really am not supposed to be stressing the arm yet) who gets himself in situations i envy. he's very gregarious and has managed to master french (which i have not) despite being a Scot. he lives in bars and cafes and will probably come back with pictures to make me green.

that may be the biggest key to what makes some of us able to do it and others not -- a comfort level. add in desire and a sense of daring and you have it made. shyness isn't an issue. if you're a shy sort of person, chances are you've been observing your whole life and have an eye second to none.... use it!
 

Will

New member
I have recently been using a method of taking discreet shots where I stand facing away from the subject with my GRD2 held at hip level pointing behind me. I'm getting quite good at framing this way now.

Here is one result of the technique that I'm quite pleased with.

 
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