[Leica] Re: [NOW HOW TO MOVE! ;-) in CROWDED ROOM! ;-)

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Feli  asked:
Subject: [Leica] Re: [NOW HOW TO MOVE! ;-) in CROWDED ROOM! ;-)


> Thanks Ted, always good to hear advice like this.
>
>
>>>>  then watch the eye direction of the people and when they're pretty 
>>>> well all looking in the opposite direction to you, move quietly and 
>>>> smoothly to your new position, sit down, wait and be still.
>
> I found this piece of information to be particularly interesting. I have 
> always tried to move very quietly and low key in such situations, but this 
> is even better. I bet that simply because you are not seen moving, it 
> helps people forget that you are really there. Nothing grabs our attention 
> like motion,
> because even as evolved monkeys, we are always looking for "the tiger in 
> the grass". ;-)
>
> Reminds me of that old saying 'out of sight, out of mind".
> ;-)
>
> I'm still trying to figure out how to become 'invisible' on the street.

Hi Feli,
One thing I've done many times and that is to work in the shade or looking 
out of the shadow area to the sunny side because people in the brighter 
light of the street usually have their eyes set for the sunlight and not the 
shadows. Often they are not "seeing into the shadows" as clearly, therefore 
they don't quite often realize you're shooting.

Is this scientific? Nope, but it seems to work and that's all that counts. 
;-) It's easily tested even without a camera by walking along the street 
looking into the shadow side of the street and seeing how your own eyes work 
in or out of the shadows. It's quite interesting.

> But I still have no idea what people mean when they talk about people like 
> HCB and say "It was amazing! He was like smoke, people didn't even know he 
> was there... he just became invisible."<<,

I think this is one of those kind of urban legend things to some degree. 
However, if people are busy and their minds are in action thinking about 
other things, the chances are they'll not notice you. Or people who are 
involved can be photographed simply because they're busy about something 
else and not the moment before them.

> Most people still know I am there. Maybe it's just my sparkling 
> personality 8-)<

Well there you go eh? ;-) That's the problem right there! ;-)

> Any suggestions? Do you try to avoid abruptly raising the camera to your 
> eye and just do it slowly? Or do you just pop it up and
> grab the shot at the last moment?<<<<

Actually it's part of not looking right at the person until the camera is at 
my eye and then when I put it down I never look at the subject even though 
they can be seen in peripheral vision. Always look beyond them or as though 
you are looking at something behind them. In some cases kind of move 
slightly left or right as though you are trying to see beyond them, put 
camera up look at the subject through the viewfinder, if it's still of 
interest, shoot. Put camera down and look again beyond the subject. They 
never know what the heck you are looking at.

And if you should be challenged always meet the question with a smile and, 
"Oh sorry I was shooting part of the building right there behind you." 
Point at something, smile and say "have a nice day. Thank you." Walk on.:-)

Is this one scientific? Nope, but it works! ;-)

ted