Re: [Leica] Street shooting

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

From: <Ruralmopics@aol.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 1999 15:09
Subject: Re: [Leica] Street shooting


> I can't describe it but if a photographer goes to work
> with little fanfare and complete ease with what he's
> doing and his equipment the subject seems to settle
> down much more quickly -- no matter what camera the
> photographer is using.

Maybe I take too long to shoot.  By the time I'm satisfied with composition,
focus, and exposure, the subject is usually looking my way, or somebody has
noticed me.  At least this has been the case with the Nikon.  I take even longer
to figure things out with the Leica (since it is all manual), but people seem to
notice a lot less, for some reason.  I consider that a Good Thing.  Indeed, on
several occasions lately I've loitered around the same spot, Leica in hand, for
like an hour or so, and nobody even noticed.  I kind of stayed off to one side
and occasionally looked through the viewfinder to check the composition (with
lots of people around, the right composition could be a while in coming).

Also, with the Leica, I find that it is handy to be able to set up the focus
(thanks to clearly-marked DOF indications) and exposure in advance, so that when
the right moment comes, I just raise it to my eye and press the shutter.  I
suppose I could actually shoot from the hip, as some photographers apparently
do, but I'm not that brave yet--I still need to get nice results doing it the
standard way before I try to be Joe Cool.

Still another advantage is that the camera makes so little noise that nobody
ever realizes that I've taken a shot.  Even my little Yashica P&S makes more
noise, with its tiny motor drive for focus and film advance.

Clearly, an M6 is extremely well suited to any situation requiring discretion
without any compromise in quality.

  -- Anthony