Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/11/16
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]>tt@tristan.net writes: > ><< I'm not really at the point of being comfortable been seen taking > pictures. I guess I'm shy and even afraid to take pictures of people > in the street... >> Tristan, I still suffer the sameŠ after years! FWIW, I found the following ruse helpful. People are naturally curious and when someone holds a camera at eye level they tend to look pretty hard at what you might be going to do, and if it will include them. A lens is like a big, menacing eye, and the eye is what we watch if we're apprehensive. To deflect their attention, move the camera to one side of your eyes and look right past them - no eye contact! - as though absorbed in some fascinating scene beyond. Being curious, they often turn around to see what you're looking at (and wonder what kind of idiot would picture that!), but it works for me. Here, the 35mm is just wide enough to include them yet looks as if you're pointing it somewhere else (pre-set hyperfocal, etc etc). Point is, look at the scene, not through the viewfinder. Having said all that, I admit my best pictures have been when the subject was fully aware of what I was doing, i.e. no subterfuge. Mostly a smile is all it takes, but as I said, I don't always have the nerve. I just love those wacky pictures in the M6 manual on how to hold the camera unobtrusively!! But low angle pictures are not always what you want. If you do, then a right angle finder on the R camera has a lot going for it. Bent over, you just seem too absorbed with the camera to be interested in what's going on around, but this is not a healthy way to walk down a crowded street! (Works fine when seated though.) Just a few random jottings! Good luck! Nick