The Constraint of a Prime Lens

(Camera: Ricoh GX200)

A user of riochforum asked a question in a post, "I'm just curious as to how some of you take your shots without getting a subject paranoid or if they're like whoa who's this person with that camera?" The title of his post is "How to overcome 28mm limitations?"

Although not all the cameras I have tried and owned are fitted with a prime lens, I have taken tons of street photos and here are some tips under my belt:

1) Most people are curious, especially young people. Just point the camera at them in the street. You may ask for permission. I ask for permissions for roughly one third of my shots.

2) Point the camera to a spot where the subject will pass. Surely, you'll have to anticipate his or her route and pace.

3) Use a viewfinder, the best being the upward tilting ones. People are less allergic to the camera when the photographer shoots with his head bowing down to see through the viewfinder.

4) Half-press the shutter for several time to beam out the AF-assist light to draw attention. You'll end up with shots in which the subjects all look into the lens saying, "Whoa, who's this person with that camera?". Works great at night.

5) A variant version of tip 5 is to do it to your subject after making sure that she (this works fine with pretty ladies) knows you have checked her out. The photo of today was shot in this way.

6) Stay at a spot and make it known that you're taking photos. The curious eyes will check you out and don't hesitate to press the shutter release at those moments.

7) Take some time to walk the scene and see the final images with your mind's eye. Imagine how to take the shot while you walk. Set the shutter speed to at least 1/500s. Pre-set the exposure or set it to auto. Ricoh's cameras have the nice function of exposure lock at the press of the customisable fn button, which in M mode works to quickly tune the exposure "right".

8) Regarding tip 7, practice makes perfect. You really have to practise how to hold your camera in your palm to make the image come out right.

9) Be decisive. Don't walk past the same spot several times and worry too much before taking the shot. Most people won't mind after you've taken the shot. Most likely, they don't even know it.

10) Always get your camera ready.

The same curious user added later, "Photography has taken some changes in the USA, you can't just go into a city and start taking snapshots of people. You can be sued if the person doesn't want you to take a photo of them in some cases. So my issue with a 28mm would be getting close enough to take street shots that will not cause trouble."

There is a way out too -- move to live in Hong Kong.

A Real Hero

(Grip On Reality: This photo was taken on my way to work. I was walking past trucks parking on a cul-de-sac when the ropes caught my attention. The light was right, the colour was right and the criss-crossing pattern was perfect and I held up my GX200. People passing by checked me out and wondered what could be made out of such a boring scene. To me, the fun in photography is that the photographer makes something interesting out of what is not obvious to most at the scene. The ropes tied in knots somehow reminded people I know who are in the grip of the recession) You must have also known a friend or two, or even yourself, being baffled by the spiral downturn of the economy. Bank went bankrupt and the rich was faced with a shrinking wealth. A friend of mine has just had his salary cut by over 10% and some of his colleagues started to be shed. But, wait. Was this done really for the sake of continuing the business? Or is there a factor or greed in it? I wonder whether the

New Low Prices

The window shopping some hours ago has almost provoked my AgIDS illness. Just in case you’re in Hong Kong or are coming here, and have the money to burn (All in HK$/ body only): GX200 = $3,280 GRD2 = $3,380 LX3 = $3,180 G10 = $3,280 Prices are available form a gear shop on the 1st floor of the Mongkok Computer Centre. Besides these new low prices, I found that Wing Shing Photo (55-57Sai Yeung Choi St., MK Tel: 2396 6886/ 91-95 Fa Yuen St., MK Tel: 2396 6885) is offering a Sony A700 + Carl Zeiss Lens package for HK$9,980 (hopefully, a bargain will make it some hundreds cheaper).

Eye Contact

(Leica D-lux 5) The digital era may make it easier to end up with fave shots. Even lousy photos may be turned likable after a few clicks in the post-processing workflow. But if digital advancement or amendments have any bearing on the cultivation of personal style, no photographers will need to discover his or her own photographer’s eye. Undoutedly, this is out of the question. Only with a trained photographer’s eye can we give a thinking gaze and capture an eternal moment, in our unique style. Style is the soul of a great photo. A few posts have been written in GXG to touch on the topic of photographer’s eye. Instead of finding an answer, which would require academic discussions, the posts are intended to give my general reflections and spark interests in moving towards further exploration of the topic. The posts can be viewed after the links: 1) Photographer's Eye: Storytelling 2) Photographer's Eye: Little Show of Observing 3) Photographer's Eye: Sight-Worthy 4

GX GARNERINGS

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