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  #161  
Old Posted Oct 27, 2011, 6:24 AM
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^The swivel screen is perfect for hidden/less invasive photography.

I used to take a lot of people shots. Back in Taiwan it's considered good fortune to have someone take your picture. This lead to some of my favourite portrait shots. Once I moved to Shanghai, my people photos dropped drastically. There are three reasons for this; Shanghainese hate their photo getting taken, Shanghai is full of poor people who think you're exploiting them and the Muslim factor.

I got hit for taking this photo in Shanghai. The woman's husband came out of his shop and smacked me on the back. At first I thought he was some senile, old Xinjiang man that didn't know his own strength. I soon realized that this guy was super pissed at me for taking a picture of his wife. He then cursed me out and tried to grab my camera. At that point, I had to physical push him back (not happy about man-handling a 70 year old man) and tell him to back away. I think he understood that I was pretty close to dropping him.




Afterwards, when I looked at the picture, I didn't really feel like I did anything wrong. I was half a block away, using an 85mm lens. She just happened to be sitting outside in public along the street.
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  #162  
Old Posted Oct 27, 2011, 4:09 PM
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Originally Posted by mr.John View Post
or you can use Carl Zeiss lenses which cost a fraction of Leica lenses and are just as good, I had a 45mm Zeiss for my Contax G2 which according to different websites was the sharpest lens they ever tested...if it's German, it's got to be good period
This is why I like Sony. The prograde lens are made by Zeiss. Really good stuff. A friend of mine has a few of them: 35mm f1.8, 24-70f2.8, 135 f1.8 and the 16-35 f2.8. All are really wicked lens with remarkable clarity. Totally worth $1200 or so they cost.
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  #163  
Old Posted Oct 27, 2011, 4:11 PM
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Originally Posted by giallo View Post
I think he understood that I was pretty close to dropping him.



Nobody messes with the D3 without getting a beat down!
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  #164  
Old Posted Oct 27, 2011, 5:05 PM
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Originally Posted by Okayyou View Post
Looks like Marrakesh. Easily one of the most hostile places I've ever taken photos. I was barked at several times for raising my camera in someone's general direction. I took this shot of a crowd at the main square. The street performer actually stopped his act and singled me out, demanding money, stating the crowd was his and I had to pay to take its photo. I think he did it more to embarrass a tourist than for the reason he stated.

[...]

Though not my preferred method I think shooting from the hip or chest to not draw attention is a legitimate practice. Just like in science there is an observer effect with photography. I might see a shot I want but to shooting with the camera to my face results in someone looking into the lens and putting their hand up. I like to try and capture the scene as it exists naturally, not the scene's reaction to me shooting it.
I had the same experiences in Marrakesh. The photography was only the half of it. A group of women grabbed my girlfriend's arm and started doing henna, and even held her down. Well, she's allergic to the henna so it turns ugly really quick. I had to physically pull them off her (never a good thing to manhandle women publicly, and especially not there). We ran back to the hotel and scrubbed it off (by this time the henna was burned nicely into the skin). Three hours later we're back in the square, and I'll be damned if they didn't spot us and come back again, still demanding money for the henna. At that point I was done with the "la shukrans" or any other attempt at Arabic language pleasantries - thankfully, our old English standby, the f-word, is universally understood. But while THIS is happening, the snake guys accost me, so now I'm arguing with an angry horde AND trying to unwind a snake from my neck. And the damn thing takes a great big yellow crap on my white shirt. Oh, and I'm supposed to pay for that too. So back to the hotel... Yeah, Marrakesh is hard work. If it wasn't for 30-cent orange juice, I'm not sure it'd be worth it. Don't get me wrong, though, I love Morocco. It's just a place (excluding Casablanca and Rabat, maybe) where you have to accept, you're not going to just blend in, no matter how hard you try.

I've tried shooting from the hip, more since you recommended it to me. I practiced on the 16th Street Mall. But I seem to miss my target A LOT.

Last edited by bunt_q; Oct 27, 2011 at 5:16 PM.
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  #165  
Old Posted Oct 27, 2011, 6:05 PM
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Some crazy happenings. Glad ive never had problems like this before but I have got the death glare from folks for taking their picture. But I am usually pretty obvious about what Im doing and never try to hide it. Did have one guy in NOLA ask me for money for taking his picture. Of course he was a street performer working for tips and of course I did not have any cash on me. But he was really cool about it.
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  #166  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2011, 1:27 PM
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I should stock up on black-and-white 120 roll film and get the Rollei f/2.8 Twin-Lens Reflex out of the closet. I did a little bit of shoot-from-the-hip photography with it in the past and it worked well for that. I could even face ninety degrees away from my subject with the camera pointed to one side, and see the viewfinder well enough to compose the shot I wanted, usually without attracting attention. The quiet shutter, with no SLR mirror mechanism noise, is a plus in being unobtrusive, too.

Another plus for the TLR is the ability to shoot above crowds; hold the camera upside down above your head and look into the viewfinder. It takes a little practice, but it works.

Someplace I remember seeing an ad for a prism that could be mounted to the lens of a SLR to photograph at right angles to the direction you're facing. I don't know anything about the optical quality of it.
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  #167  
Old Posted Nov 16, 2011, 6:54 PM
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^ Sometimes low tech is the best. I've used the inside of a lens cap, which can function as a cheap mirror to reflect the image from the back of my camera's lcd (shooting from the lcd). It works ok but is still somewhat obvious and you have to be stationary as the camera cant focus quickly with the mirror up. Canon's 60D has a swiveling screen which would help for these types of situations. Certainly not the first camera to have that feature.
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  #168  
Old Posted Nov 20, 2011, 6:54 PM
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damn, reading all of this makes me want to go out and do some street photography. too bad the weather's crap here today.

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  #169  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2011, 5:16 AM
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OK, I saw the message from i-am-hydrogen so here goes.

What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

I've been using a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi for nearly four years now. I had a Promaster 70-300 f3.5-5.6 but it had an unfortunate turn with a staircase last year so I've been using the 18-55 kit ever since. I'm saving for the Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 right now. I'd like to be on the 5D level but that ain't happening any year soon. I don't think too much about the kind of equipment that I'd like to be working with because getting it in a reasonable timeframe isn't realistic for me right now.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

This is one that's near to my heart.



Talk about your inspirations and influences.

It was a photo that giovanni sasso took near where I worked years ago that first inspried me to post my own on SSP. On this forum he was certainly my biggest inspiration and I'm grateful for the time he took to help me in all manner of things. A super human indeed.

There are some folks who's threads get automatic views from me when I'm around. Flash, sabotai, Sekkle, diskojoe and i_am_hydrogen make the cut just off the top of my head. I have to say Serge's Philly thread from a few years ago still hangs in my mind as probably the best one ever so I have to mention him just for that.

Outside of the forum, I've always been a fan of Ezra Stoller. The wonderful symmetry and balance, the stark linear quality in his work really hits me. Good linear quality is one of the few things that I consciously strive to achieve in every photo that I take and the photos I come across in the day to day that catch my eye the fastest have that.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

I've never been to the West Coast so that's tops on the list. Big sky country in the southwest, Madrid, Paris and Montreal also rank highly. The next place I'm looking to knock off the list is Toronto - I mean, it's time already.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

The photothreads from the first year or so that I had the Canon were pretty well received. I also seem to recall that the 'Electronic Go Go' nighttime thread I did several years ago was pretty popular.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

It seems like fewer people care for the New York threads that I put together than the Philadelphia ones but it seems that my mood comes through in my work. Photothreads that I feel really good about personally seem to do better response-wise than do threads I put together when, for instance, I say to myself 'I haven't posted one in a while'.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

Walk the streets of your city! Move about, take a risk, try a new place sometimes. One would be amazed at how much they don't know exists on the streets of their city or town that's worth seeing and/or sharing. And from a technical standpoint, learn how to use light. Carry your camera all the time and play with it under all kinds of conditions. Get comfy with it, learn its limitations and shoot at any interesting opportunity you get.

Who should we ask these questions of next?

KCGridlock, please!
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  #170  
Old Posted Nov 22, 2011, 8:24 PM
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Thanks for the shout out and for participating Volguus. Im amazed that you only have a XTI. Working it son! Hope you get a new zoom soon too. I love to see you take detail shots of the great buildings in philly.

Any other choices for next interview besides KCGridlock? He has not been responsive to past requests. But we'll try again just for you!
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  #171  
Old Posted Nov 28, 2011, 5:42 AM
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Great insights, VZ.
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  #172  
Old Posted Dec 13, 2011, 5:58 PM
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any chance to get this thread moving again?
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  #173  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2011, 1:10 PM
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any chance to get this thread moving again?
Currently the following people are on the clock: KCgridlock, Chelsea Spy, WpG_GuY

KCGridlock has been nominated twice
Chelsea Spy was nominated by olga
WoG_GuY was nominated by 1ajs

If olga or 1ajs could give us a candidate I can send out the requests again.
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  #174  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2011, 2:04 PM
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Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes View Post
Currently the following people are on the clock: KCgridlock, Chelsea Spy, WpG_GuY

KCGridlock has been nominated twice
Chelsea Spy was nominated by olga
WoG_GuY was nominated by 1ajs

If olga or 1ajs could give us a candidate I can send out the requests again.
I have also sent requests to each of these people in the past and none have responded. I have personally never seen chelsea spy or wpg_guy ever post anything on ssp. So I highly doubt that any of them will respond.

I saw we have volguus make a second nomination and if for some reason they do not respond we post another thread and have a collective vote for a new candidate.
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  #175  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2011, 2:19 PM
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^I sent volguus a PM. If not, we'll just gather a few options from the regular readers and as the thread creator, I'll make an executive decision.
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  #176  
Old Posted Dec 14, 2011, 2:30 PM
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KCGridlock is now registered as SkyscrpaerScenes or something like that. I forget the exact name because he hasn't posted in a while.
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  #177  
Old Posted Dec 19, 2011, 9:57 PM
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  #178  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2011, 9:12 PM
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Let's try xzmattzx or hkskyline. They get around.
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  #179  
Old Posted Dec 21, 2011, 9:14 PM
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I'll send a request off to xzmattzx. Both are fine choices as important folks around here.
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  #180  
Old Posted Dec 25, 2011, 2:28 PM
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What are you shooting with and what would you like to shoot with?

I am using a Canon A590 IS, a simple point-and-shoot camera. (This is one reason why I don’t think I deserve to be asked about my photography.) I just added a Kodak EasyShare Sport C123 for underwater pictures; I was in south Florida a couple weeks ago and went snorkeling, and wanted to take pictures out there. In the future, I’d like to have a better point-and-shoot; I’m not going to be a professional photographer, so I have no need for something big, and I don’t feel like carrying around something huge.

If you could sum up your style in one photograph what photo would it be?

This one is probably a good one, of the Ellicott Building in Buffalo. It reflects my interest in history, since the building is important, but it also displays my evolution into doing better, by showing an interior. The only thing that this doesn't reflect is my ties to Delaware, but there wasn't a single Delaware picture that I thought personified me.



Talk about your inspirations and influences.

My influence is history. I'm not an artsy kind of person at all. My background and personality is more scientifically-based, and my pictures and threads end up reflecting that. I go for passing along information instead of giving a feeling.

A few members come to mind as inspirations. Flar is a big one in a couple ways. First, his showcase of a ton of places in Ontario got me to see that there was a lot for me to explore up there when I’m up there. Additionally, his threads convey the history of even the mundane, small, and regular places. This is something that I try to do as well. Taller Better (mainly on SSC, on here as well I think) is another inspiration. His photoblog of Toronto shows a lot of just his daily routines and randomness. In it, he took the time to stop and notice the minute details of buildings. This has gotten me to sometimes cover the detail on a place myself. TB is also good at showing the insides of buildings, something that I have been trying to do when I can. Other members have influenced me by showcasing places I would've thought nothing about, or found angles that worked, but there are too many people to name.

Where have you not been that you want to photograph?

Where to begin? First, the one city in the world that I would like to vacation in the most is Sydney. So taking pictures there would be great. I’d love to see London as well. I'd like to start getting into Europe in general, and the history in London makes there a great start. I'd like to see Ireland a lot as well, partially for the great scenery and partially for the pubs and culture. Back in this country, I've planned in my mind driving all around the Desert Southwest and exploring that area of the country, especially Arizona. I'd like to see what some of those random desert towns look like there in Arizona, but also in New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California. Included are places (not necessarily desert towns) like Tucson, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Diego. I've been to Las Vegas and San Diego before but would love to explore neighborhoods more extensively at some point. (The same goes for other cities that I've already been in, especially when on sports road trips with friends; Miami is a good example). I'd also like to dip my toes in the water of border countries besides Canada if I'm going to revisit places, so I'd like to see some Mexican cities if I go back to San Diego, and I'd love to go to the Bahamas if I go back to Miami.

Talk about your most popular (in your opinion) photothreads.

Few of my threads get enough responses to go to the third or even second page. (This is yet another reason why I think I'm not as qualified as other people who have participated in this.) A few got a lot of responses quick, and they were an indication of places that are romanticized or are intriguing. Camden NJ, Oil City PA, Ohio cities, Buffalo neighborhoods, Niagara Falls neighborhoods, Washington DC neighborhoods, and a little Wilmington photo essay from the summer are ones that for the most part went onto a second page and/or got rave reviews.

Talk about your photothreads that didn't get the response you wanted.

I remember doing one photothread a few years ago of Port Dalhousie, a very charming neighborhood in St. Catharines, Ontario. I figured that with all of the Canadians on SSP, and possibly the good reputation of the neighborhood, that it would do pretty well. I got one response. Some of my San Francisco threads from the past year didn't do too well, either, off of the top of my head. Generally, I expect threads of bigger/more notable cities to do better than your average small town, but sometimes my bigger city photothreads fall to the bottom of the page pretty quickly.

Any tips or personal wisdom you'd like to pass on to others?

Look for history everywhere. A lot of places have their own little story to tell. If you keep that in mind, then taking pictures of that place can help you give a sense of what it's like there. I'd love to see more people, even the artsy people, include a little slice of history in their pictures. Captions every once in a while are nice for someone like me, as well.

Who should we ask these questions of next?

Evergrey. It was between him or Stepper777, and I have seen Evergrey's work on SSC for several years now, so I'd like to hear what he has to say. Hopefully Stepper gets the nod eventually.

Thanks to VZ for wanting to know about me! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone.
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