Discreet street photography with RF?

[jrong]

I have to confess that I have been mostly an SLR photographer, who has been dipping her toes in rangefinder photography only in the past 24 months or so. My main interest has always been in landscapes, but most of my life is spent stuck in the city, so I gradually turned towards street/documentary photography in-between holidays in the countryside. SLRs can be too conspicuous for street photography, particularly when you are walking around the non-touristy areas of London. In the West End, no one blinks an eye if you raise a camera to your eye, but in other areas, people turn and stare, no matter what camera you have in your hand, unless it is a compact digicam. Some are even hostile, especially in some street markets, where I have been challenged and intimidated just for peering down at my TLR with the lens pointed at a street stall. 🙁

I find that while bringing my old Yashica Electro rangefinder around, I still get stares occasionally, and people often cover their faces or turn away whenever they see me lift the camera to my eye. Using a rangefinder has not, somehow, made it any easier to take photos discreetly. I am just wondering what other street photographers on this forum do: do people care if you take their photo? Do you ever get into hostile situations? Do you snap anyway or do you walk away?

Jin

 

[suzums]

Actually, I've only been in one hostile situation and it was with a guard in Beijing. I brought my camera up to my eye to take a shot of the serious looking guard, and found him pointing and shouting at me while looking through the viewfinder.

This has been the only situation I've been in where there was a not so friendly subject, and for the first time I didn't just snap away. I literally ran 😀

 

[simonankor]

If I'm having trouble in a certain part of town, I go for less candid work there and more environmental portraits. So then it's better to just go ask, I've found.

And once I've asked people have been mostly willing. Mostly. You always get a few bastards out there!

 

[varjag]

Me and my wife have been "detained" by a moron in police uniform when shooting architecture in Moscow back in 2001: I was about to shoot the Rosneft (a Russian oil corp) building. I'd probably argue with the guard in place if he wasn't wielding an assault rifle and hadn't some form of hand tremor. After some verbal exchange with his civil-dressed supervisor we were released with no harm done to our film.

I've never encountered a violent response to my street photography here in Belarus (mostly shooting with 35mm and 50mm lenses). Some people don't like to be photographed but usually they don't even bother to tell me that: just walking or turning away.

 

[Zakk9]

I recognise the situation with a guard i Beijing. I've had the same experience. It seems they are all rather hostile. For the time being, I don't use a rangefinder for street photos, but an OM-3 with a 21mm 3.5. With the wide-angle, framing becomes less critical, and sometimes I just shoot from the hip (and sometimes the exposure is way off).

I'm considering a Bessa L and the 21 or 25mm. The camera is very cheap, and has the exposure indicator on the top of the body. Should suit my kind of style very well, but I'm very casual when it comes to street photography. Should make me able to take photos without anyone noticing though, if that's necessary, and it is sometimes (like in Beijing).

 

[Iskra 2]

Shoot from the hip

Shoot from the hip

Shoot from the hip as Zakk9 suggests and let your Electro handle the exposure. Practice estimating distances and zone focus. The shape of the Electro lends itself to hip shooting for me. The Bessa has exposure lights on top I believe, just like the Electro. What goes around comes back around. 🙂

My Electro is a GT. The black trim and silent shutter is perfect for stealth operation 🙂

 

[ErnestoJL]

In the city I´m living there are a few places where no one should show any camera at all, but most other places are safe and anyone can shoot without being even disturbed or face an agressive response from anyone. I´m allways carrying a Beirette Electronic (loaded with ISO 400 colour negs), which is black and small enough to be hidden under a coat (approx. same size as a Leica CL). This camera allows me to shoot without showing it too much and warning people of what I´m doing. I´m shooting a lot at hip/waist level , using a DOF scale I´ve printed, so most of the time I don´t need to raise the camera to my eyes. To get an acceptable picture, I usually stay apart from the subject a few extra meters, just to have something to crop if needed. I´ve found that 60% or more people do not want to be in anyone´s pictures, so they usually turn away or walk away (if they are noticed they´re the subject). I´ve learned that showing a shiny camera is the best way to stop the action You want to record.

 

[timeUnit]

You must be very unlucky if people are rude or threatening you when you're shooting. I have not encountered this. Are you in parts of the town where photography is seen as a "crime" or "unholy"?

I don't shoot street shots so often, but I have never had any bad experiences. It's a lot about telling yourself that you have a right to do what you do, you're not doing anything bad or forbidden, and of course, respecting when people clearly don't want their pictures taken. And it never hurts to ask if possible.

Read about it here: http://www.pinkheadedbug.com/techniques/shynessone.html

John Brownlow's excellent tips and views on the subject. It got me inspired!

 

[TPPhotog]

Strange as it sounds I usually have few problems with the locals but the grockles (tourists) are becoming more resistant to street photography. Although I've been street shooting for several years with an SLR each year it has become a little harder and this year is the worst. Happily or maybe sub-consciously I finally decided to try using a RF this year which I instantly loved.

I have been out practicing both shooting with the camera at waist level whilst holding the RF in full view and also just having it focused at infinity and raising the RF to my eye at the last second for focus adjustment and the shot. With both techniques I walk on a few paces and discreetly wind the film on.

One thing I have always found is that some traders in street markets are worried about trading standards and the TAX man. Usually once I've chatted to them they are fine, but I have shot 2 or 3 from the hip that didn't want to be photographed. You never know they may be hiding because of something more serious and a shot could be worth a bob or two if they become news worthy 😉

I've not as yet had any real confrontations .... touch wood :bang:

 

[Shadesofgrey]

Culture Club

Culture Club

Hi Jin. For a start, I don’t think it really matters what camera you use you’ll get noticed/gawked at some point. I use an R2, an FM3a, a Richo GR1v, a Richo 35ZF, a Centon K100 (fantastic little camera) and an F5. I’ll admit that I feel less conspicuous when using the GR1v and or the 35ZF; but that’s probably just my subconscious saying: "I don’t look like a ‘Real’ photographer so no ones taking any notice of me" :angel:

I’ve never had a confrontation as such; been given the two and one finger salute one or twice, both in jest…I think; but, no, nothing serious. I think (in the western hemisphere) it’s down to being (as Zakka9 said) casual and or, natural: not skulking about or hiding in doorways. I don’t think most people have an adversity to being photographed; what they do have (as human beings) is an adversity to having their space invaded…… Doctors waiting room syndrome? The other thing to keep in mind is…Culture.

last Sunday I went to a boot sale and there were three Muslim women all wearing the traditional yash-mak. They were standing at a stall rummaging vigorously through a large pile of clothes: It just looked so natural so real and I was just about to raise my Gr1v to my eye when I caught the GLARE 😡 from a forth woman in the same said attire who was standing to one side of my intended snap. I smiled and walked off without taking the picture. Maybe I was being impolite; maybe through ignorance of another culture, I was being extremely rude: I wasn’t intending to be; I just saw….a picture: and that’s what it’s all about and for some, when the trouble starts.

On a good note…..I did buy an immaculate Lomo Cosmic Symbol for…….£2.00! The ultimate Street Camera? Sounds like a good thread that; come on guys, vote for the ultimate street camera….. Make Model and Why……..

PS….I take my hat of to Eugene: As much as I’d love to visit Moscow I think I’d leave the cameras at home: or buy a S/H Zenith E and a tour guide while over there….risky!

All the best guys

B.

 

[TPPhotog]

..... Centon K100 (fantastic little camera) .....

At last another K100 user 😀 With you all the way and fitted with a nice Pentax manual 50mm glass it's stunning 😉

Oooops sorry back to topic :angel:

 

[peter_n]

Jin if you need to shoot at eye level one technique I have found useful is once you have identified a target and taken the shot, keep your camera at eye level and pan it somewhere else. Because shooters tend to take the camera from their eye after the shot this gives the impression that the shot was taken in the direction you last pointed your camera.

This works for me because I have camera bodies that are quiet so the shutter sound is lost in the ambient noise. 🙂 An SLR may be different...

 

[Shadesofgrey]

Good tip Peter; think I'll try that next time I'm out with the ultimate street camera....Lomo, R2, GR1v or K100? And with 50mm pentax glass Tony...smashing! I’m going to buy another before they catch on an up the price! slightly adrift of the initial topic but…...do any of you remember that wonderful device that SLR users could fit on to the lens so as to be able to shoot at right angles! Wonder why it never caught on in RF 😀 😀 😀
B.

 

[laptoprob]

Waist Level Finder

Waist Level Finder

I may have found a way to a solution: a waist level finder.
I had a Voigtlander Kontur finder laying about with a ruined Kontur frame. Turning the finder front to back, drilling a hole in the top and inserting a piece of polished stainless steel made me a Waist Level Finder. This WLF is corrected for upside-down viewing because the lens of the original finder and the mirror correct each other. The image is only left-right mirrored.
The FOV is between 35 and 50. 50mm is roughly within the visible circle, 35mm is roughly outside. No parallax correction though. It is an advanced Guess-O-Matic.

Rob.

 

[bmattock]

1) Learn to use zone focus, DOF, and estimating distances.
2) Smile a lot, make eye contact when they glare at you.
3) Wear running shoes.
4) Be ready to throw the camera at them.
5) Or be like me - wear a t-shirt that says "Let me take your picture or I'll bash you."

OK, just kidding. I only ever use methods 1 and 2 above. Well, sometimes I wear the shirt.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[TPPhotog]

…...do any of you remember that wonderful device that SLR users could fit on to the lens so as to be able to shoot at right angles! Wonder why it never caught on in RF 😀 😀 😀 B.

Yep they looked like bits of drainpipe with a mirror at 45degs to a huge hole mmmm I wonder why they never caught on for anything 😀 😀

 

[einolu]

for street photography, try a digital point and shoot. Its a lot of fun and you can get a way with a lot. its important to get a digital thats simple to use and that you are comfortable with. Its blastphemy around here but there, I said it.

 

[laptoprob]

The right angle gizmo's are made for telephoto use. Not a strongpoint of RF photography. I have one for my digital video cam. Excellent sneakyness!

 

[doubs43]

Over the years I've had a few times when people have showed annoyance at having their picture taken. This has ranged from a glance by a South Korean Riot Policeman that said "I don't like having my picture taken" to a confrontation with a Traffic Warden in Colchester, England, who got in my face to the point that I told him to "P!$$ off". A simple "I don't like having my picture taken" would have done the trick but he was a most unpleasant fellow with a real chip on his shoulder. Besides, he made an ugly picture!

In Madrid, Spain, I took a picture of two "La Guardia" officers ( a no-no) with my Leica and 35mm Elmar lens from the hip. They didn't notice....... or didn't care. Also in Madrid, I started to take a picture of a large, impressive building when a guard I hadn't noticed informed me that pictures of Government buildings were not permitted. He was firm but nice and I think he handled it perfectly. I'm sure he knew an uninformed Tourist when he saw one. 🙂

I took my parents to London a few times when they were visiting and once my father went into Westminster Cathedral where it was posted that pictures were forbidden or maybe just flash pictures. Anyway, while there, my father saw an Indian tourist take a picture and the fellow was quickly seized by two guards who escorted him to the door and told him never to return. No pictures meant just that!

I think that in most cases a little common sense goes a long way. If you indicate in some manner that you don't want me to take your picture, I won't. I'm easy.

Walker

 

[back alley]

so, let me get this straight...when i shoot on the street with one of my rangefinders, I DON'T BECOME INVISIBLE?

joe