Poll: Do you...?

[NL2377]

Do you Shoot from the waist?

after voting, if you do shoot from the waist, tell us what you find the hardest part about it... If you dont, tell us why you dont...

Thanks!

 

[M4streetshooter]

Not necessarilly from the waist but I kinda float the camera around either up or down, sideways, on angle sometimes....the funny thing is that with my M4 and 35 summicron...I can just about see the final image...no matter the camera position....I am still learning to do this with my R-D1s and 35mm.....in time....

I learned this from a guy that I used to be friends with...Paul Cava...back in "72"....he taught me to be free with my vision....I still am....don

 

[sjw617]

No, not from the waist. I generally have the camera on a tripod.

 

[NL2377]

I can just about see the final image...no matter the camera position....

I learned this from a guy that I used to be friends with...Paul Cava...back in "72"....he taught me to be free with my vision....I still am....don

I've got to work more on that... that, and judging exposure value. I think that I can meter off of peoples eyes if I study it hard enough.

 

[Xmas]

The zero % success

Noel

 

[RayPA]

I do occassionally use the hipshot, but rarely from waist-level or below chest level. I call any shot that wasn't framed through the veiwfinder a hipshot. Most of my hipshots are just held near my face (off to one side, or just below my chin), or at my chest or arms-length away from my body. I rarely shoot below my belly-button. I don't like the angle. It LOOKS like a "hip"shot.

:

 

[pvdhaar]

What's wrong with bending the knees every now and then?

 

[kully]

I'm with Peter on the knee bending - I've even bought myself a knee-pad to save my joint.

I've tried, but it nearly always looks crap.

I do hip-shooting with my TLR - but then I have no choice.

 

[pesphoto]

Ive tried it now and then, but find I waste a lot of film to get a 1 decent shot.

 

[kshapero]

My good old Nikkormat has a window on the top plate showing the meter reading. Bingo. Wish my R3m had it. That Bessa L is tempting.....

 

[Richard Black]

I do with the Exakta VXIIa and a waist level viewfinder. It is my most stealth camera. No one thinks I'm taking a photo, I am just fiddling with the knobs and things!

 

[woodphoto]

If I'm not looking through the veiwfinder I rarely snap the shutter.

 

[RML]

I have done on a few occasions but I don't like it much. And I stink at aiming. 🙂 Would I do it again? Maybe. It all depends, I guess.

 

[HuubL]

Only with the Rolleicord

 

[robin a]

Always at my eye.........Robin

 

[Tom A]

I used to be able to bend down or kneel for a low angle view. Severe damage to a couple of vertebras stops me from doing it now. If I try I continue down in a way that looks very undignified in the end! Hence i have started to shoot more from the waist. Also depends on which lens I am using. Ultrawides like the 12 and 15mm works very well this way and gives an interesting perspective. You get the view of a small child or a dog/cat of the world.

 

[bmicklea]

I shoot from the hip, at arms length, above my head, whatever I need to do to get a shot I can't get otherwise. Hip shots are hard to frame but with a 35 it's easier because the distance from the subject is basically equal to the width of the shot at subject distance. It's even easier with a 21 of course...

 

[Richard Black]

I like the waist-level view, sort of the old TLR viewpoint. I use a waist level v/f on a Exakta VXIIa, Pentacon 6tl, and the MS 330f. I do wish that one was available on a r/f, maybe there is but I don't know about it. I squat a lot for my shots so when my old kness give out, I'll just have to use one of the cameras built with them.

 

[iml]

I do it on occasion. Sometimes it's the only way to get a shot.

Ian

 

[amateriat]

Like everything else in photography, it depends. Brad puts it best: whetever position it takes to get the image. Winogrand, supposedly, frowned upon this technique, perhaps because he thought it carried a whiff of cowardice toward one's subject, but he probably felt the same for "hail Mary" shots (which, if anything, should be more popular now because of digital cameras with adjustable preview screens). Often, there's more than one way to work toward the picture you want. It's healthy not to get too hung up on some or other "only one proper way" mantra.


- Barrett

Tech notes: Ricoh GR1