Shooting from the hip

[ebino]

I'm still not sure I understand, I always thought it was the shot that counted.

That is because most people have the idea of a photographer as the intrepid PJ who will do anything for the money shot... Yes, a PJ can shoot from the hip or with remote (sports photographers) or any device to get the shot, but a street photographer is not shooting for news paper or sports magazine.

 

[jsrockit]

Too many rules on this forum... how can someone else tell you how you are supposed to photograph? Each person has to figure out what works for them.

 

[Carlos M]

That is because most people have the idea of a photographer as the intrepid PJ who will do anything for the money shot... Yes, a PJ can shoot from the hip or with remote (sports photographers) or any device to get the shot, but a street photographer is not shooting for news paper or sports magazine.

Where do you get these rules from, who can shoot what, in which circumstance?
Can you provide a link?

I sure would like to know.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

aaaah alright, and I thought I was some kind of 'street photographer' sometimes, silly me 😀 and thanks for enlightening me about my ideas of photography too, suddenly it all makes perfect sense!

seriously, I'm not going deeper into that discussion, it's most probably leading nowhere.
but yes, I'm going to continue being dishonest here and there and shoot from the hip occasionally.

 

[Arjay]

That is because most people have the idea of a photographer as the intrepid PJ who will do anything for the money shot... Yes, a PJ can shoot from the hip or with remote (sports photographers) or any device to get the shot, but a street photographer is not shooting for news paper or sports magazine.

It seems you're referring to some obscure concept that I've never heard of. Shooting from the hip doesn't mean falsifying or faking a shot. When shooting from the hip, pictures will be just as 'real' as if they were shot using any other technique. If I were a PJ (I'm not - I'm just an amateur aspiring to create art), I'd aim to show the 'truth' (whatever that is), but not to fake my shot.

If I shoot 'for art', then all that counts is my own interpretation, and then anything goes (as long as it doesn't hurt anybody).

It's the picture that counts, not the method it was produced by.

 

[craygc]

Post #1 the trap is set...

A friend photographer once said, shooting from the hip is taking something from somebody without looking at them and without saying thanks -its just rude.

What are you thoughts about shooting from the hip?

..along the way photographers take the bait, then...

the ambush is sprung...

That is because most people have the idea of a photographer as the intrepid PJ who will do anything for the money shot... Yes, a PJ can shoot from the hip or with remote (sports photographers) or any device to get the shot, but a street photographer is not shooting for news paper or sports magazine.

A strange thread; it starts off naively requesting the thoughts of others on a topic and ends up with the OP actually being overly opinionated :bang:

 

[nightfly]

 

[ebino]

With your permission Arjay, I'm going to single out some of your images, up to page 4 of your gallery which i think are absolutely exquisite. If there are any hip shots among these then, its all good.

I don't know how to link gallery images, so i will just type the names:

-Spatial Frequencies
-Disconnected
-Rainy Summer Night in Munich
-Afternoon Light on Maximilianstrasse
-Neon Fog
-Clueless Philosopher
-Contemplating Art

 

[jsrockit]

But this is also the reason for initial appeal of hip shots, they look so different and fluid, but then you notice almost everyone is getting the 'same look and feel' and then it occurs to you, well, that was fun for sometime but its time to get back to basics.

In all fairness, no matter if it is from the hip or from eye level, most people's stuff has the same look and feel... unless you are doing something different and have your own style.

 

[Arjay]

With your permission Arjay, I'm going to single out some of your images, up to page 4 of your gallery which i think are absolutely exquisite. If there are any hip shots among these then, its all good.

Thank you - two of them are hip shots.

 

[andredossantos]

Its possible, but its guess work at best. There is no way one can single out a face, frame it properly and use shallow dof to separate the background without looking at VF... Yes, it could be done by cropping and editing.

Not the most amazing shot ever by any means, but it was taken at f/1.2 and scale focused. I did not look through the VF and the image I got is exactly what I envisaged (woman looking at her husband). No cropping involved.


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr

 

[ferider]

I went out with my Leica II and 15mm Heliar today to do some hip shooting ... but only next door at my neighbour's property. In an absence of people I decided to use her goat and her pet sheep as subjects. 😀

The sheep was quite cooperative but the goat tried to kill me ... and you people think street photography can be risky at times! 😛

At least you managed to avoid eye contact. And got some great goat pictures - love the tilted horizons. Also, you should really learn to pre-visualize those 15mm shots, will make it easier next time - practice, practice, practice, Keith !

On second thought, you were using the wrong tool, it's better to use an M3 or ZI for this, due to longer EBL and more accurate focusing. I also wonder, what effect the UV filter had on the IQ of your pictures, and how low you could hand-hold your goat/hip photos. 🙂

 

[Arjay]

This is at f/1.2 and scale focused. I did not look through the VF and the image I got is exactly what I envisaged (woman looking at her husband). No cropping involved.


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr

Awesome. Is that just a lucky catch, or do you have specific technique to get this kind of results?

 

[andredossantos]

Awesome. Is that just a lucky catch, or do you have specific technique to get this kind of results?

Nothing special really, I just positioned the camera with a 35mm perspective in mind. Ive only used 50mm and 35mm for the past year so ive gotten to know the focal lengths very well. Of course, its not possible to get _exactly_ everything as precise as possible as when you look through the VF but RF cameras can sometimes be imprecise as well in framing, right?

Sometimes for the sake of speed when Im in a seedy areas Ill even "hip shot" inanimate objects: building facades, and architectural details. I wonder if those photos would be considered less valuable as well? Im being 100% series.

 

[ebino]

Not the most amazing shot ever by any means, but it was taken at f/1.2 and scale focused. I did not look through the VF and the image I got is exactly what I envisaged (woman looking at her husband). No cropping involved.


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr

Great shot, but imagine had the camera was higher, the line of sight of the woman would be on the same level as the viewer sees it.

You might say, had the camera was high, she would have never given that 'look', and you're right. Not to mention inside a subway even Walker Evans used hip shots (hid a camera under his coat). But then there is the seminal Bruce Davidson Subway book... I mean, if he could photograph in the most dangerous Subway in the world, at the height of crime and violence in NY... you see where I'm going.

 

[Nikkor AIS]

Nikkor 135 F2.0 AIS on F2AS @ 2.0 1600 ASA film, with head off, looking down into focusing screen.

I don't think I would have been able to get this shot with the camera up to my eye. Shooting from the hip, or the camera at my waist in this case, was the best way to get my shot. One of the advantages of the pro Nikon film bodies like the F, F2, F3, F4 is that you can shoot from the waist and still see what the camera sees. While it takes more practice to do this with a rangefinder, I think the older Nikons as well as my Rolleiflex 2.8 with its waist level finder have the edge.
And using a longer lens like the 135 in this case makes the low angle less pronounced.

When I first saw this thread, the way it was phrased with "a friend photographer," I thought that Ebino might have some thoughts on shooting from the hip 😛. The fact is, this thread has been informative and entertaining.

And I for one am enjoying seeing the excellent photos.

 

[andredossantos]

Great shot, but imagine had the camera was higher, the line of sight of the woman would be on the same level as the viewer sees it.

You might say, had the camera was high, she would have never given that 'look', and you're right. Not to mention inside a subway even Walker Evans used hip shots (hid a camera under his coat). But then there is the seminal Bruce Davidson Subway book... I mean, if he could photograph in the most dangerous Subway in the world, at the height of crime and violence in NY... you see where I'm going.

Thanks, and yes it was that i didn't want her to notice me. I was 3 feet away from her!

Generally, I use the back LCD to frame in the subway (not a hip shot, right?) but I guess I have less balls than Davidson in the subway in the 80's...

all using back LCD


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr


preacher by andre dos santos, on Flickr


Untitled by andre dos santos, on Flickr

 

[andersju]

I'm afraid the answer is yes. But forget about me, if tomorrow you wish to put a portfolio together and send it some places or show it to some of the experienced photographers, they will be "very" particular about this issue -I'm talking of lets say a magnum workshop or something of that level.

I realize we're on page five and I'm replying to something on page two but funny you should mention Magnum. I was just thinking about a great quote from a great Magnum photographer, Gueorgui Pinkhassov, who certainly didn't mind shooting from the hip:

"Good photos have come when I least controlled the situation. The process reminds me more of fishing than it does of shooting. I look through the lens; I create my composition – banal, boring. Get tired, get distracted – click and success. As though the photographic angels, upon whom it all depends, had begged, 'Don't look through the lens, let us work in peace.' Sometimes I have not even recognized my own photographs."

(quote from Magnum Stories)

Edit: I used to shoot from the hip (or chin, or whereever...) in the subway a few years ago:

Edit 2: Some years ago I stumbled upon a wonderful little book called shots from the hip by "Alias Johnny Stiletto", published by Bloomsbury in 1992. He writes about his technique, his views on photography, and every shot is accompanied by a text talking about the picture, the circumstances, what he felt at that moment. I noticed just now that BBC's blog Viewfinder wrote about it last year. Turns out he now also has a website: http://www.aliasjohnnystiletto.com/

 

[gho]

I don't mind if someone is "shooting from the hip". Why should I? To me, this happened only during two occasions I can remember.

It is an extremly spontaneous, impulsive way of taking a photograph. In the rare circumstances I experienced it, it was triggered by the scene or the situation. I am not sure, but I guess one cannot force it.

However, this is something different that "guesstimating" and taking a well composed photograph without looking through the viewfinder. Hmm, maybe wrong thread...

 

[gho]

To make my point a bit clearer, the image below is one of the examples, when that happened. I was trying to calibrate the exposure to the floor, when entering and when I was looking up, there was just that scene. I did not have much time to think and just took the picture. I looked through the viewfinder briefly though, so I guess, this is not "shooting from the hip", but the sense of spontaneity is surely there. At least for me. I think "shooting from the hip" is not so much about taking a picture while being unnoticed, but rather about being fast enough to capture the scene, even if there is not enough time to look through the viewfinder.

Simons dove shot above is a fabulous example of that technique, in my opinion. Moments are so volatile, especially in the street.