Shooting from the waist

[blazeicehockey]

I've just joined the rangefinder club and saw many opportunities today for a good pics such as a flower seller, people outside a cafe and someone getting their shoes cleaned etc, all street scene stuff. However, I felt abit anxious about raising the camera to my eye.

How do you guys get on? Do you ever use an RF that is not raised to eye level e.g shooting from the waist?

|Darrin|

 

[gertf]

Just shoot them, they won't care. Most people think you must have photographed something else

 

[David William White]

True, also, the RF doesn't cause people to dive for cover like a big Canon L-glass pedophile superzoom.

And if your lens is a wide-angle, you can pretend your interested in something else, and you can scale focus so as to quickly take the shot. Go find an online video of Gary Winogrand. He shot in New York with a Leica, and he was so quick that most people didn't know if he had actually taken the shot.

 

[dee]

Just go for it - people are not that bothered .
However , If you prefocus , and use around f8 , there will be enough depth of field to try a few low level shots .

 

[quizzard87]

i use my camera from the hip frequently...i raise it to my eye whenever possible, but sometimes you'd ruin a shot by raising your camera.
heve a look at my latest blog post here
just scroll down to the b/w photos. there are a few hipshots amongst them (you'll see which ones when reading the comments).

 

[Keith]

I'm not fan of hip shots generally because your not really seeing the perspective of what the lens is seeing ... some photos can look a lot different from a point that's a couple of feet lower than your eyeline. I'll often crouch down to take a shot though ... that way at least I'm seeing exactly what the camera is seeing.🙂

 

[BillP]

Get yourself a copy of "Shots from the Hip" by "Johnny Stiletto". He used an OM and a 35mm lens and was a columnist in Amateur Photographer in the late '80s, early '90s. His writing is entertaining and his work is thought-provoking. The book is long out of print but turns up occasionally on eBay.

Regards,

Bill

 

[blazeicehockey]

Thanks for the responses so far. The only resone why I ask about this is that I commute through London. Taking photos using a rangefinder AND wearing a suit raises a few eyebrows. I hardly blend in as a tourist 😛

 

[FrankS]

Buy yourself some Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts. Viva la tourista!