Wonderful. Great images and color.
Maybe you've discussed this. You are either very short, sitting on a bench, or are holding the camera down, almost like a TLR at chest height. The Sigma H doesn't have a tilting screen. Can you say a bit about how you are framing?
Hi Dan,
When I shoot with the Sigma Sd Quattro and some other cameras as well and I’m doing people pictures I frequently shoot from chest level. I’m 6’ 1” tall and I like a lower perspective versus me shooting down on people. To do this with the Sd Quattro I set the focus scale to just under 1 meter (or whatever distance is appropriate) pick a suitable aperture with regards to the existing light and the lens I’m using (usually anywhere between f2.8 and f5.6) and then holding the camera at chest level I walk up to the subject and when I’m where I want to be I take the picture.
It would be difficult for me to stoop over while I look through the viewfinder and walk down the street taking pictures. For me street photography is very dynamic; people are not going to stand still while I try to focus on them and then take their picture. And, autofocus is a non-starter, way too slow.
When I’m taking pictures of static subjects like flowers, cityscapes, ships, etc... I almost always look through the viewfinder and focus manually. I always carry a newspaper in my backpack to sit on or kneel on when I’m going for a low angle. At age 62 squatting down for extended periods of time while I compose, focus and shoot is all well and good until I try to stand back up - ugh! So, now I just sit and or kneel on the ground.
I’ll do what I need to do to get a shot: hold the camera over my head, use the viewfinder, hold the camera at chest level, bend over and hold the camera level with the subject, sit on the ground and even put the camera on the ground for an extreme low level perspective. Fortunately the Sigma lenses (in my opinion) are easy to work with and with a knowledge of the basics of photography I can get pretty good results weather I look through the viewfinder or not.
Lastly, like most things, a lot of practice helps.
Sorry for the longish answer, I hope it makes sense to you and it gives you what you wanted to know.
