The Myth of Stealth

[dave lackey]

Love that one!!! ^^^^🙂

Lest we forget taping the logo!

Let there be STEALTH!😛

 

[dave lackey]

I am thinking Ferrari red! Anyone got a red Hassy to try? I bet it it would be less conspicuous.:angel:

 

[oftheherd]

...

These critters don't seem to care which camera I have in my hand, they won't let me get within a reasonable distance to use even a 100mm lens. And I find the same thing with shooting on the street wherever I go. People in my part of the world don't care either what camera you have unless it is really a bazooka lens you are carrying. Somehow that looks obscene unless it is being used at a sports event.

...

I think you both have something here. In my experience, many animals seem to have a sense of when they are being watched. That would be a good survival trait for smaller prey animals. Birds in my experience can be 20 or 30 yards away, and still react to me watching them. They will exhibit nervousness, and probably fly away after a few moments. If one can look away and look aside with their eyes, or use only peripheral vision, seems less chance they will perceive themselves to be under surveillance, even if they remain a little more watchful. Other animals can exhibit the same characteristics in my experience.

Has anyone else noticed that? I have seen where being around for an extended period of time, doing what you would do as a photographer, can sometimes desensitize birds and you aren't considered a potential threat.

 

[oftheherd]

From the OP:

Everyone seems to be missing the most obvious solution 🙂

Great! Luckily I wasn't drinking my coffee when I saw this. I hate explaining to the IT folks why I need a new keyboard... Again.

 

[lynnb]

Dave, will this do?

 

[dave lackey]

It is the "eye"... Yes, when a camera is used, the lens is the eye. A bigger eye than we like to admit. In the photos above, the 59mm lens are the same size, both take 52mm filters.

The body stance and geometry draw the motif naturally to the center mass which is the lens. Even the tiny X1 with its smallish lens is still the center of attention. The best way around this if needed is to be one's self, friendly, non-intrusive.

Or use my cow-camera...😛

 

[dave lackey]

Dave, will this do?

That Strawberry Cake looks like it will work! LOL, but I would add a "watch the birdie" toy on too for maximum stealth! 😛

It is funny how photographers at one time used the birdie prop to get motifs to smile... My how times change.

 

[dave lackey]

Lynn is on to something... Conspicuous = stealth.

Like this?

http://www.smileformetoys.com/order-page.html

 

[oftheherd]

Dave, will this do?

Nice, but where are the wings? 😀

 

[dave lackey]

I thought YOU were buying lunch!!!😛

I like mine medium hot!

 

[jsrockit]

One thing that destroys stealth is having the camera hanging around your neck.

I wear my camera around my neck and still get the photo. I think there is more to "stealth" than how you wear your camera or how your camera looks.

 

[lynnb]

This is one of the cleverest ideas I've come across for stealth... with a large format camera!

Spanish photographer Txema Salvans, with an assistant carrying a pole, posed as a surveyor to take large format photographs of sex workers waiting for clients on the side of Spanish roads.

The resulting series is.. well you be the judge. Worth a look. Safe for work.

 

[jwicaksana]

I mostly do street photography.
[..snip..]
No rapid movements, talk to strangers.

I have the amazing luck of "disappearing" in a crowd.

It's good to use a camera that can disarm with its charm. Like an Exa, for example.

Talking to strangers, and using a charming camera works best for me. In my case it's a TLR. 🙂

 

[giellaleafapmu]

Today I was reading forums about "my other photographic hobby" and found a picture of a photographer who does not rely on RF to be completely stealthy and which fits perfectly to this thread:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/01/06/2472718400000578-2898576-image-m-48_1420538256472.jpg

GLF

 

[dave lackey]

Hilarious!

 

[Oscuro]

Hilarious!

Not really. Just a wildlife guy. In this case, a birder.

 

[Oscuro]

Couldn't resist it on the SLR thread could you?:angel: Give it a rest, man.:angel: This is not even about what you do.

Yeah, no kidding. Jay Maisel uses a super zoom 28-300 and seems to do fine. Some folks use a 12 with great results. Cartier-Bresson used a 50. Too many rules about "how it's done".

The paths to liberation are exactly as numerous as those on the path.

 

[MIkhail]

If I can make a suggestion... I tend to address the problem from different direction. If I want to take picture of somebody doing something, I will stay around with my camera clearly visible, and within next few seconds people will simply forget about me. I will shoot a pic ans stay, still looking. Then take another one as I like to have options. Never run, never move too quickly and make sudden moves, as I am doing something wrong. Seems to worked so far, regardless of camera.

 

[xdayv]

I use an SLR (think D3+70-200), and chances are someone notices it more than when I use an RF. Not that RF is totally stealth though, but to begin with, the RF gives an edge (at least in my place that's it).

I try to blend in with the scene, and take it from there. Slowly and calm, sometimes quickly and sneaky.