The utter shame of it

I was in London and was approached by an American couple who asked me to take their photograph with their camera. I carefully posed them and composed the shot.

As I was walking away I glanced over my shoulder to see them asking another passer by to re-take the picture.

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

Like that .. made me laugh.

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. My Flickr

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Tim
AF - Pentax K5, Sigma 10-20/4-5.6, Tamron 17-50/2.8, Sigma 30/1.4, Sigma 70-200/2.8, Tamron 70-300/4-5.6
MF - Vivitar CF 28/2.8, Tamron AD2 90/2.5, MTO 1000/11
Stuff - Metz 58 AF1, Cactus v4, Nikon SB24, Raynox 150, Sigma 1.4x TC, Sigma 2x TC, Kenko 2x macro TC, Redsnapper 283 tripod, iMac 27”, Macbook Pro 17”, iPad, iPhone 3G
Flickr • Fluidr • PPG • Street • Portfolio site
Feel free to edit any of my posted photos! If I post a photo for critique, I want brutal honesty. If you don't like it, please say so and tell me why!

How very embarrasing...


Sort-of related : I went to the Muybridge exhibition at the Tate yesterday, and it was interesting to think that I was looking at 150-yeard old photos which if they were taken today would be laughed off Flickr... although you'd probably need a 20-stop filter to get some of his landscapes! and cutting down trees in a National Park to improve the shot isn't terribly fashionable now, either...


Oh and one for Don - he did a lot of 3D photos, too. And (sort-of) invented film. Just goes to show there's nothing new...


p.s.

The very good news is that The Tate now allows unlimited photography throughout - although their website says otherwise, and I doubt you could take a tripod.

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Still shooting in the dark (literally and metaphorically)...

It must have been there equipment Ken

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Camera:|K-7|
Pentax Lenses:|DA12-24/f4 ED AL|DA35Ltd Macro|FA31Ltd|FA77Ltd|FA50/1.4|F70-210|FA20-35 f4/AL|A*200/f4 Macro ED|A50/1.7|A50 Macro f2.8|1.7xAF adapter|
Voigtlander|125/f2.5SL Macro APO Lanthar|
Sigma Lenses:|EX DG 100-300 f4|2X & 1.4X TC|
Flashes:|AF540FGZx2|RingFlash AF160FC|

Absolutely! It was a Canon P&S

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

I have a hard time using equipment I'm not familiar with.

I had a similar experience to yours in Banff once.
A couple asked me if I could take their picture....
They hand me this camera I'm not sure what it was...
I looked the camera over... The guy say "it's easy, all you do is turn it on and push the button!"
I'm like "how do you turn it on?"
He says "it's easy, all you do is turn it on and push the button!"... he seemed a little impatient at this point...

Then I ask him "How do you switch this thing to Manual, f8, 1/125, iso 100, spot focus, and dial the flash up to + 1?"

He's like " it's easy all you do is turn it on and push the button!" shaking his head.

So I snapped the photo, even though at this point he was wishing there was somebody else around at that moment he could ask...lol!

Then I pulled out of my backpack my Pentax k10 with grip and 16-45 and 360 flash with off camera cord..
I asked them to let me snap another...

So I fired another shot, his wife liked it much better (I underexposed the mountain vista in the background and used flash to light them at + 1 which yielded a very nice shot under the conditions.)..
She asked me "how did you do that? That is beautiful!"

"it's easy!" I said... "All you do is you switch this thing to Manual, f8, 1/125, iso 100, spot focus, and dial the flash up to + 1!"
I got their email and sent them a copy.

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Fired many shots. Didn't kill anything.

I enjoyed that exhibition very much. My last two gallery shots were taken in the Tate after visiting the exhibit.

Best wishes, Kris.

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Kris Lockyear
It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lots of film bodies, a couple of digital ones, too many lenses (mainly older glass) and a Horseman LE 5x4.
My website

Harry Benson, the photojournalist, told me that he had been walking in Central Park NYC with his two little girls when a group of Japanese tourists asked him to take their photograph. As they were walking away his seven year old tugged his sleeve and said 'Daddy, how did they know you were a photographer?'

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Ken
“We must avoid however, snapping away, shooting quickly and without thought, overloading ourselves with unnecessary images that clutter our memory and diminish the clarity of the whole.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson -

I love that!!

I got asked to take someone's pic in York, outside the cathedral. They had a Canon and when I half pressed to focus, all sorts of boxes lit up in the viewfinder, but the image didn't look sharp. So I tried again and again.
Turns out the guy had bad eyes and the viewfinder was set for him

They liked the image I gave them, though.

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Getting there! Thanks to you guys

Pentax K10d, *istDL, Kit lens ( 18-55mm ), 50mm f1.7 lens, Tamron 70-300mm lens, Prinzflex 70-162 manual lens, Various old flashes.

i was in edinburgh last year sitting in the car next to firth of forth at crammond trying to get a fuji s 1500 to work and a guy knocked on the window of the car and asked if he could take my photo!!. off was the second word i used

That's odd, I was in London the other day when an American couple asked me to take their photo. I was just about to do it when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an angry Scot trudging off muttering to himself.

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If you can't say something nice about Pentax, you won't say anything at all.

Apparently.

You recognised Ken's Tam O'Shanter of course!

I've often been fumbling about with someone's PandS under the eyes of the owners.
Being used to a DSLR its not so easy to find change modes, exposure, focus point, aperture settings if possible.

I can't avoid felling a bit although they are often leaving with a better photo.

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TWAPSI Blog

I always use my self timer. On the rare occasions I ask someone to take a photo they stick my ugly fizzog in the middle of the frame and chop me off at the feet...

K.

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Kris Lockyear
It is an illusion that photos are made with the camera… they are made with the eye, heart and head. Henri Cartier-Bresson
Lots of film bodies, a couple of digital ones, too many lenses (mainly older glass) and a Horseman LE 5x4.
My website