Category Archives: Street/Candid

Shooting from the hip

It was a rare sunny day in Glasgow so I went out for a brief walk around the city centre in order to keep my shutter finger in practise. I used the NEX-7 with the 18-55mm kit lens and the 16mm/2.8 pancake. I played around with the settings, deciding to try something different from my usual practice. Instead of using aperture priority mode, I decided on Shutter priority 1/400th or 1/200th later on when the light grew dimmer, and put the camera on auto ISO.

For street photos, a bit of extra noise isn’t too much of a problem so I wasn’t concerned with using the lowest ISOs. Shooting handheld and in moderate light, I don’t expect razor sharp photos from choosing an optimum aperture. But I wanted to keep the shutter speed high to reduce the possibility of motion blur, either from my quickly grabbed shots or subject movement. I also put the camera into “Black and White” mode, this helped surprisingly well to frame shots without distracting colour.

I also shot most photos from the hip, either “blind” or using the flip up LCD screen. Only occasionally would I be able to raise the camera to the eye without “spooking” my subject. Putting the camera on multi-focus worked out reasonably well in fact, especially with face-detect. A lot of shots were taken in passing, without the opportunity to frame and focus with any great care.

To get even some usable shots is quite fortunate. Using a wide angle lens helps but one really needs to get in close to make the most of the frame. Below are a selection of the least worst shots. All but one are uncropped.

Out and about with the NEX-7

I’ve been getting used to the NEX-7, especially for street photography. The difference to the A77 couldn’t be more marked. The difference in size is the most noticeable difference, it is certainly less intimidating for people to have pointed at them, in stark contrast to the A77+16-50mm. The CDAF of the NEX-7 in good light is still reasonably quick and I can get the grabbed shot. Even in poor light, the peaking function with MF can give quite good results with some practise.

Amarone Siege 10/2/2012

Last week was an eventful one. A man created a siege situation by claiming to have a bomb and holing up in a restaurant. The city centre was sealed off and a minor media circus began. Here are a few of the photos from that night.

In the News

It was a case of being in the right place at the right time. When the James Weir Building at the University of Strathclyde caught on fire, I was nearby with my camera at hand to document the operation to bring it under control. A chance encounter with an editor of The Journal led me to share my photos with the student newspaper. They appear online illustrating the news stories and also forming a photo essay. A few photos may even end up in the print edition this week.