Tip - Shoot from the Hip

I always have trouble taking pictures of people. I hate it. I feel awkward, I always wonder, am I stealing a piece of their soul? (Not really. I'm pretty sure people keep their soul regardless of photography.)

Even when I have express permission (which I recommend getting) I still often can't quite bring myself to take a picture. A good example of this was when Evan and I were in Myanmar, and being herded around like sheep, as tourists often are in Southeast Asia. We were taking a day boat trip on Inle Lake, and one of our 'stops' was to see a few ladies from the Long Neck tribe. Basically, the entire purpose of the stop was to take pictures of these women. And they invited me to.

But I couldn't do it. It still felt rude to me. As though by taking a picture of them I was saying, "Gosh, you look sooooo weird. I have got to show the folks at home a picture of this."

So, sorry, I don't have a picture of them to show you. But honestly, that's okay with me. Google Long Neck Tribe, and you'll see a ton of pictures very like the one I might have taken. It wasn't going to be Art.

Recently, however, I discovered a new solution to my shyness: shoot from the hip. People get self-conscious when you bring the viewfinder to your eye. What was a natural smile or pose turns a bit awkward.

So, instead, hold your SLR like a point and shoot. Or even lower. If you have Live View, this is a great time to use it. What I do is turn Live View on until I see a framing I like, then I turn it off but keep the camera in the same place, then use the shutter button to autofocus and take the shot. And if my subject's not looking at the camera, or can't hear the shutter, they don't even know I took a picture!

I used this technique recently to take the shots of the students in the classroom. And I ended up with a lot of interestingly composed frames that I might not have had otherwise.

It's not a perfect technique. And I usually have to take a few shots to find a keeper. But it's better than nothing, which is what I've often ended up with before. Try it! Let me know if you do, I'd love to hear how it works for you.

Day 134 (July 23) - Trash or Treasure?

Another photo of the students hard at work today. This is one of my favorites, but I can't actually explain why. Technically, it's not great. The camera was metering the wrong thing, and accidentally underexposed, so it's noisy in the shadows after I brought up the exposure, plus I cut off the top of the kid's head in front.

And yet, I really like it. So, what do you think? Trash or treasure? Let me know.

Day 133 (July 22) - Students

Went to work again today, as I'm feeling better. But fate had arranged a light teaching day for me, so I went and sat in on one of Evan's classes and took some pictures. The kids have no desks in our classrooms, so there is plenty of room to run around and play games. This means, though, that they have to do all their writing sitting on the floor.

Both of these are favorites, for different reasons. I think the top image is much better, photographically, but the bottom image is so much fun! I shot the kids through a glass door, so the reflections are a bit annoying, but you can see what hams they are. And so cute, too!
That's it for today. I stupidly missed the eclipse this morning (total solar eclipse, although not quite total here, 69%) which made me super angry at myself until I read that no one in Bangkok had really seen it, because it was cloudy.

So, a little bit of schadenfreude makes everything better.

Day 132 (July 21) - More Cat

I spent the day at home today, which didn't provide a lot of photographic fodder. But fortunately the cat volunteered to pose for me, and she did a pretty good job!

Day 129 (July 18) - Photowalk?

So yesterday was the second annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk. As you can imagine, I was pretty excited. Evan and I were both signed up for one in Amphawa, a town with a floating market a couple hours away from Bangkok.

But Friday night I had a fever again, and so Saturday morning I made the difficult decision to skip the photowalk, even though I was feeling somewhat better. And then I totally freaked Evan out by passing out, so instead of going to the photo walk, we went to the hospital. Again.

All of which to say, I have no photos from yesterday or today. I'm sorry. And I'm fine, the doctor just thinks I have an antibiotic resistant form of tonsilitis, so he gave me some stronger antibiotics. Tonsilitis. Makes me feel so Victorian. Maybe next time I can have gout, or goiter, or for some really old-school drama, consumption.

Day 128 (July 17) - Care For A Cool Beverage?

Sorry, I drank it all.