I use, believe it or not, a Canon EF manual Film camera..

I load with ISO 200 or 400, and put my 28mm lens on..

I take a reading of the average lighting I will be shooting in. and set my lens at f/8 or 11, and use the Hyper-Focal DOF scale on my lens so everything from 4 feet or so to INF in focus..

With a 28mm, I can shoot from the hip and get a full length and then some from less than 6 feet away..

Now, translate this to a P/S.....

Set your lens on the widest setting. and the camera on Aperture Priority exposure mode...Set the f/stop to at least f/8. ISO at 200..

You will need to sit down and look through the VF or at the LCD to see what your FOV is...AT HIP LEVEL....Both Horizontally and Vertically.....Because, you need to have in your head an idea of the coverage from your hip point of view. If the lens only goes to 34-36mm....you will have take pictures from a little further away, or you can cut off a head or 2..

With my SLR, I cover the top of the camera with my left palm, and rest my right palm and trigger finger over the right corner...ready to push down the plunger at any moment. It seems to work fine. No one has noticed me taking a picture, though, they may notice the camera..

But who takes a picture from the hip....really   He-he.

I will be getting my scanned negs back this next week. I will post a few if you like..

I don't own a P/S D-Cam. so my Film SLR fits the bill better.....

'Well, Good Luck With That' (SpongeBob SquarePants).

Peter .

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Enjoy your photography images, even if your wife doesn't ! ;-(http://laurence-photography.com/http://www.pbase.com/peterarbib/Cameras in profile...

With a modern SLR digital or film it get easier. You can pre-set the aperture and use the AF~. I know that AF is not the best solution in all situations but set it to centre point and practice aiming to focus with half pressure on the target and adjust aim if necessary - that combined with good DOF from a wide angle lens and fairly small aperture works well..

Of course modern SLRs both film and digital tend to make quite a lot of noise so you might get noticed, in which case you might be as well to use the viewfinder anyway. Most people stop striking poses and reacting to you if you take enough pictures - not sure if they get used to it or get fed-up..

To go quietly then some digital compacts are fairly quiet, otherwise go for an old film rangefinder which can be almost silent - if something like a Leica as too much there are the Russian and East German copies, Zorki etc. which are fairly quiet.Shaysart - Capturing your Dreams..

It does work but requires, as you've found, a bit of practice. What also helps if people are comfortable with you and your camera. Another option is using a telelens.Don't wait for the Nikon D-whatever, have fun now!http://www.flickr.com/photos/j_wijnands/..

Shooting from the hip is something I did for a while, when I started getting serious about photography ( late 80's ). However, I was using an old Canon V-series rangefinder, and a 28MM lens. I would usually just preset the lens by hyperfocaling it for depth of field, and an old small light meter for exposure info. I used to be able to gauge exposure by the light quality after doing this several times, and ditch the meter completely. At the time, I was interested in notions of chance - would hipshot images give me anything good, or at least of interest..

I know that this is the beginners questions forum, so just in case -.

Hyperfocaling - used on manual focus lenses. They have distance scales on them, a set of numbers in feet or meters. They are then lined up with the aperture numbers to give you your depth of field. The last number isn't a number, but a mark that looks like an "8" on it's side. That's the "infinity" mark - where everything's in focus ( supposedly ). These are generally not found on AF lenses..

One of the nicest things about old MF rangefinders is how quiet they are. Can't hear one in New York City noise...

Seamus Kelly wrote:.

Snip.

Of course modern SLRs both film and digital tend to make quite a lotof noise so you might get noticed, in which case you might be as wellto use the viewfinder anyway. Most people stop striking poses andreacting to you if you take enough pictures - not sure if they getused to it or get fed-up..

When I take candids from the hip, I am outside, and there is enough noise that the SLR is not heard. Remember, the people are 5-8 feet away, and the small camera noise is not load enough to travel that distance. Plus....I have my both hands covering the top of SLR..This helps absorb any Mirror flap and shutter noise....

To go quietly then some digital compacts are fairly quiet, otherwisego for an old film rangefinder which can be almost silent - ifsomething like a Leica as too much there are the Russian and EastGerman copies, Zorki etc. which are fairly quiet..

Yes, old RF (I have a Canon QL17) is very quite to silent. Mine has a "between the lens" shutter. Much quieter than the Zorki (I had one). and quieter than the "M" Leica's. (The LTM Leica's had a loader shutter than the "M"s...But the "M"s had more built in sound dampening too... A Canon QL17, or Minolta Hi-Matic 5, or 7 or 9 or Olympuis Pen or RC would make a great candid hip shooter.....

Shaysart - Capturing your Dreams.

'Well, Good Luck With That' (SpongeBob SquarePants).

Peter .

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Enjoy your photography images, even if your wife doesn't ! ;-(http://laurence-photography.com/http://www.pbase.com/peterarbib/Cameras in profile...

On a DSLR I use a wide angle, like 17-40 and try to end up pretty close to the subject(s). I've never had an issue with shutter noise so far. Or, my S3IS is great because of the vari-angle lcd. You can be staring at the lcd and pointing in a different direction and people will think you're just watching something on the lcd...

I do similar. I put my Zenitar 16 on my DS, set it to F4 for indoor, F8 for outdoor. I keep it scale focussed and can zip off a frame or two almost instantly...

Dolinar wrote:.

Any tips for taking photos WITHOUT using the viewfinder or LCD? Icarry my Fuji f20 with me a lot, for candid portrait shots, and finda lot of friends simply lock up, or worse, strike a pose, when Ipoint the camera. I've been practicing a bit shooting with the cameraa hip level, off to the side, resting on the counter etc...anythingto make it look like I'm not about to take a photo. Workssurprisingly well if I back off a little and crop later. Anyadditional suggestions? I'm sure someone has written a book (or atleast a long thread) on the subject.LouD.

I do this a lot when dealing with kids at events. If you're making a big deal out of it, they stare at the camera. If you just hold it down by your side, they will generally ignore it, even if the flash is on. Most of the shots I get are of an individual child, seated, usually working on an art project or some such, so a vertical shot works best. I just hold the camera vertical, palm on the right side (which is now "up") thumb behind, finger on shutter, and fire away..

Jim DeanPaid professional rubbernecker. I stop at the car wreck so you don't have to...

I'd love to see some pictures. That would be a cool contest, and yet another example of how technique and experience can trump hardware.LouD..

First off, photos almost always turn out better if you see what you're shooting. Shooting blind leaves a lot up to chance, which means that you'll miss far more shots than you'll get..

The trick to successful situational/people photography is to anticipate and practice..

Anticipate: get your camera ready to take the shot *before* the shot appears. Tweak your settings as far as possible to the point that taking the picture simply means framing and squeezing the shutter release point and shoot..

Practice: learn to use your camera fluidly enough that you can do it as an "aside" interact with your subjects or just observe them with the camera in your hand but hanging to your side, then bring it to your eye, shoot, and let it fall again, without interrupting whatever it was you and your subjects were doing. Most of the time, people won't even notice you took a photo..

Hints:.

Use medium-wide to normal focal lengths, say 28 to 50 mm (equivalent). That puts you close enough to the subject to be able to interact with them while including a bit of context. Once you're comfortable shooting in this zone, experiment with going wider (which means bigger, more complex and therefore more challenging scenes) or longer (which means tighter, more focused scenes but that risk putting you far enough from the subject that they appear cold or even voyeuristic). The longest lens I use for this type of shooting is 135 mm (on full-frame)..

I also believe very strongly that using long lenses for candid photography is bad for you. It teaches bad habits (lurking in the background and hiding behind a lens instead of interacting and being open about what you do) and usually leads to bad photography (emotionally distant, compositionally simple, sometimes even voyeuristic). More on that topic here: [ http://www.prime-junta.net/...to_Is_For_Wimps/a_Telephoto_Is_For_Cowards.html ]..

If I'm shooting with my digital point-and-shoot (Fuji F30), I set the ISO, aperture, and (if applicable, which is pretty rare) exposure bias, and trust the area auto-focus to do the job. Then I just grab the frame as described above. It works almost every time; the AF and auto-exposure hardly ever miss. I use smallish apertures (f/4 to f/5.6) in bright light, wide-open in poor light..

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If I'm shooting with my dSLR, I set the ISO and some or all of the exposure parameters, depending on the light and the situation. Then I pre-focus whenever possible (I can do this because I've set AF to a different button than tripping the shutter)..

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If I'm shooting with my film rangefinder, I set up everything beforehand. In good light, I make a lot of use of zone focusing I use a small aperture (f/8...f/11) and set the focus point to about 2 meters, which means everything in the "human zone" will come out sharp. In poor light, I focus with the rangefinder whenever I have time, otherwise I zone focus and hope for the best. It works well enough surprisingly often:.

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/Petterihttp://www.prime-junta.net/http://www.flickr.com/photos/primejunta/..