# Weekly challenge: 4/27 - 5/3 The Shooting Blind Challenge



## jcdeboever (Apr 26, 2019)

For this week's challenge, it'll open your eyes to shoot blind. No LCD, No EVF, No optical veiwfinder, or target viewfinder. Straight from the hip or above the head, behind your back, or between your legs. You can edit, crop, or whatever, no problem, just shoot the image blind. If you decide to crop, show us the original as well. Tell us what surprised you, would you consider doing it more? Or your general experience from it. As always, new photos only please.

I was inspired to offer this challenge by stumbling across a book, "Shooting Blind" Photographs by the visually impaired; Edward Hoagland authored.


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## vintagesnaps (Apr 26, 2019)

How about dropping a Polaroid and it shoots out a picture?? lol was reminded of that in another thread, but don't think I'll do it on purpose.


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## Derrel (Apr 26, 2019)

Shooting out the driver's window, phone resting on the left shoulder..pretty effective...


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## jcdeboever (Apr 26, 2019)

Derrel said:


> Shooting out the driver's window, phone resting on the left shoulder..pretty effective...


Absolutely!


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## gk fotografie (Apr 26, 2019)

Wow, that's what I call a challenge, JC.
It 'smells' of candid, journalism, street photography, action, b & w and film.
I hope many TPF members will participate in this challenge...


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## Soocom1 (Apr 26, 2019)

Now.. How does one prove the blind shot?


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## Dean_Gretsch (Apr 26, 2019)

I foresee many deleted attempts too!


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## jcdeboever (Apr 26, 2019)

Soocom1 said:


> Now.. How does one prove the blind shot?



Can't I guess, they are only cheating themselves in a creative opportunity.


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## CherylL (Apr 26, 2019)

That is how I shoot video with my GoPro & Sony when too sunny out to see the LCD.


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## johngpt (Apr 26, 2019)

Both my X100 and X100F have fixed rear screens so there are times when I have to use "dead reckoning," but I'm really trying to get my shot framed as best I can. I'll shoot and chimp and keep trying until I get the framing I had wanted.
Does this meet the challenge criterium?


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## DennyN (Apr 26, 2019)

Do this quite a bit when using my film pinhole cameras. I take my chances with a bunch of shots, hope for the best.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 27, 2019)

johngpt said:


> Both my X100 and X100F have fixed rear screens so there are times when I have to use "dead reckoning," but I'm really trying to get my shot framed as best I can. I'll shoot and chimp and keep trying until I get the framing I had wanted.
> Does this meet the challenge criterium?



If your not using the lcd or viewfinder, your good.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 27, 2019)

DennyN said:


> Do this quite a bit when using my film pinhole cameras. I take my chances with a bunch of shots, hope for the best.



Yes sir, that is blind shooting!


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## paigew (Apr 27, 2019)

Ohhh this sounds FUN!!! I'm so glad I logged on to find out the challenge


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## Fred von den Berg (Apr 27, 2019)

Here are three _*blind shots*_ that I took this afternoon whilst out walking. I set the camera to automatic for exposure and manual at infinity for focus.




 



 



 

These are SOOC. The framing was guesswork. I have more: this is a great challenge and lots of fun!


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## jcdeboever (Apr 27, 2019)

My bud called up with his new purchase. I thought a perfect opportunity to blind shoot. He is pretty stoked about his purchase, as am I. To be transparent, I shoot this way a lot being a street photographer. I crop and straighten a lot. My goal when shooting this way is depth of field. I preset my camera using the sunny 16 rule, I use either shutter priority or aperture priority dependent on what I'm doing. At the end of the day, I am a 100% viewfinder guy but blind shooting, it enables me creative control over the entire frame if I'm on my game.

Belt buckle shot, Nikon D610, 70-300 VR





high reach on semi truck mirror, triple reflection, back glass, side mirror, and actual glass for sign. D610




Crop




high reach on semi truck mirror, no crop


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## CherylL (Apr 27, 2019)

The grand's birthday party.  I took the Sony RX100iv today for video and switched into photo Auto mode which I think has a Wide focus area.  I held the camera above my head and pointed down at the group.  Not cropped.


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## johngpt (Apr 27, 2019)

jcdeboever said:


> My bud called up with his new purchase. I thought a perfect opportunity to blind shoot. He is pretty stoked about his purchase, as am I. To be transparent, I shoot this way a lot being a street photographer. I crop and straighten a lot. My goal when shooting this way is depth of field. I preset my camera using the sunny 16 rule, I use either shutter priority or aperture priority dependent on what I'm doing. At the end of the day, I am a 100% viewfinder guy but blind shooting, it enables me creative control over the entire frame if I'm on my game.
> 
> Belt buckle shot, Nikon D610, 70-300 VR
> View attachment 172202
> ...


JC, I really like the 2nd, 3rd and 4th.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 27, 2019)

johngpt said:


> jcdeboever said:
> 
> 
> > My bud called up with his new purchase. I thought a perfect opportunity to blind shoot. He is pretty stoked about his purchase, as am I. To be transparent, I shoot this way a lot being a street photographer. I crop and straighten a lot. My goal when shooting this way is depth of field. I preset my camera using the sunny 16 rule, I use either shutter priority or aperture priority dependent on what I'm doing. At the end of the day, I am a 100% viewfinder guy but blind shooting, it enables me creative control over the entire frame if I'm on my game.
> ...


Thanks. The first one was from the hip and for reference.


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## photoflyer (Apr 27, 2019)

Eyes straight ahead.  Camera out the window.  Morning on a country road in VA. No crop but a little bit of tweaking.  Also noted later that there were some dried rain spots on the filter so will be a little more attentive in the future.


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## gk fotografie (Apr 28, 2019)

Can see that I've not done this kind of thing, in a serious way, in maybe 10 or 20 years?
Yesterday, a rainy day with an enormous amount of gusts, it was 'Koningsdag' in the Netherlands, the King's birthday and in the big cities there are all kinds of festivities, singers and dancers etc. and - such as in Amsterdam - all over town hundreds of spots where everyone can sell old things in a street stall.
In our village it's never that wild, there's some music and children sell, always with their parents present, old toys, books, clothes etc. Took my old Canon G9 , both hands together and half under my sleeve, and tried to produce something. Switched off the direct "view" function so as not to be tempted, at home I was only able to see what it all had become. ISO 1600, all pix made in the same wide-angle setting.

View attachment 172223
View attachment 172224
View attachment 172225
View attachment 172226
View attachment 172227

Here's two original pics to show how much crop was needed...
View attachment 172228 View attachment 172229


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## Fred von den Berg (Apr 28, 2019)




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## jcdeboever (Apr 28, 2019)

Father watching. I cropped for composition (shot a little wide for challenge) and straitened this image. If I didn't pop this off at the belly, I would have missed it.  D610, 70-300 VR.


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## johngpt (Apr 28, 2019)

gk fotografie said:


> Can see that I've not done this kind of thing, in a serious way, in maybe 10 or 20 years?
> Yesterday, a rainy day with an enormous amount of gusts, it was 'Koningsdag' in the Netherlands, the King's birthday and in the big cities there are all kinds of festivities, singers and dancers etc. and - such as in Amsterdam - all over town hundreds of spots where everyone can sell old things in a street stall.
> In our village it's never that wild, there's some music and children sell, always with their parents present, old toys, books, clothes etc. Took my old Canon G9 , both hands together and half under my sleeve, and tried to produce something. Switched off the direct "view" function so as not to be tempted, at home I was only able to see what it all had become. ISO 1600, all pix made in the same wide-angle setting.
> 
> ...


Some nice ones here GK.


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## johngpt (Apr 28, 2019)

Me, shot by the beloved wife, on one of my dead reckoning, shooting blind attempts. On other attempts I placed the camera all the way to the ground and guessed how much to tilt it back up. Those attempts ended up with better straightness of horizons...   

And here is one of those attempts. I didn't bother straightening as I liked the sort of Dutch angle tilt.
Shot with a Hoya R72 filter on my Fuji X100, kneeling as seen in the photo above. Then brought into Nik Silver Efex.





.


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## Fred von den Berg (Apr 28, 2019)

crop 1x1 (the camera has a 4x3 aspect ratio)


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## Fred von den Berg (Apr 29, 2019)

_me in the mirror_


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## gk fotografie (Apr 29, 2019)

_*So mama don't take my Kodachrome away*_
Camera in one hand, with an outstretched arm held directly above the object, no crop

View attachment 172297


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## zulu42 (Apr 29, 2019)

You guys are making this look easy. Chopped off his entire torso.  I will try shooting wider.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 29, 2019)

Some interesting images up to this point. Lets go out on a limb and get a little more creative. Ok, so we know we can shoot wide and crop. Lets dial it in and see our vision. I set out on vacation to shoot a short roll. I had the advantage of knowing I was going to present this as Peg approved it. I just developed the roll tonight. Lets discuss (not my short roll ) if there are any advantages to this process. For me, its about getting the shot. Why not practise some to get better at it. Questions I have? Are there advantages? When to do it and why?


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## jcdeboever (Apr 29, 2019)

Fred von den Berg said:


> View attachment 172291
> _me in the mirror_


This really a great example and a wonderful image.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 29, 2019)

gk fotografie said:


> _*So mama don't take my Kodachrome away*_
> Camera in one hand, with an outstretched arm held directly above the object, no crop
> 
> View attachment 172297



That is a disturbing image and I love it...


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## jcdeboever (Apr 29, 2019)

zulu42 said:


> You guys are making this look easy. Chopped off his entire torso.  I will try shooting wider.
> 
> View attachment 172308


Too cool in my book


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## jcdeboever (Apr 29, 2019)

johngpt said:


> Me, shot by the beloved wife, on one of my dead reckoning, shooting blind attempts. On other attempts I placed the camera all the way to the ground and guessed how much to tilt it back up. Those attempts ended up with better straightness of horizons...
> 
> And here is one of those attempts. I didn't bother straightening as I liked the sort of Dutch angle tilt.
> Shot with a Hoya R72 filter on my Fuji X100, kneeling as seen in the photo above. Then brought into Nik Silver Efex.
> ...


Freaky imagery, love it.


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## johngpt (Apr 29, 2019)

zulu42 said:


> You guys are making this look easy. Chopped off his entire torso.  I will try shooting wider.
> 
> View attachment 172308


This is a really intriguing image.


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## johngpt (Apr 29, 2019)

jcdeboever said:


> Some interesting images up to this point. Lets go out on a limb and get a little more creative. Ok, so we know we can shoot wide and crop. Lets dial it in and see our vision. I set out on vacation to shoot a short roll. I had the advantage of knowing I was going to present this as Peg approved it. I just developed the roll tonight. Lets discuss (not my short roll ) if there are any advantages to this process. For me, its about getting the shot. Why not practise some to get better at it. Questions I have? Are there advantages? When to do it and why?


Alas, I went out Saturday and while the first image I posted wasn't cropped or horizon leveled, this next one has been.


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## johngpt (Apr 29, 2019)

And here is the uncropped, unedited image from which the above was created.





For this image I had placed the camera on the ground and guess-timated how much to tilt it upward. I took a couple shots.


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## gk fotografie (Apr 30, 2019)

jcdeboever said:


> Some interesting images up to this point. Lets go out on a limb and get a little more creative. Ok, so we know we can shoot wide and crop. Lets dial it in and see our vision. I set out on vacation to shoot a short roll. I had the advantage of knowing I was going to present this as Peg approved it. I just developed the roll tonight. Lets discuss (not my short roll ) if there are any advantages to this process. For me, its about getting the shot. Why not practise some to get better at it. Questions I have? Are there advantages? When to do it and why?



In the film era 'shooting from the hip' was synonymous with candid photography, street photography, action, photojournalism, in other words making quick and direct photos since there is no time to focus at ease, choosing a shuttertime/aperture or changing any lenses. It's too bad these kind of concepts are slowly being forgotten in this digital world.

I find 'blind shooting' not something that's solely or exclusively related to creativity, the accompanying photo is from the previous weekly challenge, I held the camera - kneeling on the platform - with 2 arms as far as possible above the train tracks without using the lcd or viewfinder (I didn't stand on these tracks myself) through the fisheye effect the tracks seem to be distorted which makes the photo, not the fact that I used my Fuji XE-1 camera blind. For me, it's all about the (end) result, how it's obtained or created is absolutely less important to me.

View attachment 172333

As a very small boy we lived in The Hague next to a very famous Dutch photojournalist (Simon Smit, 1914-2012) who regularly visited us and perhaps I became interested in photography by him? Simon Smit won the Zilveren Camera, Dutch prize for outstanding photojournalism, no less than twice in 1955 and 1957. This prize has been awarded since 1949 to the photographer who took the best press photo of that year.
(https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/fotocollectie/detail/acd39424-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84)

Simon Smit went to events and always made a show of his appearance with a lot of cameras around his neck and a high aluminum ladder that he placed between the audience or other photographers in order to have the best "spot in town" and when a large circus came to The Hague, he once crawled into the lion's cage (together with the trainer) to make a fantastic photo for the newspaper. All kind of "tricks" he used that nobody noticed in his pictures and aren't mentioned anywhere, because only the end result counts and the way in which it was achieved or with what kind of camera or lens the photo was taken actually is not important.
Oh well, just my opinion.

Gerard


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## CherylL (Apr 30, 2019)

Shooting blind do you find yourself leaning one way more than the other?   When I take beach photos with the Sony RX100iv it is too bright to use the screen.  Yes it does have a pop up viewfinder that I forget about.  I find all of the photos lean a tad to the right.  With digital it is easy to straighten/crop in post and not worry too much about leveling.  The video I try to keep even and steady, but still crop straighten which video can be zoomed 10% without loosing too much sharpness.


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## jcdeboever (Apr 30, 2019)

CherylL said:


> Shooting blind do you find yourself leaning one way more than the other?   When I take beach photos with the Sony RX100iv it is too bright to use the screen.  Yes it does have a pop up viewfinder that I forget about.  I find all of the photos lean a tad to the right.  With digital it is easy to straighten/crop in post and not worry too much about leveling.  The video I try to keep even and steady, but still crop straighten which video can be zoomed 10% without loosing too much sharpness.


They do sell one and two way bubble levels for hot shoe...


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## CherylL (Apr 30, 2019)

This was with the Canon at f4.5 and zone focus.  I held the camera low by my knees.  No cropping or straightening.




Who is out there? by Cheryl, on Flickr


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## Original katomi (Apr 30, 2019)

jcdeboever said:


> Some interesting images up to this point. Lets go out on a limb and get a little more creative. Ok, so we know we can shoot wide and crop. Lets dial it in and see our vision. I set out on vacation to shoot a short roll. I had the advantage of knowing I was going to present this as Peg approved it. I just developed the roll tonight. Lets discuss (not my short roll ) if there are any advantages to this process. For me, its about getting the shot. Why not practise some to get better at it. Questions I have? Are there advantages? When to do it and why?



yes for me there would be advantages one of my subjects is street photography, I pre set the camera and up date the light reading every so often that way I can point and shoot as some of the tings I see often leave no time for framing


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## Tropicalmemories (Apr 30, 2019)

Holding my Fuji X-T2 out at arms length from a balcony and pointing the lens at my 'model'.

When I heard the auto-focus beep, pressed the shutter.  Only tried it once as I was worried I'd drop the camera!


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## Fred von den Berg (May 1, 2019)




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## jcdeboever (May 1, 2019)

Working on the road, Monday. Nothing done, got lucky. Need a better scanning method, this Epson V800 is horrible with 135 film. Nikon Lite Touch AF600. Kodak Tmax 100, HC110B.


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## jcdeboever (May 1, 2019)

Untouched. I took this in Florida about a week ago but I knew I was doing this challenge so I took a few. Nikon Lite Touch AF600. Kodak Tmax 100, HC110 B.


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## jcdeboever (May 1, 2019)

Slight crop. Nikon F, 43-86, Lomography Earl Gray 400, HC110B. Definitely had the motion blur and zone set wrong but it was all of a sudden.


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## Fred von den Berg (May 1, 2019)




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## gk fotografie (May 1, 2019)

Well, I didn't know koi carp were swimming in that pond and suddenly this whopper came up. So, wasn't prepared for something like this at all. Camera over the shoulder, of course no pola filter, because who thinks he will come across something like this koi fish, it happened a bit too quick for me. Fighting with the strap of my camera, I tried to bend slightly forward and kept the camera in the right direction, before I could take more than 2 (fast) photos, this yellow monster had already disappeared. But, in the end you're left with 2 images that go into the archives to never return again, so I tried a combination of both photos and by mirroring one it looks like it's about 2 koi carp while it's just the same fish.

View attachment 172399

(the originals, unfortunately no Pola filter with me to get rid of the reflection) 
View attachment 172398


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## Original katomi (May 1, 2019)

The sort of situation where you think oh crop


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## Fred von den Berg (May 1, 2019)




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## paigew (May 1, 2019)

I had fun with this. I chose to use my widest lens...16-35 (shot at 16mm and f5.6) I wore my camera hanging at my hip on my black rapid strap so the only thing I did with these was flip them around right-side up...no cropping! I wish I had time to use a longer lens to get more of a challenge but I enjoyed this.

1



CK8A8167.jpg 

2



CK8A8170.jpg 

3



CK8A8178.jpg 
4



CK8A8180.jpg 

5



CK8A8199.jpg


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## fishing4sanity (May 1, 2019)

My only attempt at this week's challenge, my two year-old grandson. In my defense shooting blind is tough enough, add in a rambunctious kid (as evidenced by the battle scars on his forehead) and it might be easier to get clear shots of bigfoot.


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## Fred von den Berg (May 2, 2019)

This challenge took me out of my comfort zone today when I tried my hand at some street shots:

























All have had some editing: B&W conversion, and trimming and cropping, etc.


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## waday (May 2, 2019)

Didn’t stop, just kept walking. Made it a little blurry... oh well!

Edited:



From the hip by Wade, on Flickr

SOOC:



From the hip-SOOC by Wade, on Flickr


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## photoflyer (May 2, 2019)

Fred von den Berg said:


> View attachment 172400



I wonder which way she went...


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## Fred von den Berg (May 2, 2019)

photoflyer said:


> Fred von den Berg said:
> 
> 
> > View attachment 172400
> ...



I purposely didn't look bak again so that it would remain a mystery...


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## Fred von den Berg (May 2, 2019)

This challenge has been like going back to school...



 

and has opened new doors and put a different view on things for me...



 

I've had loads of fun and learnt a lot.


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## Fred von den Berg (May 3, 2019)

I missed this shot completely...


 
but even a* bum* shot has its charm!


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## CherylL (May 3, 2019)

Fred von den Berg said:


> This challenge has been like going back to school...
> 
> View attachment 172471
> 
> ...



Love the 2nd one.


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## johngpt (May 3, 2019)

Fred von den Berg said:


> I missed this shot completely...
> View attachment 172526
> but even a* bum* shot has its charm!


Wouldn't it depend upon whose bum has been photographed?


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## johngpt (May 3, 2019)

Fred von den Berg said:


> I missed this shot completely...
> View attachment 172526
> but even a* bum* shot has its charm!


Actually Fred, I think you caught it in an interesting manner.


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## Fred von den Berg (May 4, 2019)

CherylL said:


> Fred von den Berg said:
> 
> 
> > This challenge has been like going back to school...
> ...



Thanks, Cheryl. 

Bit of a story to this shot: It's really only half blind I suppose. What I mean is, I took a couple of test shots (blind, of course) with the camera in full auto for one and in P mode for the other with the ISO set at 200 and using spot metering. Then I went in through the door on the right and asked Hans (that's the gent's name) to assist me for the final shot. We set the scene with Hans looking out the window (he chose his position himself and I asked him to stand at the angle he has in relation to the window). Then I set the camera for the P mode variant and took up a position in the corridor where I figured both doors would be in the frame and shot blind, holding the camera for a portrait shot somewhere about stomach/sternum level.


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## Fred von den Berg (May 4, 2019)

johngpt said:


> Fred von den Berg said:
> 
> 
> > I missed this shot completely...
> ...



Thanks, John. I played around with this for ages, cropping it this way and that and also straightening it. However, I just couldn't find what I wanted, so in the end I decided to do a little tidying up around the edges by using a 3x5 crop and to leave the heavy slanting alone: the impression I get is that the guy with the _builder's bottom_ has caused the seat to fly up as he sat down


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## snowbear (May 5, 2019)

Display case outside the Office of the Fire Chief.
White balance set and boosted exposure a bit.



DSC_2544.jpg by Snowbear Photography, on Flickr


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## Fred von den Berg (May 6, 2019)

A fellow photographer from the hip as we exchanged good-mornings.


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