Hip Shot in the Market

I have really gone through a rebirth in my photography, especially in the last month or so. I have heard folks say, “Well, of course I cannot carry around the big, clunky SLR camera everywhere, so I just take the compact camera.” Once I had heard that enough times, I started believing that the SLR is not worth taking out for everyday shots.

Sometime earlier this month, I finally said “fooey!” to those thoughts and actually started carrying the camera around with me, pretty much everywhere I go. I have gotten some funny looks, but I have also gotten some great photographs. Here is a photograph that never would have happened had I not just had the camera on hand while waiting for my wife in the market.


Hip Shot in the Market

I actually was playing with shooting a hip shot—holding it at hip level to not distract those in front of the camera—and focusing only using the physical dial reading on the outside of my camera lens. So, quite understandably, this shot does not have a sharp focus, but I still like it.

I have found some really vibrant colors in the market, and love taking shots there. The only problem is that I have to open my f/stop wide open to get any kind of decent speed, as you can see from the cigarette in this photo. And the wide open f/stop (either f/1.4 or f/1.8) makes focusing with just a guess as to distance pretty rough, to say the least.

Cooper Strange Written by: