1 Shot Yashica Mat 124 G

I saw to many pictures of poor beggars and I was one of those despicable

shooters which show their miseries when them are prostrated on the ground. I

swear once, not to photograph them any more in my life.

 

Looking yesterday for all pictures, I found this one of a gipsy old woman

waiting to the end of the mass to ask for alms to the people at a Salamanca

church door. Her eye-catching dress captivated me at once.<div></div>

Detail.

 

The advantage of using cameras like Rolleiflexes is that with a bit of practise, nobody is conscious of been photographed. She didn`t look to the camera because I pretended never looked at her or maybe because she ignored me.<div></div>

Nice photo Luis,You need to quit flirting with the local women when you are suppose to be taking photos. :)

I don't think she ignored you at all . It's not the dress that should have caught your eye but her malevolent look which appears to be saying " Don't take my picture". I think you should have stayed with your original commitment.

Yeah, I saw the eyes too. Cut right through you!

 

The nice thing about a TLR is that most have a "Sports Finder" and you can simply zone focus and just swing it around here and there at eyelevel. When used at belt length, most people won't see it either. I like to keep the strap long enough so the top of the hood is a belt length and I push down on the camera a bit, braced next to my body, and doing that I become a tripod. Try it.

 

I pulled out my Yashica 635 earlier today to get it set up to use.

 

Very fine photo!

Luis, her clothing doesn't look very shabby. It is difficult to tell whether a photo is an invasion of privacy. When I am shooting buildings, I assume they are just props, and most people know that it is the building you are interested in. When I was in vietnam, when I took out my camera, about half a dozen people would jump in front of me to pose. The photo is a good portrait. I'll bet a small alm would have produced a smile.

No Luis , she didn't ignore you, she's in fact looking staight at you when you tripped the shutter.

 

Nice shot , nevertheless . Keep em shots comin , thanks for sharing. Cheers ! PC

Michael,

 

Ah! You naughty boy.

Robert, Todd and Paul,

 

 

That is what a thought at the firs instance, but no: She didn`t look at the camera not at me either.

 

Thanks for posting!<div></div>

Kerry,

 

You guessed. After the picture I helped with an aim and she smiled to me. But this time I didn`t try another shoot. In fact, I did pay only for one:-)

There is a tricky way to use TLR for snapshot:

Set the aperture to f5.6 (which I used to), pre-set the distance. Pretend looking around and searching for something (with body movement). Hold the TLR as normal without open the top and release the shutter when you are ready.

 

 

The lady is looking at you, Luis. However, it is luck that the lady don't come to you and beat you/ shout at you. I have been beaten by an old man with a rod on his hand. I dropped and broke my Kodak Duaflex. It is a very painful experience although the camera is not expensive.

ANother experience is that, when I shoot an old building with very close distance, the old water pipes broke suddenly and then...of course, I need to have myself and the camera severed.

Old water pipe broke, and an old man with bad temper,

 

your body washed from top to tip, and beaten your head.

 

Being severed is needed, both you and your good partner,

 

but no need to wonder because you are photographing bad luck.

 

 

(I must admit it is not a good poem. But it was what happened.)

ah! ah!

 

sorry:-)

Very good photo, Luis - both forbidding and sad. I can understand what made you decide to stop photographing beggars (I share your feeling of ambivalence about taking such pictures) but, on the other hand, how much of the world would be out of bounds if we only took pictures of happy scenes and people... it's a difficult question.

 

Todd, I keep meaning to dust off my Yashica 635 as well... haven't used it at all lately.

A,

 

Thank you.

 

Possibly you are right. I shot all the s--t and miseries all around the planet when I was younger (apologises by the expression) and I yes, agree that the world must know of those miseries, and if in colour better, and if in 3D a lot more better. In fact there are legions of young photographers waiting for an opportunity to show such a thing.

 

The point was, my conscience wasn`t prepared any more to still taking the check every month for trading with others tragedies. That`s the reason why, after thinking so much about, I considered the retirement of such a job.

 

Last year I visited an exhibition of one of my former colleagues from the Yugoslav war at the beginning of the 90s. Among champagne and beautiful women, sheathed in Chtistian Dior`s dresses and adorned with their best jewels, my friend`s masterpieces hanged from the walls of the gallery with great profusion of human smoking pieces. The red colour dominated mostly of the pictures. It was a big success.

 

Pity, technology hasn`t jet achieve the way of how to produce smelling pictures.

 

I don`t blame my friend. He drives a red Ferrari F 430 Challenge valuated in about 200.000 USD and spends a lot of money in sleeping pills. I also drive a red car, a Wolkswagen GTI MK II from 1989 valuated in about 2.500 USD and don’t spend any money in slipping pills.

 

Hope to see soon pictures taken with the Yashica 635 from you and Todd.

 

Regards.

On my way to work this past week I encountered a couple asleep on the sidewalk. My first thought, from a distance, when I saw only one form on the pavement, was to see if the person needed help. As I approached the form, I watched others pass by as though nothing were wrong. Then I saw the couple asleep in the sun on the sidewalk, with no visible sign of distress, and decided not to disturb them. However, I did take a few steps back and photographed them. I can understand why you would not want to exploit a person's condition for the sake of a picture--a trophy. I will post the picture in a day or two when I make a print. I guess I wanted to convey the confusion, or tension, I felt when I first saw the figures on the ground in a place you would not normally expect to see someone. What's going on here, you ask yourself.

Nice shot. Luis. I also own the Mat 124 G.

Ciao.

You don't need to be shy to take a photo in the open.

 

Fine capture, Luis! Amazing details (in spite of the scanner)!

"Last year I visited an exhibition of one of my former colleagues from the Yugoslav war at the beginning of the 90s.

 

Pity, technology hasn`t jet achieve the way of how to produce smelling pictures."

 

Amen. Fantastic comment.

 

I was involved in that in '95. I was in Haiti in '93. I was in a lot of awful places before and in between.

 

I think if pictures could capture the smells people would understand the horror in an image and not elevate a photograph to art when the art is paid for by another person's misery. It is important to document such things, or how else can the world know? Such pictures are tremendously important. But to value such a photograph for the image itself while ignoring why the image is taken is cruel and I think a little evil in itself. Maybe to say it is evil is too harsh. Shallow is a better word. Just as to visit the Sistine Chapel only to say "That Michaelangelo. What a painter!" misses the point of the imagery entirely. Certainly not the same thing, but an example even if it is a poor one.

 

You are a fine example of what photography can do in the right hands, Luis. God bless. A person's soul cannot drive a Ferrari.

Vincenzo,

 

Thanks Vincenzo. When are you show as pictures taken with your Yashica? I have not mine any more. In fact I have not any half format today.

Thank you Vivek. The scanner is not bad at 2400. I here that scanning at more than 2400 ppp that is not any good.

 

Do you know something about?

John,

 

Very kind words. I fill obliged.

Bill,

 

We are waiting for that picture. Thanks for posting.