Despair

Your thoughts and comments very welcome.

Dear Ken, I can see your photo has been taken with a fine LEICA V-LUX. In the EXIF details I cannot quite figure out the focal length. But anyway, your photo suddenly reminds me (maybe rather strangely?) of Ken Rockwell’s review some years ago of the ultrawide Nikon 12-24 zoom lens. Among many other details and observations, he wrote, “Most people use ultrawides too sheepishly, and get crummy results with a tiny subject dwarfed in the middle of a blank frame. When I use my 14mm I have to force myself to get closer and to pay rapt attention to the sides of my viewfinder, which too often are blank....The correct way to use an ultrawide is to jam it into whatever you are photographing, which effectively rubs the viewer's nose in your subject. Ultrawides are for jamming into the face of an enraged wino brandishing a feces-covered broken bottle to exaggerate his crazed anger and his crude weapon. Ultrawides are to suck the viewer into the middle of an intimate landscape or situation.” Well, that was Ken Rockwell. I can assure you that I am still working at getting the necessary courage to get sufficiently close to my subjects in the streets. Feces-covered broken bottles in their hands or not... ;-)

Kind regards, Philip

Hi Philip, thank you for your comprehensive and interesting comment. I shot this with a focal length of 103 mm, 284 mm(35mm equiv) plus a small amount of cropping, so I wasn't too close to the subject. I understand your concerns and I fined the Leica with it's 24-400 mm gives me the option of being as close as I feel comfortable to any street subject. When taking this shot the guy and two of his friends became interested in my presence so I took the shot and walked on before any confrontation. So Philip stay safe, best regards Ken.