An old gallery converted to B&W

[Olegis]

I think that these look much better in B&W :

http://www.pbase.com/olegis/free_zone&page=all

[delhi]

interesting people pix. Do you have any trouble taking pictures of random people in the public? I'm trying to take street scapes with people in it, but am afraid of offending people.

[Geeeyejo]

Fantastic shots - I believe at special events cameras are expected and most folks are more prone to accept having their pic taken (versus just approaching them on the street!)

[Olegis]

Thanks delhi and Geeeyejo !
As Geeeyejo said - at such events there are quite a number of people wandering around with cameras, so it's pretty common and acceptable. In addition, my Minolta 7i was pretty small and unobtrusive camera with relativelo long zoom (200mm) - those cameras are the best for shooting candids ! The only problem with it was its AF speed and accuracy - very slow and unreliable.

[delhi]

an event, yes it is understandable. But lets say u're walking around the streets and you want to take some spontaneous shots? BTW, I do this with my A95 instead of my SLR. I figured it's less, obvious.

[karusel]

Very nice gallery, I'm very fond of true life people photos. I used to shoot them with a 10D (with a grip) and 100-400L. Yes, very obtrusive. But I usually have at least a couple of seconds before I get noticed.

Someone suggested a use of wide angle and learning how to shoot from your hip. Yup, not even looking through the viewfinder. Then I've read the same thing in a book... now I've gotta do it. :D

[Olegis]

Thanks karusel ;)
I tried the techique you're talking about a couple of times - sometimes it really works. Here is an example of such a shot, made from the hip with my Sigma 15-30 :

http://www.pbase.com/olegis/image/30603720