Elsbeth, SXSW 2024 – Austin, Texas

I was leaving the Rainey Street District, crossing Cesar Chavez Street, when I made my best from the hip shot so far. I used the Tamron 17-28mm f2.8 set to 28mm. Though this is a zoom lens, I could set it to a classic street photography focal length.

While I’ve experimented with shooting from the hip, photography from the waist, and estimating composition, I don’t do it often. Last year, I tried my luck with a compact 24mm equivalent lens. But I prefer a 28mm. It’s still wide but with less distortion and better framing on the street.

Photographers often zone focus, presetting focus to a particular range, say 5 to 10 feet away, with this kind of street photography. I took a more high-tech approach with the Sony since it has good face tracking. I increased the aperture slightly to f4.5 and selected a people-tracking mode.

What I especially like in this photo is that everyone is unaware I took the shot. It’s an utterly candid photograph.

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