Chimping reaches epic and epidemic proportions!

At last, some actual debate!

On Feb 3, 10:50 pm, Rita Ä Berkowitz ritaberk2O04 @aol.com wrote:
wrote:
And at the risk of repeating myself (I love crosspostings too, but at
least I'm going to reword my answer - wouldn't want to plagiarise
myself...), here are some reasons why you might wanna chimp - namely
anytime you are unsure about framing/focus-/exposure-accuracy, etc:

And how many times does it take one to get this right? I like to chimping (sic)
too, but anything past two chimps and you are caught playing with yourself.

Oh, so one look is ok, but more than one isn't..

- when shooting overhead (eg a crowd of other photographers)
Know your equipment! Your gear should be an extension of your body and
mind. I take it you never shot handguns before either?

I gave an example of being in a crowd - so you can ccurately shoot
with your hands over your head while being jostled? I'd love to do a
shoot out and compare results. As for me, I'm fussy about my framing
and composition, and I would imagine as a pj that might still
apply... A small error of angle can make a large difference. Ever
shot telephoto over your head, Rita? Would you trust your results
blindly, or just shoot lots of images..?

- when shooting 'through' a crowd, when there is the risk of an arm or
other obstruction whipping across the shot at the crucial moment

Rapid fire or multiple shots, within reason, eliminates this.
It can only eliminate it by blind luck. We have different
approaches. I would prefer a quick look, and as most cameras can be
set to do a very quick review display, little time is lost and there
is less wasted time and effort.

- when shooting discreetly, eg from the hip

Again, know your equipment and become familiar with it. In fairness, a few
more chimps in this rare scenario are acceptable if you are after that money
shot.
So again, you grudgingly agree, and you still haven't addressed
shooting with a tele. I'm impressed by your abilities and faith in
them, but they remain unproven.

- when shooting in competition with other flashguns (other flashes
that fire during the exposure will screw up just about all TTL
systems, not to mention less sophisticated flash metering that doesn't
have a chance in hell)
You haven't shot in manual mode much have you? Most news events such as
this are static events and you are not seeing wide changes in the
environment.
I'm very surprised you didn't understand this problem. Shooting
manual is *irrelevant*. Let me spell it out.

You're shooting with an exposure time of say 1/60 or 1/125. During
that (relatively long) time, your flash fires briefly, at maybe
1/4,000 sec duration. But if this is a large event, or a critical
moment, then during that same 1/125 second, much of which is still
left, several more flashes may occur from others *while your shutter
is open*. Very few metering systems will cope, hence those strangely
overexposed images you often see in the celebrity press. Even at a
news event, you will get pj's who all notice an interesting expression
simultaneously, and the risk of badly exposed shots is very high when
that occurs. I have several shots just from my attendance at family
parties, where I have caught someone else's flash..

You claim experience, yet your information suggests otherwise.

And here's an interesting fact - on a (d)SLR the viewfinder blanks
while the shot is taken (yes, Rita, it's true!)... So if the action
is happening thick and fast, you may have just captured junk that you
*couldn't* see, for any number of reasons including those above.

Oh, I see, it's either subscribe to compulsive chimping or mindlessly blast
off 10,000 shots like another fool does to get a handful of keepers.

Umm, yes. Exaggeration ignored. Both methods may result in a good
shot. I know which I prefer (although both have their place), but any
photographer who ignores tools available to him/her is a fool.


But Rita says those things don't apply to pj-ism... So all pj's
should stop doing this immediately.

For Christ's sake, Jasper, it's a ****en' news briefing where everyone is
sitting down and lighting couldn't be any better.

Why get upset? Yours was a rant against a habit, with no supporting
information or acknowledgement of the full possibilities. Mine
contained some scenarios, some of which you agreed with, one you got
wrong and none of which you managed to deflect very well.

And my name isn't Jasper, Murgatroyd.

Maybe, just maybe, what
little you say could be applied if we were shooting during happy hour in
Baghdad.

Yeah whatever, if it makes you feel like you won. Personally I would
like to debate real, common situations without the hyperbole.

On Sat, 3 Feb 2007 23:01:28 -0500, Rita Ä Berkowitz wrote:

Who's upset? I'm laughing my ass off.

Ah, then you don't chimp, you baboon.