TECHNIQUE CHALLENGE 28 - shooting blind

July 11th, 2014
As a bit of background for those new to this challenge, the host selects a specific technique to try. The technique may be brand new for some or just a challenge to be creative or practice for others. Previous techniques have covered quite a bit of ground:

1. Low key
2. Motion blur
3. Split toning
4. Flipped reflections
5. Long exposure
6. Professional looking portraits
7. Mini portraits
8. Rim lighting
9. High/fast shutter speed
10. Vintage in modern
11. Double/multiple exposure
12. Forced perspective
13. Zoom burst
14. Multiplicity
15. Panning photography
16. ICM
17. Shaped bokeh
18. B&W
19. High key
20. In the night
21. One-light lighting
22. Refractions
23. Selective color
24. Tilt-shift
25. Into the sun/flare photography
26. white background
27. macro photography

As you can see, the possibilities are endless! It could even be specific techniques in processing. The host is the photographer who won the last challenge. I’m thrilled to have won the last challenge and thanks to all of you who voted for my image from among all of the lovely entries. So………the next challenge is:

Technique challenge 28 = shooting blind

Also called 'shooting from the hip', this technique is often used to surreptitiously take photos in street photography. Press photographers often hold their cameras above their heads when they are trying to get a shot over a crowd of people.

There aren't many streets around here, and to be honest, those that there are aren't exactly bustling with life and interesting goings-on, but I went through a spell earlier this year where I took a lot of photographs without looking through the viewfinder, mostly from very low angles. It is a great way of making you think about looking for new viewpoints and the effect on perspective of taking shots from different angles. You start to see things in a different way, and I find the distortion that you get quite interesting.

This is the sort of thing I was doing:







but equally valid will be shots of any subject taken from above your head, or from anywhere where you aren't looking through the viewfinder.

Obviously, you do miss a few shots when you do this, but it is amazing how quickly you 'get your eye in' and end up with more hits than misses, and some interesting results.

I found using my camera's onboard flash very useful to give a bit of fill-in flash, and a wide angle and smallish aperture boost your chances of getting the subject in the frame and getting it in focus. Good results can be got regardless of the type of camera you use be it DSLR, P&S or phone camera.

For inspiration and advice here are a few articles about shooting blind and shooting from the hip:

digital journal - learning to shoot blind

oopoomoo - shooting blind for better action portraits of dogs

adventurafrica - shooting blind, or not shooting at all

Eric Kim - how to shoot from the hip

This challenge starts Saturday, July 12th and will finish Sunday July 27th . Photos for the challenge should be shot and posted within that time frame. Please tag your photos technique28. Voting will begin on July 28th and the winner announced on July 31st. I hope you have fun with this challenge whether you are shooting from down low, from the hip, or way up high - just remember, no peeping through that viewfinder (or LCD screen for that matter!)

Constructive & kind feedback is encouraged. Feel free to share tips, suggestions or how you were able to get the terrific photo you did. Posting your photo on this thread is encouraged but not required.

To post a photo on this thread:
1) Go to your page that has the photo you would like to post.
2) Click on the three dots just below the bottom right of your picture. Find the 'Embed Code' box and right click on it to copy it then paste it in this thread.

I hope you have fun trying this technique and look forward to seeing your photos.
July 12th, 2014
Oh, those are fabulous. I can't wait to try that.
July 12th, 2014
i have a flip out screen on my camera, but I will make a point of not using it sometimes this week, great idea for a challenge
July 12th, 2014
@jantan Jan you need to use the 'how can I format my post' options, use the top one and paste your link into the phrase between the speech marks, you can replace the word link with whatever you choose
July 12th, 2014
to clarify you need to replace the word URL with your link
July 12th, 2014
Great idea for a challenge! This will be fun! And congrats on your win!
July 12th, 2014
@kali66 Thanks for the info Kali, it took me a few attempts, but I got it sorted out in the end, and thanks to your directing me to the "how do I format....." link my posts are now going to be full of italics, crossings-out and bold. I've always wondered how people did that!
July 13th, 2014
Harder than I thought it would be to get a decent shot. I would have liked to have gotten the rest of that limb to the right.
July 14th, 2014

Shooting over the fence....I was barely tall enough to get my camera above the fence! LOL!
July 14th, 2014
Camera in lap.
July 21st, 2014
Might just give this a go. Perfect for my pushed challenge this week too which is street candids of people.
July 21st, 2014
Totally forgot about this one, glad that we still have time. I'll try to get something in.
July 23rd, 2014
I took a whole series of shots. This was the best balanced shot. I think I would have preferred a little more of the horizon showing but I'm pleased with the way it turned out.
July 23rd, 2014
This is our 2nd dog Marley. He was laying in the grass so I put my camera literally on the ground as well. I had been in our yard taking a bunch of pictures specifically for this challenge. By this time I took this picture I had found that having the camera on the solid ground helped me to have a reference point and a guide to capture what I wanted to without being able to see it. This was the best picture by far out of the ones that I took.
July 23rd, 2014
I had to hold my camera down pretty low to take this photo. I knew what I wanted to do but felt too self conscious to lie down on the floor! Therefore I did it blind.. It took a few bad shots before I got the one I wanted.

July 23rd, 2014
July 23rd, 2014
Headed to the new dog park!
July 24th, 2014

Camera down low, near ground, while sitting down. I didn't want her to know I was taking her picture! This is the first contest I've entered, so I hope I've done everything correctly.
July 24th, 2014


I was sitting on a bench with the camera in my lap.
July 24th, 2014
I quite like just pointing and clicking, and not looking at what I am taking. I took this shot today. I didn't want to get down on the ground to take teh shot so I just squatted down pointed the camera up and this is what came of it :-)
July 25th, 2014
One from me

I'm more amused that I got a couple of actors going into the Globe for the show I was about to see ... when I looked through the photos I recognised this guy - Jonathan Bonnici and I am pretty sure the other guy was also performing, just can't tell if it's Satya Bhabha or John Hopkins or a couple of other people from this shot.
July 25th, 2014
@jantan Hi Jan, here's one blind shot with ICM taken from the window of a moving car :)
July 27th, 2014


This is really the first time I have officially attempted to shoot without the viewfinder. Read some of Thomas Leutard writings, and gained some confidence. Awesome challenge!
July 27th, 2014


Here's another try.
July 28th, 2014
My apologies for a late entry! I forgot all about the challenge (for the second time!) but saw this scene today and remembered. No matter if it's too late :)



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