Is she photographing me?

The Lunchtime Sprint

Ricoh GRD 2

Just chilling out

Pentax K10D and Sigma 10-20mm lens

Rain Mud and High Heels.

Family

Sometimes the problem with shooting wide angle candids with a DSLR is people see you coming and strike the pose. In my book its still candid (An honest portrayal)
Pentax DSLR and Sigma 10-20mm lens

Halloween Couple

Not very Halloween. I was trying the Bruce Gilden technique of walking up to strangers and firing a flash in their face. It's not a technique I feel comfortable with but this guy saw me coming and looked OK about it. Shot was taken at about 7-30 pm outside a pub on Halloween evening at Avebury Stones.
Pentax DSLR with Sigma 10-20mm lens. Vivitar 283 flash in my left hand.

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Ricoh GRD 2 800 iso f2.4. Camera JPEG BW conversion in Photoshop

Available light only, and not a lot of it. I think this is a good example why cameras like the GRD are great tools. This is a shot that could have been done with a DSLR but the subject and shop owner would have heard the shutter go off and may have objected (I had a Pentax on my shoulder). I have no real problem with that but just maybe I want to take other shots in that shop. Also on a technical level an aperture of f2.4 with the DSLR would have required carefull focus, to get any real DOF or leeway to focus with the lens scale even with a WA lens it would have required f4 and then the iso is going up to 2400. Why do it the hard way when there is a better option.

I want to elaborate on a reply to a comment I have just posted.
A compact digital is never going to be as good as any DSLR for general photography.
The SLR design, now the DSLR has been the Jack of all trades tool for 50 years. But it isn’t perfect. It actually has many drawbacks and a few great photographers wouldn’t give one a second glance.
The disadvantages and limitations of a DSLR can often be overcome with a compact camera and that alone makes it worthwhile having one.
I don’t see any digital compact ( I refuse to call them point and shoot) as a replacement for my DSLR –YET. I also don’t see my photographic tools complete without one. I would never go out without a compact in my kit, I have had compacts alongside my SLRs since the 1970s.

( I still occasional put a film through my Ricoh 500G and Olymus XA)
The Ricoh GRD is a bit of an oddball in today’s world. The best description I have read about is
‘A razor blade in a world of Swiss Army knives’
IMO the GRD has so many limitations it makes your photography almost instinctive. About the last thing you worry about is what the camera is doing and that frees you to take photos.
Who needs a zoom lens when you can step forward, who needs anything more than a WA when longer FLs don’t give you the impact of WA, If the lens on the GRD can’t get the photo I seriously consider if the scene is worth bothering with.
The manual controls on the GRD are the best of any digital compact and better than most DSLRs. Again control isn’t something you have to consider, just get on with taking the photo and all this fits in any spare pocket you have.
Another good description of the GRD I have read was.
'It's like an extension to your finger tip.'
I would go further and say it's an extension to your eye. See it photography it. No problem.
This year my good friend swapped his Canon 5D in for a Leica M8. I have had the pleasure of going on shoots with him and using the M8 and would say without doubt I would be very happy to do without a DSLR.
I believe in the next couple of years we are going to see some exciting compacts along the lines of the New Panasonic and Olympus 4/3 sensor offerings. With luck we may see a Leica type model with a quiet shutter a good optical viewfinder and the image quality we are used to seeing from today APS sized sensors. When that happens I will be happy to have an old DSLR or cheap new one as a second camera.