San Francisco Meetup Photos July 8, 2005 11:57 PM   Subscribe

Photos of last night's San Francisco meetup.
posted by DaShiv to MetaFilter Gatherings at 11:57 PM (27 comments total)

Sorry everyone, just a small batch this time as I'm somewhat preoccupied by other obligations, plus I also don't feel that these photos came out as well as my previous ones. It's a shame, since we had a great (borderline chaos) turnout to meet #1 (about 15-25ish). However, I only stayed about an hour or so before heading out to the Flickr meetup, so I didn't grab too many shots or even get much of a chance to match names to faces. I'm a little short on time right now so I'm leaving the captioning to the rest of you -- feel free to leave names if you know them and snarks if you don't. My apologies to those of you (and there are lots) who made it out but didn't get included here.

Also included: a previous photo of Andrew Cooke that didn't get me punched in nose to take, and a handful of grab shots from the Flickr meetup as well.
posted by DaShiv at 11:59 PM on July 8, 2005


Thanks DaShiv. I'm only mildly disappointed that I'm not pictured in the Booth Of Destiny, but it's a shame you left before kirkaracha arrived.
posted by cali at 12:27 AM on July 9, 2005


cool DaShiv, I hope my pics of tonight's [technically, tonight, it IS after midnight] meetup in Denver turn out half as good!
posted by kamylyon at 12:41 AM on July 9, 2005


Beautiful photographs, as always.
posted by interrobang at 1:18 AM on July 9, 2005


Kirk showed up?! Crap, I missed him.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:14 AM on July 9, 2005


Great photos. Can you come out to the London meetup and take our photos? ;)
posted by grouse at 4:24 AM on July 9, 2005


Bob, were these photos taken with the rangefinder you passed around at other meetups? Is it a Leica?
posted by planetkyoto at 6:23 AM on July 9, 2005


I really like this photo. I wish I had a photo like that one of everyone I know, in the sense of delightfully capturing some sense of the person's personality.

I have a question for those of you who are photographers. I'm going on an annual family vacation next week, and I'll be taking along my (decent) digital camera. I always take the camera but rarely end up taking many photographs because "being the photographer" seems very artificial and, anyway, I'd like to be interacting with people and be there instead of spectatoring as a photographer. Is there any way to somehow resolve this dilemma? I'm sure it's a problem for a lot of casual photographers who want to capture moments of important personal events.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:12 AM on July 9, 2005


we discussed that ("being the photographer") when i was there. one solution seems to be - "live with it". although perhaps that's more the answer to "am i being a jerk sticking this camera in people's faces?" (which is my take on "being artificial", i guess). your question about interacting or being the photographer seems a bit of a false dichotomy, in my opinion, based on your guilt at invading other people's spaces (since you feel bad about it you introduce a false distinction to distance yourself from what you are doing).
posted by andrew cooke at 7:23 AM on July 9, 2005


Divine_Wino and I had a mini-meetup of sorts in New York. Consider this a hello from the east coast.
posted by jonmc at 7:27 AM on July 9, 2005


EB, when it that position (it happens frequently) I tend towards the "live with it" method. Embrace it, even.

If you want good portraits sneaking the camera up from under the table and firing off a few shots isn't going to get it. There really isn't a subtle way to compose a portrait, they're going to notice. I've also found that after a bit of time people stop paying attention, so don't put too much effort into the first dozen or so shots in any setting. They *will* be artificial because your subjects are conscious of the camera. However, after some time (alcohol helps) they'll start to ignore you and the resulting portraits will have the candid look you want.

My family and friends are so used to it they have come to view the camera as an extension of my hands and ignore me entirely -- not that they wouldn't ignore me anyway.
posted by cedar at 7:43 AM on July 9, 2005


gorgeous pics--i think these are even better than your last bunch. Looks like it was fun.
posted by amberglow at 8:20 AM on July 9, 2005


a master of depth of field.
posted by crunchland at 9:05 AM on July 9, 2005


Sorry, I was planning on making it but I've got the flu and didn't want to share.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:11 AM on July 9, 2005


So you're all migrants from Indiana?

(We're witty in KY, ain't we.)
posted by davy at 12:26 PM on July 9, 2005


Maybe you could label them with the people's names?
posted by davy at 12:28 PM on July 9, 2005


Thank for the comments, everyone.

EB: That one is my favorite too, because it's so uncompromisingly candid. At the time, I was actually answering someone's question about one of my lenses, so I scanned the crowd for a demonstration subject and snapped as soon as I saw the shot come together. There was quite a bit of serendipity involved, and it's also the kind of shot that can get the photographer punched in the nose, depending on the subject.

planetkyoto: Most of the shots were with the Canon 20D and 85/1.2L, but #13, 15, and 16 were with the Epson R-D1 and Leica 35/1.4 ASPH. #13 and 16 were quick approximate-focus grab shots, but #15 was carefully posed, focused, and shot (not by me), and the full-size file is stunning. The R-D1 is actually going up on the chopping block very soon to pay for rent, if anyone's interested. Email's in my profile.

davy: I didn't get a chance to take everyone's names like I normally do. Sorry.
posted by DaShiv at 12:51 PM on July 9, 2005


Leica 35/1.4 ASPH

*makes mental note to fly to SF for the next meetup, spike DaShiv's drink, steal his camera*
posted by matteo at 1:40 PM on July 9, 2005


So who punched you, dashiv? Heather or Derek?
posted by crunchland at 2:27 PM on July 9, 2005


Very nice photos
posted by Chimp at 9:49 PM on July 9, 2005


I'm not always dressed like such a stuffed shirt, btw.

Next time it'd be nice if some of y'all would come introduce yourselves; I ran out of gas before penetrating the deeply ensconsed booth cabal. But you didn't look like you were having as much fun as I was anyway.

Also next time: the dude who brought 8 sharpies should bring some NAMETAGS. Yo.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:23 PM on July 9, 2005


Incredible DaShiv! I am in awe of your photo skills!
posted by jasper411 at 10:47 PM on July 9, 2005


dashiv, I saw the AskMe question. Then I saw the shots. You're GOOD.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:32 AM on July 10, 2005


PS: sometimes I hate being at the arse-end of the world.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:32 AM on July 10, 2005


Yeah, me too.
posted by dg at 4:45 PM on July 10, 2005


welll, we'll fly dashiv here for a meetup, and then send him on to you guys, ok?
posted by amberglow at 5:46 PM on July 10, 2005


Cool pics.

Sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I couldn't hear, and the layout made mingling nearly impossible.
posted by QIbHom at 4:42 PM on July 14, 2005


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