Clay Pidgeon Shooting - with a Leica

[erl]

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Clay Pidgeon Shooting - with a Leica - (400 words, alert shy readers)

Probably I should say, “Clay People Shooting”, because that is what I am really on about. I draw a parallel between the two in that in both scenarios the shooter is looking for a target that initially does not exist.
In the case of the ‘clay’ shooter, they can call for a target on demand, whereas the ‘people’ shooter relies mainly on happenstance. Recently I took my Leica R8 into the city (Melbourne, Aust.) And shot a roll of Delta 400 in just under an hour. Now that I have processed and scanned the film, I have come to the conclusion that the R8 is a faster ‘street’ camera than any of my Leica M’s. In both cases, with or without winders.
Primarily I attribute this to the focusing method each camera employs. Both are manual focus, which is my preferred style, but the R8 has focus across the entire screen, whereas the M’s can only focus using the central patch which demands the photographer to constantly move between focus and compose.
I have been an M shooter for many years and acknowledge its superiority in many ways. Only recently, with the pending failure of the light meter in my R8, I have been testing it for a workaround to the problem, that I have to accept, for me, it is a faster street shooter than my M’s. Of course speed is worthless unless you actually hit the target.

From the roll of 36 that I shot recently with the R8, I got 22 ‘hits’. ie. Shots that are sharp, on target and conform to my intention. From those 22 I have distilled down to 6 that I will present here. That leaves 16 that I could call my ‘Clay People’. Hits that leave no useable end, as in Clay Pidgeon shooting.

This brings me to ponder, how much of Street Shooting is really clay? I suggest that the majority of street probably is. Using my experience as example, I constantly test myself to shoot, not from the hip, but from the face to see how successful I can be so that when the real occasion happens, I am up to speed. This probably puts the bulk of my stuff in the clay bin. I wonder how many of us differentiate between ‘clay’ and ‘people’?

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[bobtodrick]

Dang, and I thought it was going to be about my other hobby.

I've been a skeet and trap shooter for 30 years now.

[erl]

29 minutes ago, bobtodrick said:

Dang, and I thought it was going to be about my other hobby.

I've been a skeet and trap shooter for 30 years now.

Sorry to disappoint!

[gbealnz]

They're good Erl, very. The 80mm lens?

[erl]

Yes. What else? 😇 My favourite combo. 

[bobtodrick]

10 hours ago, erl said:

Sorry to disappoint!

No disappoint at all…wonderful photos.  I admire good street photography, something I’ve tried but am just no good at.