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Well, my time in Buenos Aires is drawing to a close. I won’t be able to share any pictures from the assignment with you until National Geographic Traveler publishes the story (in February, I think). In the meantime, I have to share these behind the scenes shots.
The shot on the left was taken at the Feria de Mataderos, a street fair on the fringes of Buenos Aires. I was shooting the street dancing when a local lady grabbed me and pulled me out to dance. It’s a quick little two-step, called a zamba, that I was able to figure out fast, so I was able to keep up. It’s always a good idea to join in the fun, at least for a little while, to break the ice with the locals.
A couple of guys in gaucho getup came up to me after this number and called me “Meeester Fred Ah-Stare!” We had a good laugh and then they let me photograph them doing their thing during the rest of the afternoon. In fact, I got nods and smiles from many of the locals after my little two-step. There weren’t many foreign tourists at this event and I guess I stood out.
But being willing to make a bit of a fool of yourself is often a way to endear yourself to the locals and a great way to get some pictures…works for me at least!
The other picture, with the tango dancer Claudia in Caminito de Boca?
Well, there’s no photo lesson there. Claudia and her dance partner were modeling for me, and I just wanted a picture with a pretty young dancer to keep Peggy guessing. Yes, we’ve been married 35 years, but she shouldn’t get too overconfident.
Actually, Bernardo said it looked more like a beautiful dancer sitting on Santa Claus’s lap than a sexy tango pose. Maybe that’s why Peggy is so confident….
So, when it comes to dancing, I ain’t quitting my day (and night) job…but I am entertaining several offers of seasonal employment from department stores and shopping malls!
Michael Tissington
16 Oct 2009Fantastic … can’t wait to see NG
arun
17 Oct 2009Wow Mr. Dancing feet. We would love to see video of that.
mk
17 Oct 2009Joe McNally, I imagine, will be duly envious of that last shot!
mike
17 Oct 2009wow bob….shaking a leg as they say here in the south. i hear you
Mike Morse
18 Oct 2009Bob: I enjoy your blog. Don’t know how you have time to do it all. Should have known it was your D90 in your left hand because of the remote shutter release in your right hand. I am setting up my menu items for my D300s and I don’t know what to do about the AE/AF lock button. From my limited understanding of it in the user’s manual, it should be used only if in center weighted or spot metering and not in matrix. For some reason I thought when you fixed your focus on an object by holding the shutter 1/2 way down and then recomposed the photo, your exposure was also fixed. No wonder some of my photos came out under or over exposed. It goes on to say that matrix is used for most situations and that AE lock won’t work well in that mode. Can you point me to a book, article, etc that explains this? For example the photo of you with Claudia would probably be shot with matrix metering with the focus point on you two. If you and Claudia were ten feet in front of where you are and on the left side of the frame, it would seem better to use center weighted metering on you two to avoid underexposing you. Wouldn’t the matrix metering give more weight to the bright background? I shoot more in Aperture priority.
I am sure this is photo 101 but I am confused. thanks
Bob
18 Oct 2009Mike: I’m not sure exactly what you’re saying. I use Matrix all the time, and I know that Nikon says you shouldn’t second guess Matrix (by locking in an exposure before you recompose, for instance) but I do it anyway. I think you’d have to provide some sample images for me to give this an intelligent answer. Bob
Mike Morse
18 Oct 2009Bob: You should be a teacher. Poor question, good answer. Is there a way to program the AE/AF button to do both exposure and focus or do you have to hold the button and press the shutter to get that. thanks again. Mike
Bob
19 Oct 2009Mike: Yes, I think so. I’m in a huge deadline jam for preparing a talk for tomorrow night, otherwise I would try to find it for you but it’s in the Controls custom menu. You can assign one of several functions to the AF/AELock button there.
Brenda Tharp
20 Oct 2009woo woo – you ‘rock’, Bob! And I thought you said you were working in B.A.hmmm. Looks and sounds like it was a fun assignment – the way all jobs should be. I can’t wait to see this story. Now I have to resubscribe – mine lapsed while I was traveling, ironically enough…
Mike Morse
20 Oct 2009Bob: I figured it out. Went to Barnes and Noble and went through a number of D300 books and got what I needed. Thanks. You are a prince for taking time to reply to any and all comers. I looked at your schedule for the next year. Great trips. I am playing the new lottery in AR and will be joining in one of the Around the World trips if I win. Mike
Bob
21 Oct 2009Mike: I’m glad you found the answer. Your question made me realize how little I know about the camera, outside of the way I set it up. Hope to see you on one of those gigs next year. Keep buying those lottery tickets! Hasn’t worked for me so far, but who knows!
Patricio Murphy
21 Oct 2009Hope you enjoyed your stay in Buenos Aires! Can’t wait to see NG Traveler…