Latest Close Up Candid Street Photography

colinh

colinh

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Well, I've taken about 10 rolls of film since I started this project

I've come to the conclusion that the M7 with the ZM35/2 is the perfect instrument for this. I need the AE since I raise the camera to my eye, shoot and lower it again, within a second. I'm not good enough to focus, frame and set exposure in less than a second :(

Since I prefocus with a fair amount of depth of field, this requires around f/8 - f/11. Which often results in subject motion when the subject is close up (at ISO 100/125).

I still haven't settled on a film/developer combination. I've tried Acros in Rodinal and DD-X, Neopan 400, FP4+ and HP5+ in Rodinal and have just got some APX100.

I'd like the resolution of ISO 100 at ISO 200 :)

Anyway, here are the latest attempts...

eating-fruit_900.jpg




complex_900.jpg



youth_900.jpg




colin
 
ColinH, I tried capitals for your 'handle,' I know what you mean about 'street photography' and having to do things quickly. At a much less sophisticated level, I used a Olympus Stylus Infinity (totally auto) and shot from the hip on this shot.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=66557&ppuser=8685

I still feel that I'm invasive doing street photos. I hope I get over it.
 
Colin that first one is wonderful! Beautifully put together, with something going on between the fellas pouring water and the woman that I can't quite figure out but keeps me looking. One of those space/tension things that my eye really grabs ahold of.
 
sepiareverb said:
Colin that first one is wonderful! Beautifully put together, with something going on between the fellas pouring water and the woman that I can't quite figure out but keeps me looking. One of those space/tension things that my eye really grabs ahold of.
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the comments.

I like the first one too. As pointed out, she is cute and she can plan her route whilst bisecting a nectarine! This girl does not look lost. She seems to have distracted the guy who's supposed to be concentrating on the water. :)

I also like the expression of the girl on the right in the second shot.

The third shot is just for fun. Reminds me exactly of how my youth wasn't.


The first and last shots are APX100 pushed to 200 and developed in Rodinal 1+50. I think I got the time wrong. :( And probably won't try pushing APX100 again.

I have to admit that I crop freely.


colin
 
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I like these ... and getting close in on subjects when doing 'street' is something I hope to come to terms with eventually. :p

I think your street work is excellent Colin! :)
 
i concur with the praise...street shots are what interest me most; that first shot is fantastic. the third shot is interesting, as you seem to have captured the uniquely teenage concept of 'hanging out'.
 
The second shot is brilliant! The last one is very good. The first one is mostly interesting because of cute girl in there.. replace her with a guy and it's all lost :)
 
Nice shots! And great project! I still like "Mary", "Behind you, dear" and "Get Up" from your earlier posts/gallery, best. Probably cause girls are most good looking in them. ;) But all are very nice photos, and I hope you will soon add more to the mix.
Keep'em coming!
 
>I've come to the conclusion that the M7 with the ZM35/2 is the perfect instrument for this. I need the AE since I raise the camera to my eye, shoot and lower it again, within a second. I'm not good enough to focus, frame and set exposure in less than a second
Click to expand...


Nice shots.

Just a few commments...

All you need to do is pre-meter the scene with a hand held meter. Looks like it was a sunny day. With Tri-X@400 that would have meant f16@1/250th or 1/500th. The problem with AE is that you need to aim it at something middle gray in the scene, lock the reading and then recompose which slows you down. If you accidentally meter some one wearing black or white, you're going to be off by a few stops.

If you scale focus you won't need to adjust anything if you are shooting with a small enough aperture. At f16 everything from about 1.2m to infinity should be in focus. All you need to do is raise the camera, frame and shoot. This is how pretty much all streetphotographers work.
 
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I suggest you try XP2@ISO200-250, the latitude is great and the grain is very small while the speed is acceptable in most cases.
 
Geometrical Fascination in No. 2

Geometrical Fascination in No. 2

Post deleted by posters request
 
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varjag said:
The first one is mostly interesting because of cute girl in there.. replace her with a guy and it's all lost :)
Click to expand...

Ummmm, well that would be the case with pretty much every shot I've taken. :rolleyes:

Although I do have a shot of a guy with a big nose at this fountain...

I also like the space/tension thing sepiareverb mentioned. I think it may be due to her apparent peaceful isolation, in a busy crowded place (although I had to squeeze around a couple of people and lean over in add odd way to make it look like that. So everyone else knew I was taking a photo of her. :) )

She is extra cute though.


colin
 
Thanks everyone for the praise for the second shot. I posted it to my Close Up Candid Street Photography gallery 4 days ago and it got (yes, he's off again...) *sniff* zero comments up till now.

:D

The left 1/3 and top 1/3 have been cropped (which leaves less than half the original negative area :( ) I could have left the top 1/3 (making a square) but it wouldn't be as good. Also, I try to use the 900 pixels for The Good Bits (TM).

It was shot on Neopan 400, developed in Rodinal 1+50 for a nominal 11 min (20 deg C). The negative is a bit odd. 25% of the pixels are below 15/255 and 21% are over 195/255. I.e only 54% of the pixels are in the central 72 % of the grey scale.

Does this just indicate too much subject contrast, or (also) incorrect development?


I would use XP2 (tried it a couple of times, but didn't get stunning results (but then, I didn't have a Leica in those days :) ) ) but I do my own B&W developing and couldn't do XP2.

Which of the previously mentioned B&W films has the most lattitude?




In the first post I mentioned how I've come to appreciate the M7 - ZM35/2 combination for this sort of shootinng. I just wouldn't have been able to do this project with a (D)SLR or MF. The M is quiet (quieter than my M3 ?) and small. And the manual focus means that no AF can accidentally focus on something completely different just because the subject isn't in the centre of the frame.

The AE is slightly trickier. It does occasionally get it "wrong" but I think it's better than if I just used the sunny 16 rule. There isn't really time to meter the scenes as such (although I was adjusting the aperture from f/5.6 to f/16 depending on shadow etc.) Still, with film with more lattitude, the absence of AE would be OK. The M3 isn't too good for the 35mm, 50mm is simply too long (I tried it) and the M2's shutter speeds are way off and it needs a CLA.

The problem with using f/16 and ISO 100 film, as I mentioned in another post, is that the shutter speeds get so slow that I get camera shake, but mostly subject motion - especially if it's close and moving sideways (perpendicular to the lens axis :) ).

colin
 
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