Critique #82 *Street Photography* 5 Participants

[infrequent]

sorry guys...i couldn't reply earlier..

@pellothed1 - excellent shot. there is certainly an element of mystery in this which puts me at unease. the ciggy to one side of the mouth really draws my attention. the brilliant blacks further proof that b+w film can't be matched by digital conversions.

@raypa - the opened door clearly is the subject here but even it speaks volumes. what's in there that has prompted the girl to smile? the girl could have been a bit more in the frame but i am being nitpicky.

@bingley - kudos on this shot because i would never be able to take that. it almost has a paparazzi feel to it. there is also an ominous feel to the scene which is not helped by the prominent "villains" sign in the background.

@sbug - a brilliant shot this. almost cinematic as how the man walks alone without giving a damn while drawing everyone's attention from the edges.


it was definitely my idea to throw you guys a curve ball! i looked at my more conventional street shots but went along with this because it was different. in hindsight i probably shouldn't have done because it almost seems a different theme altogether. you guys are right...i should have included more than the shoes. but i have a hard time actually pointing the camera towards strangers. a dslr doesn't help either! you guys have to take my word that the shoes were the most interesting bit in this scene and so i concentrated on that. i agree that its a beautiful capture but is missing that certain je ne sais quois.

i would be happy to host the next one if its okay. cheers!

 

[Bingley]

OK, we've all commented on each other's photos. I'll take the lead in posting a response on mine.

First, THANK YOU all for your kind words and constructive comments on my street shot. A couple of you (at least) suggested shooting w/ greater DOF, and I accept that point. As I recall, this shot was taken at about f5.6. More on this in a moment.

Second, I posted this particular photo in part b/c of the mood it I thought it conveyed, and I'm happy that you picked up on this. I also posted it, however, b/c taking it took me outside my comfort zone in a couple of respects: it's bw, and I shoot mainly in color; and I was indeed pretty close to the subjects, and I don't usually get so close to a complete stranger (although I would have been even closer had I been using a 35). I feel that I'm still trying to get a handle on shooting bw, both for street and landscapes, but I was pretty pleased w/ how this particular shot turned out.

Third. This shot was taken a couple of weeks ago, on my first outing w/ a lens that I'd recently purchased: a Canon 50/1.5. I was shooting both bw and color, and wanted to see how the lens performed at different f-stops, so I was intentionally making some shots at wider apertures than I normally would for street shooting purposes. The scene captured in this photograph came together very quickly; I had pre-set the focus and aperture. I simply raised the camera, pressed the shutter, and kept walking. Had I been more familiar w/ this lens, I think I would have been shooting more consistently at f8. Your comments regarding DOF are well taken. Thanks again.

Any comments from others?

 

[pellothed1]

I suppose I'll comment on my own photo, but first I'd also like to say thank you to everyone for the kind words and critique if any. I'll first respond to those that suggested cropping and I understand your point of view, but for me cropping out the foot or the guy in the booth in the back would really only leave me with the main subject and I prefer to hint at the answer then completely remove it. Who's the guy looking at? Maybe one of the other characters that we partially see, not at the viewer anyway. Why isn't he looking at the camera? This can be a little hard to answer.

When I'm taking pictures, things hit me so quickly that I rarely remember taking the pictures, even when I look at them. But I almost always make eye contact with the central figure and there is almost always a single person or two that stands out among the rest in my photos. I suppose it is because I'm looking for some sort of connection between myself and whoever it is I see on the street. I never hide that I'm taking pictures, though I'm quite fast at it, it's always obvious and people tend to look at me. I always make eye contact, because I like eye contact in my pictures, I can't simply blend in, I'm just as much a part of the world and involved in it as everyone else is and I don't want to make my pictures look like I was standing in the shadows. Sometimes I'll see them look and feel I'm overbearing and look away when in fact I'm not looking at them in an interested way but summing up the scene as a whole, making a quick judgement. My style tends to single people out from the group, I don't know why, that's just the way I do it. The picture above was taken in Heidelberg Germany during a local festival and was shoulder to shoulder people. It's strange that I isolate people like that, maybe it's my own feelings of insignificance and isolation showing through in the way I take pictures, but this is something that is pretty abundant in alot of my pictures.

The rest of the pictures from Germany and one from Vienna can be seen in a password protected gallery on my site, I don't like to make them public because I haven't registered them, which I only do twice a year:
http://www.tonyedwardsphotography.com/gallery/3717462
the password is: Pete

Feel free to look, I still need to remove a few that I'm not totally happy with. I've also got some from New Orleans that I haven't added yet, probably won't until after the first of the year when I copyright everything, then they'll all go into the Personal link at the top of the site.

I'll also comment on the centering. I think that's just the way I do it. I've noticed this in my street photography over the years and tried to adjust, but it's just become part of my style. It's something that I tend to like when looking at my pictures because it's so anti-photography and against the rules that it makes people a little nervous.

I'd also like to comment on the critique as a whole:
Can truly great pictures exist on their own? Yes. But there are really great pictures that would look really terrible when removed from their context. I think you have to become familiar with one persons style before you can judge any of their work as a whole or individually. Take infrequent's shoes. If that picture was side by side with pictures of other shoes with the same tones and compositional elements, our opinions of the individual photograph may skew slightly. What does everyone else think?

 

[sbug]

I really enjoyed this critique so thank you to all that participated. Here's a little more info on the photo I posted: I shot this in New Orleans this summer. It was a hot late afternoon and I was on an outside balcony at the Cat's Meow (or something like that) and really enjoying the people watching. Suddenly I see this guy walking right down the center of Bourbon Street, dressed as a cowboy and completely painted in silver (clothes and body). I could hardly get the camera to my eye fast enough but this was the only shot I took.

When I took this shot I figured it would be be better if I had shot it in color. I now believe it is better in black and white. Based on the critiques, I think I would like to crop ever so slightly to remove the people that just barely encroach on the upper right of the frame. Otherwise, I'm honestly really happy with the shot. Funny thing is, as positive as the four of you were in the critique, I posted it in my gallery at RFF and got not one comment. Amusing. 🙂

I also think Tony has brought up a great point about viewing photos in context. I have recently begun to reorganize my photos on flicker into better sets that work well together. I really prefer to view photos that way. I plan to do the same thing with my RFF gallery when I get a chance. If you want to read some other thoughts about photo organization, read this interview with Joel Meyerowitz: http://2point8.whileseated.org/?p=284 It's good stuff.

I'm lucky enough to have an opportunity to have some of my work in a gallery this spring and I am going to print my likely options out as 4x6's and work with them for a while to determine the order I want to present them, much like Meyerowitz did. If it works for him, it can certainly help me.

 

[RayPA]

I'll comment on my image and then go back over what others have posted about their images.

I shot this about three months ago. What intrigued me about the scene was the open door. The stuff inside the door was some sort of gold and burgundy Asian artifact. The color attracted me; unfortunately I was shooting b&w. However there was still quite a bit of what I thought would render. I think it didn't render as much as I thought it would. I didn't get as much as I wanted from the artifacts. The woman had just exited the building through the door, and I waited for her to get to the other side of the frame. I was walking toward the scene. I saw the car and didn't like it, but I couldn't get it out of the frame. So, I shot anyway because and the woman was leaving the frame.

It was really bright out, but I got what I thought was a pretty good exposure. The neg scanned well. I really like the artwork on the glass and how it kind of leads the eye along an arc to the girl. I hadn't done much with the image until recently, when I cropped the left side to exclude the girl and the car, leaving the shadow and the reflection. Which I think Steve mentioned. It's a different image. Normally, I have no qualms about cropping, but I really like the left side, so I'm indecisive right now.

Thanks to the participants for taking the time to look at it critically and offering up their thoughts and suggestions. From all of your comments it seems like the left side is the issue with this image. I'll try some crops an post a result to the gallery.

Thanks All!!


.

 

[RayPA]

I suppose I'll comment on my own photo, but first I'd also like to say thank you to everyone for the kind words and critique if any. I'll first respond to those that suggested cropping and I understand your point of view, but for me cropping out the foot or the guy in the booth in the back would really only leave me with the main subject and I prefer to hint at the answer then completely remove it. Who's the guy looking at? Maybe one of the other characters that we partially see, not at the viewer anyway. Why isn't he looking at the camera? This can be a little hard to answer.

When I'm taking pictures, things hit me so quickly that I rarely remember taking the pictures, even when I look at them. But I almost always make eye contact with the central figure and there is almost always a single person or two that stands out among the rest in my photos. I suppose it is because I'm looking for some sort of connection between myself and whoever it is I see on the street. I never hide that I'm taking pictures, though I'm quite fast at it, it's always obvious and people tend to look at me. I always make eye contact, because I like eye contact in my pictures, I can't simply blend in, I'm just as much a part of the world and involved in it as everyone else is and I don't want to make my pictures look like I was standing in the shadows. Sometimes I'll see them look and feel I'm overbearing and look away when in fact I'm not looking at them in an interested way but summing up the scene as a whole, making a quick judgement. My style tends to single people out from the group, I don't know why, that's just the way I do it. The picture above was taken in Heidelberg Germany during a local festival and was shoulder to shoulder people. It's strange that I isolate people like that, maybe it's my own feelings of insignificance and isolation showing through in the way I take pictures, but this is something that is pretty abundant in alot of my pictures.

The rest of the pictures from Germany and one from Vienna can be seen in a password protected gallery on my site, I don't like to make them public because I haven't registered them, which I only do twice a year:
http://www.tonyedwardsphotography.com/gallery/3717462
the password is: Pete

Feel free to look, I still need to remove a few that I'm not totally happy with. I've also got some from New Orleans that I haven't added yet, probably won't until after the first of the year when I copyright everything, then they'll all go into the Personal link at the top of the site.

I'll also comment on the centering. I think that's just the way I do it. I've noticed this in my street photography over the years and tried to adjust, but it's just become part of my style. It's something that I tend to like when looking at my pictures because it's so anti-photography and against the rules that it makes people a little nervous.

I'd also like to comment on the critique as a whole:
Can truly great pictures exist on their own? Yes. But there are really great pictures that would look really terrible when removed from their context. I think you have to become familiar with one persons style before you can judge any of their work as a whole or individually. Take infrequent's shoes. If that picture was side by side with pictures of other shoes with the same tones and compositional elements, our opinions of the individual photograph may skew slightly. What does everyone else think?

Tony, you make some really good points. I think the one common thing that we all can agree on is how quickly situations evolve on the street. I'm like you in that I shoot very quickly. I'm unlike you in that I don't mind not being seen, and I don't mind blending in and becoming invisible. I've found that the more I've do this, the more comfortable I become, the more I blend in, and the more it seems people see me less, or simply don't care. I prefer not to be seen, because I think as soon as the camera is noticed the situation is changed. I like capturing situations as they occur, and as they would have occurred. However, that said I don't mind being seen. I don't mind people looking directly into the camera. I just like getting shots that interest me, and that I find interesting.

.

 

[Bingley]

My approach to street photography (and I hasten to add that I'm new at it) is similar to Ray's. I am interested in capturing a scene w/out necessarily becoming a participant or noticed, although that too happens from time to time. Personally, I think good street photography is really hard, in large part b/c scenes come together so quickly. One must manage the technical aspects of the shot, focus, and frame often in a split second. There is also an interesting tension between the art and the reportage aspects of street photography (and I'm not implying that one is superior to the other). I grew up on Life magazine, and was continually impressed by the power of the visual image produced by PJs of the 50s and 60s. I certainly agree w/ a number of comments above that context is an essential part of the shot (although context can be displayed in different ways).